A Very Special Gift

It was December of 1997. I was celebrating Christmas for the first time with my fiancé's family. When it came time for me to open my gifts, I received three themed gifts. The first was figure skater ornament. The second was a novel about an olympic ice skater. After I opened the second present, my fiancé reached under his mom's sofa and produced an envelope that contained two tickets to see a professional ice skating show. I was utterly speechless. I'd never received something like this ever. I'd come from very meager beginnings. I knew who I'd be taking to the performance, the gift giver.

A week prior to this particular Christmas, I  had received another very special gift, my engagement ring. At the age of 32 I was considered by many to be an Old Maid. I'd even had a parent of one of my students ask me if I was gay since I was still single. My response to her was that I had not found anyone that I had wanted to spend the rest of my life yet. Being a chid of divorce and seeing how hard it was on my mom and feeling it for myself, I wanted to make sure that when I married it was forever.

I did marry this generous gift giver eight months later. Over the years my husband has proven his love for me over and over again. We have dealt with cancer twice (his), the death of my parents a year a part,  mental illness (our daughter's), and job loss (mine). Many men would have walked away from even one of those things but my husband has stayed by my side so we can do this thing called life together.

Parenting a Special Needs child alone is enough of a challenge as it is. I feel so blessed to have a man of such strong character walking by my side. He is willing to do whatever our child needs- therapy, medication, counseling, research, etc.- to ensure she live the best life possible for her.

Truly the second best gift I've ever received. The first one was the gift of God's son Jesus.

Eighteen Christmases later I still have the figure skater ornament. My husband and I hang it on our tree every year. The book and the performance are cherished memories.  I wear my engagement ring proudly although it is now paired with my wedding ring. These rings represent love- no less today than 17 years ago.

The best gift of all those many years ago was the gift of my husband- Someone who truly knew how to show me unconditional love. A man of character who could weather any storm life threw our way.

My Husband and I celebrating our 16th Wedding  Anniversary