My Donald has been in my life for so long that I truly have to stop and try hard to remember life before him. We're still giddy in love like newly weds and yet we feel it's been "always" at the same time.
But the fact is... I was a single mom for 14 years. And I struggled at times. That puts single moms always tugging at my heart. Raising a family is difficult in a two parent home, but a single parent home is even more difficult.
This year we helped adopt a family that's a single home. He sweet children had a short list and we got the wish list of a 6 year old little boy. The fact that a bicycle was the top of list took me rushing back to Abigail wanting her first bike and helping her learn to ride it and finally taking those training wheels off.
So we took our list and went out shopping. Not only did the we buy that bike and a nice winter coat, we also purchased some additional outfits and socks and undies and some warm pajamas for him. We also plan to add a local store gift card so that he can buy something for his mom for Christmas. Can you imagine how happy it will make him?
And this time of year Donald and I also do a couple of other things several times. When we go to dinner we look around the room and pick someone and buy their dinner anonymously. Sometimes he picks and sometimes I pick. His most recent pick was a young couple that looked like a very early on in their relationship date. My last pick was a family of 4 with two of the best behaved children at dinner out I'd ever seen. We have never let the server tell them who did it. The most recent time I literally was just nose in my phone because they were begging their server to tell them. I loved her story about being new in town and being really moved by the act of kindness.
Also starting around October we leave over generous tips. We consider it a holiday bonus and if we get great service we've been known to leave a tip that's more than our dinner. It's just our 4th quarter tradition to help working folks and students enjoy their holiday more.
Giving is something that I try to do because I have truly been given so much in my life. I was blessed with a wonderful supportive family when I was a single home. I've always had food and never been hungry, I've always had clothes and although I sometimes didn't have extra or wasn't able to save or buy things I wanted I've certainly always had everything I needed.
Give.... just give and it will enrich your life. I promise.
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