MiaBella Brickey

As I go to bed tonight, all the gifts wrapped and tucked  under the tree…. I think about it all, and can’t help but feel a little…… silly. Even though Heidi and I, and Santa, have a standing agreement that the kids only get one real gift from The North Pole and Jolly St. Nick, and two or three each from Mom and Dad, it all still seems so petty.

Because, although we’ve always tried to avoid the gluttonous tendencies that have become associated with Christmas and it’s commercially influenced existence,… it’s hard to remember what really matters when the wrapping paper begins to fly, and the ribbons are tossed aside, as the smiles explode from the children’s faces.

But, this year, more than ever, I feel as if it’s all just really not important. !!! Sorry, but for me, it’s just not.  I realize I’m “going through the motions”, and telling myself this stuff really does matter…… but it really doesn’t.  Oh, it can be ‘fun’! For sure! And the smiles are absolutely amazing! But, the presents, the STUFF! just doesn’t matter! Because for me, and I know for Heidi, too, the Greatest Gift of All, that we could ever receive, was given to us 6 months ago….

We constantly think of the gift that Mikey Fetzer, and his family gave to our Mia on a warm summer day in June. We think of the amazing and miraculous way she was cared for by the wonderful doctors, nurses, and staff at Primary Children’s; and the absolutely incredible and overwhelming support we, as a family, received from the community, our friends and family, and complete strangers from all over the world,…. literally!

Your gifts, of Love, and your Support: financial, physical, spiritual, and emotional; have been Life Saving, and helped create an environment in which we were able to not only survive, but also to face what happened to Mia and our family with a greater degree of dignity and with more strength than we ever could  have if you had not been there for us. Your gifts have helped me to experience Humility and Gratitude to a greater degree than I ever knew possibly existed.

You all, and my daughters very life, have been the most amazing gifts our little family could ever ask for. And none of it came in shiny wrapping paper or a bow.  Mr. Eli has his best friend and his sister for another Christmas! Heidi and I still have our only daughter!  And MiaBella has a chance to go back to school, to try to re-enter her society and find a way to pursue as “normal” a life as she can.  And thanks to the Fetzers, and Mikey in particular,… I think she’s going to do it! 😉

So,… Merry Christmas! everyone! Happy Hanukkah! A Good Pancha Ganapati to You! A Sweet Soltice! and whatever else you celebrate! But, may you find the true Treasures of the Season, not in a package or a box, but in the people you love, the people you live and work with, and in the very act of living. And in the Grace of God, or the Creator, if you believe in that. Or, If you don’t, then may you find it, as a good friend said last night, in recognizing the “Jesus”, or the Divine, in each and every one of us. In every living person, there exists the Divine.  May you experience and learn to appreciate that fact, and work to gain a greater degree of respect for the uniqueness and rights of everyone around you.

May you strive to forgive, and be forgiven. (That means: work to be Forgivable!) May you spend some time considering your Values, your Ethics, the way and manner with which you deal with other people. And may we all come to realize that we all die! And when our time here comes to an end, we can’t take anything with us. Except, perhaps, our memories; our feelings; and hopefully the knowledge that we left the world a better place.

May you come to understand that helping others to succeed, or live, and accepting that less ‘stuff’ is a Great idea, whose time has come! And may you all believe me when I say that toothpaste is NOT necessary, and cavities and gum disease are NOT something you have to live with, and Flossing’s not just a good idea, but something that’s just as important as wiping.  But that’s another story, for another time.

“Good Night to All! And to All, a Good Night!”

Tom B.   ….. Still, T.H.E.M.Bricks!  😉