'Tis the Season of Kindness

Christmas time is my favorite time of the year!  I love all the decorations.  I love the smells of pine trees and cookies baking.  I love shopping and wrapping presents for special people.  And I love that the holidays bring about kindness all around me...

Since it is the season....I want to highlight a couple of special people who may not even know how much their kindness means to me.

The first very special lady is my friend Carey.  She is the mother of two beautiful twin girls.  We met last year when one of her girls was in Ally's class.  She is truly one of the most thoughtful people that I know.  I am so grateful to her for always thinking of Ally.  When she sends a treat in to school, she contacts me ahead of time to let me know - not only what the treat will be, but also the carb count for that item.  She even marked the carb count on the item that she sent in so that the school nurse would have the information too.  Same for her daughters' birthday party.  She planned a most fabulous and fun party...so I know that it took a lot of preparation for this party.  Yet, she took the time to let me know what she would be serving at the party and, again, the carb count.  I don't know if she even knows how much I appreciate this...and how comfortable and welcomed it makes Ally feel.

The second very special lady is my friend Christina.  Christina and I became friends when Ally was in preschool with her son.  We were friends before Ally's diagnosis.  She knew me before.  (sigh.)  She still loves me today (sigh of relief.) - you know, the very much less together person than I used to be.  Christina often asks about Ally.  She tries to learn about diabetes and what that means for our family.  She listens when I just need to vent about diabetes.  Sometimes she even reads my blog :) (Won't she be surprised to find today's post!)  This past week I realized what a great friend she is...not just to me...but to another friend of hers, who, unfortunately, has a 12 year old daughter just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  She immediately started sharing the things that she had learned from us along the way.  She contacted me and shared my information so that I could be a resource to this newly diagnosed family.  She knew that her friend would need support.  Christina is a special person! 

And one more special lady today...my neighbor Pam.  She lives just down the street; Our daughters ride the bus together.  The girls have recently begged to play together and have had several playdates.  Unfortunately, before this I did not really know Pam or her daughter.  The thing about Pam that really struck me was how much she cared about knowing about Ally's diabetes and wanted to learn what she needed to do in order to have Ally over to play.  She was honest and told me that she did not really know much about type 1 diabetes.  She told me that she was nervous.  I appreciated her honesty.  Many good-intentioned people tell me that they don't mind having Ally over, that they can take care of Ally.  But I have never felt the compassion that I felt from Pam...I could tell that she really wanted to learn and she did!  She listened to me, read the notes I had prepared for her, and asked me questions to clarify.  I wonder if she knows how much that meant to me?
I am blessed to have so many great friends...and today I am especially thankful for the kindness of these thoughtful ladies!

Happy Holidays!