This Saturday, Gana, Kay, Will and I delivered presents to the family Ker & Downey employees are supporting for Christmas. Gana and I arrived at Kay and Will's house midday and then made the trek over to the family's apartment. The family was picked by Kay's Mom who is a social worker for a local church.
Finding the apartment was a bit of a chore. We pulled into the apartment complex and starting looking for the #1200 building. Well, the building numbers are inconsistent for instance there was the 800, 900, 1000 buildings in a row and then it jumped to the 21oo building. So we stopped and asked some people for directions. Of course Kay was throwing out Spanish at them and the residents were answering us in English, mostly broken English.
Finally a man with his family in a car asked if we needed help and he escorted me to the correct building. From there we unpacked the car and lugged all the goodies to the front door. We had many gifts for the little girls and clothes mostly for the parents. We also had a number of Walmart gift cards so they would be able to buy some food and other necessities.
Upon arrival Giselle the youngest was outside sort of passing the time of day until her "Santa" arrived. When she saw us carrying gifts she scurried inside.
A Christmas tree was in the corner all decorated and the apartment was a bit small but very neat and organized. Family pictures were on the walls and everything was just where it was supposed to be.
Jose the father greeted us and was very happy to see us. Olga, the mother looked to be about 23. We were told she had a stroke and that's probably the reason she did not rise from the couch. She sat on the couch with Michelle the oldest daughter next to her, then Giselle, and then Jose the father. A really beautiful family.
We let the girls open one of their gifts as Olga wanted to save the rest for Christmas day. Below is a picture of the girls and their gifts.
Here is another image with the entire family.
Sometimes we get lost in the meaning of Christmas and I'm no different. Life can be a struggle and for those that truly have issues, like a young mother prone to strokes, the struggles are more than most can imagine. So the age old question is why do you do it? This is but one family...what about the family next door? We do what we are led to do. We look into our hearts and pray for guidance as to what is our plan for today.
There are many families whose Christmas will not be so bright, not so happy and may God bless them. But not this family.
