The Kindness of Strangers
I've been thinking (stop laughing), why is STRANGE in the word STRANGER? It sounds like someone you should be afraid of, right?
Because after the December we just had, I'm pretty sure 99% of strangers are anything but strange in the "scary" sense of the word.
I think the strange part must refer to "peculiar" or "out of the ordinary."
And in our busy, world-wide world, PECULIAR is a pretty AWESOME thing!
Let me share the kindness "strangers" shared with our family this holiday season. Now remember, these aren't necessarily people we "don't know"--that kind of stranger. They are just strangely amazing/loving/generous people:
* The 3 military personnel delivered Christmas gifts to LuLu and Ray.
As part of DCFS's "giving tree" for all children in foster care, these ARMY MEN (they were men and they were in the army, not a generalization) took their own vacation time, gas, and car to deliver the gifts to our home (in uniform). I could have cried. Well, I did. It was a pretty amazing sight.
* The 6 anonymous/generous/kind families donated Christmas gifts to LuLu and Ray.
This is the kind of thing that restores your faith in humanity. I'm so serious. It's called the "giving tree" program for DCFS.
Here in Utah there are more than 2,000 children in foster care--and each of them are granted "3 gift wishes" for Christmas. This program takes months to coordinate, in addition to lots of time/generosity on the part of the program administrators and donors. Donors/people pick a name from a tree, then buy a 25.00 gift listed on the tag/name to donate to a child in foster care.
I was DYING when I saw how thoughtful people were with the gifts. LuLu really likes the Eiffel Tower--and that's all we wrote on the wish tag, "something Eiffel Tower." And the donor took the time to pick out the cutest hoodie with "J'Adore Paris" and the Eiffel Tower on it (and a picture of the tower, too). Is that too much! (It is.)
It was the same with each of the gifts--all very thoughtful, very generous. We were all so grateful. (I can't tell you how much it meant to Ray and LuLu to have that kind of thoughtfulness from people they have not met. And it really did help our family out at Christmas--because we're not quite used to Christmas with 6 kids. Tee hee.)
* Gma Mary, Gpa Rory, Gma Jo and Gpa Gary all welcomed grandkids they've not met.
(Well, my mom and dad have met Ray, but not LuLu . . . anywho.) We live at least 700 miles from grandparents, and travel with foster kiddos is pretty restricted (permission from judge), so our parents still haven't fully met their newest grandkids. AND YET...they have welcomed them as if they've always been in our family (which isn't easy--6 grandchildren gifts at Christmas = 4 broke grandparents). Thank you, mom, dad, mom-Mary and dad-Rory.
* Uluaves, Bones, Clydes, Days, Heather/Toto, Jones/Jacobsens, Sylvesters, Stephensons, Lorraine, Hucks, Bastians, Cannons, and everyone I'm forgetting.
This has been a year where we leaned on others a lot. Between meals, kid-tending, blanket sewing, helping with grading, visiting, driving carpool, playdates, and welcoming LuLu and Ray into our home (and yours!), you have been the STRANGEST, GREATEST blessing to us all. XOXOX.
