Around the holidays I heard about how "Secret Santas" were paying layaway tabs for complete strangers at the K-Mart. It started small and then gained momentum around the country. I thought that was such an unselfish thing to do. I bet that person (who I am sure wanted to remain anonymous) never thought that his/her random act of kindness would have such a huge impact. I have heard of other stories similar to that, such as going through a toll booth and paying for the person behind you or how a patron leaves a huge tip for the waitress. Those are the kinds of stories that I like to read about. I remember one year my daughter, my dad and I took some food baskets that our church had put together and delivered them to a rent subsidized apartment complex around Thanksgiving or Christmas. Most of the people living there had one room and everything they owned was contained in that one room. The recipients of the food baskets were so incredibly appreciative and thanked us profusely. We came away from that experience very humbled for what we have, realizing others have so little. I think one of the best things we can teach our children is that one person does make a difference. Teaching our children that there is always someone less fortunate than themselves makes them really appreciate what they have. As we head towards 2012, what are some ways that you can find for you and your family to give back and make a difference for others?
When Dominic was diagnosed with Autism at 2 1/2, I went to our local library and took out every book I could find about Autism. Sometimes I would bring back 20 books. This was 2006, so a lot of the information was very "dated." I guess I was looking for a book that would tell me what I should do next, like a "manual." Autism doesn't quite work that way! The saying is, " if you know one person with Autism, you know one person with Autism." Every mom to an individual with Autism follows their own "path." I think as moms, we judge ourselves much harder than anyone else does. I was 41 when I had Dominic. Did he get the diagnosis of Autism because I was an older mom? because I drank a lot of pop? I could sit and think about that every minute of every day. I am pretty integrated into the Autism community around Lansing and have told more than one person that it took me about two weeks to come to terms with Dominic's diagnosis. It is so incredib...
Comments
Post a Comment