December 11th

This used to be a special date. An anniversary of the day we picked to get married. It seems like November was the first choice and then we changed it.

My college roommate's dad was a photographer and he took the picture for the paper and when it came out in the paper it was placed next to my uncle's optician shop ad. My roommate was my only bridesmaid and after the wedding, two of my male cousins replaced my husband's shoes with a pair of bedroom shoes that looked like some wild animal's feet. Yeah, I should've posted the picture of me with my hand on my hip telling my cousins I wasn't leaving until they gave his shoes back to him! We had a stand-off in the foyer of the church before they were persuaded to return them so we could leave! They also chased us around Southside until we hid in a parking deck and waited for them to leave.

We were both on the verge of turning 23 and I'm not certain how convinced he was but I was sure we were getting married for life. Many years later after some major stress, we separated on Christmas Day several years ago.

So December has a black cloud over it for me. Where I used to love Christmas, now I count the days until it's over. I find it hard to be happy with so many painful memories. To drag myself through all the happiness, I try to concentrate on doing for others. I send care packages to deployed soldiers, pick a wish list off a tree in a store and whatever else I can. I'd be willing to bet that everyone does the same things we used to --- give our kids way too much! Shave a little off their lists and make a child who won't get much happy, or a soldier far from home feel he's not forgotten. Give a donation to one of the organizations that offer help like anysoldier.com, booksforsoldiers.com and many others. It isn't hard to find someone you can help have a better Christmas..... all you have to do is look!