I'm thankful

for so many things. It's so easy to take for granted the things that we have that make our lives more comfortable. Earlier in the week I posted on our local freecycle site(love that place, great to get rid of things no longer needed but that still have some use in them maybe to someone else!) that we wanted to get rid of our old 10 gallon fish tank and the blue gourami that is currently swimming in it. We've set up a 60 gallon one in the basement and is a non aggressive tank so the blue gourami can't join the gang. We got inundated with requests for the tank. Some just said they wanted it and give them a call, others shared a reason why they wanted it. I always give preference to the people who share a reason with me. Hopefully they're legit, even if they're not, if it's a good story I'll give them the item. Well I couldnt' decide. So I got Chris to read the requests with me and one stood out from teh rest. She had said she wanted the tank to give to her fiances children. Chris admired her desire to welcome in his children with a gift so I emailed her and told her she could come and pick it up at her convenience. She said she would come the next day, and would be here when the bus dropped her off. She was coming from Hamilton. I emailed her back to confirm that she understood a 10 gallon fish tank, plus gravel, heater, filter and a baggy with a fish in it, was not going to be an easy thing to transport on a bus, especially a long ride like that back to Hamilton. She replied saying she understood adn it didn't matter, as this would be so important for his kids. She went on to explain that his three children(2 boys and a girl ages 9 through 12) were out in BC and had jsut been removed from their excuse of a mother by child services and were being held in foster care until the dad could get through the red tape to get them brought to Ontario. She was devastated that they would be spending Christmas in foster care, but they couldnt' do anything about it. But when they came, they would be coming with literally the clothes on their backs and not much more.
My heart just sunk in my chest, those poor kids. This poor lady, I couldn't envision her hauling that heavy tank on a 2 hour bus ride! So I talked with Chris and we agreed we'd like to help her out. SO we're goign to bring it in to her tomorrow, and I asked if we could donate some other small things to help out too. We have a hamster cage and all the odds and ends that go with it(we had a hamster when we first got married lol don't ask!), Chris is also an avid Star wars buff and has lots of books, puzzles, models etc that he doesn't need. So we're going through our things to see what her kids may need or like and we're gonig to drop it all off tomorrow. With all the stress of the holiday season, my heart finally feels good. This is what it is all about... to give! Not tooting my own horn here, my goodness this is the least we could do. But man does it ever bring back into perspective how much we have!! I have to remember how incredibly blessed I am to have a warm house, food in the cupboards and a loving husband. I am so blessed to be able to stay at home with my kids this year and try to be the best mom I can be. I hope others remember the reason for the season this year and can reach out to a family in need.