Twenty-three years ago today I was in the hospital giving birth to our first child.
I hadn't really planned to spend Christmas in the hospital. I had finished teaching and passed the oral exam for my Master's degree a week earlier, and the baby wasn't due until the end of January so I had big plans for Christmas break: furnish the nursery, clean the whole house, bake 14 dozen Christmas cookies, decorate the Christmas tree, host our entire congregation to a Christmas Eve open house at the parsonage, and more.
By Dec. 23, the cookies were baked and the tree was decorated and the house was clean except for a final vacuuming, and all I needed was a quick visit to the doctor's office for a routine checkup. Instead, I was admitted to the hospital immediately and had an emergency C-section on Christmas Eve.
The open house was cancelled.
The cookies came to the hospital to spread holiday cheer among the staff.
The seven-foot-tall Christmas tree stood there drying out for the next six weeks before anyone could find the time or energy to un-decorate it, by which time it had carpeted our living room with needles.
But we had a pretty terrific Christmas gift. On Christmas morning the nurses stuffed Laura into a Christmas stocking, with her tiny head sticking out the top. We still hang that stocking every Christmas to remind us that sometimes the best gifts arrive when least expected.
Merry Christmas to all--and may your holidays be filled with wonderful surprises.
1 comment:
Happy Laura's Birthday Bev and Garry!
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