Last night my wife and I met the last 3 families we were helping. The first family we met at our local park at 7:00pm. We were met by the mom's sister who had taken in the mom and kids. She has four kids of her own and the sister that moved in has her 3. Needless to say, I'm sure it is quite the madhouse there trying to get everything taken care of. It was a bit strange that I never was able to make contact with the actual mom, but did everything through the sister. The sister was very grateful for us doing this for them and she wanted me to tell all the contributors Thank You from the Bottom of her heart!
We had our next stop at the elementary school at 7:30. This mom is recently divorced/separated and has two boys. One of the boys is being homeschooled due to his heart condition. She told me about how hard it is on him to not be able to go to school and that he had open heart surgery at the beginning of the school year. He has valve problems that have existed since he was born. His first heart surgery occured when he was 22 months old. She said that this one was way worse because he knew what was going on and was very scared. She said that he has one more surgery that will need to be done when he is done growing and was not looking forward to it. She thanked us several times and teared up and told us that This is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for them. My wife and I got a great big hug from her.
The last family arrived at the same elementary school at 7:45. The mom came there with her dad. She had a hard time talking to us because she was in tears. She expressed to us that there wouldn't have been a Christmas this year without us. I had previously talked to her on the phone and she was flabbergasted by someone actually willing to help her out. We talked about how hard it is for her to handle the daily needs and deal with all that it going on without the dad in the picture. I had told her that I know what if feels like because I went through the same thing when I was in the 6th grade and had a pretty small Christmas that year. Her dad gave us a big hug and so did she. She wanted me to make sure I told all of you how much you folks have helped her out this year.
So, that's it! We made it!!!! I'm really fortunate to have been able to do this again this year. In all... We have made Christmas possible for 4 families and 12 children this year! I'm writing this post on Christmas Eve night and I hope you all know that in the morning there are going to be some pretty happy kids and parents. There's a mom battling brain cancer that will not have to worry about how they are going to pay for Christmas or fill the gas tank or fill the cupboards... There's a mom that is in a major transition period in the life of her family that will be able to have a Christmas that wouldn't otherwise have happened. There's a heart patient kid that will own his first pair of name-brand shoes. There's a little girl that will have a nice new warm winter coat, boots, scarf, adn gloves. All of the kids that needed shoes (8 in all) will own their first NICE pair of shoes in their lives. All the boys recieved new blue jeans, shirts, underwear, and socks. There's a mom that has about 2 months of diapers that she will not have to worry about having money to buy. And the toys... Each kid in their own modest way had wish gifts. I'm happy to say that in the morning, each of those kids will be opening their wish gifts!!!!
So... This year is over. WE did good.... WE made a diffence in some little peoples' lives. Perhaps in a way that we might not ever know. WE are providing a chance for many of these kids to fit in for the first time in their lives. WE eased the burdens for a family that is going through the hardest of situations and are fighting for a life... We did good indeed...
I'm proud to know all of you and call you my friends. Bless you all this Christmas and wake up in the morning knowing that there is are 12 little smiles happening because of you!
Thank you all...
Brian
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What a happy time.... a day that will always be remembered for sure. 
Nice to see them smile. I hope it brings them happiness for a while. Great job. 
