Little Blessings

So far, this week isn't looking too hot. Henry is sick. The only reason we were able to get the few precious hours of sleep we got last night is because Jason slept with Henry in his arms. It would have been adorable but we were far to exhausted for cuteness. Then we got some unexpected medical bills. I sure do love our country's current health care system (insert sarcastic tone here). The icing on the crap cake, Jason's car is broken. Joy to the world. Yes, I know this post has a whiny tone but stick with me I am going somewhere. The truth is, we all have crappie weeks. And, the old saying is true "When it rains, it pours." But, it is hard not to get all gloomy and depressed. In the middle of the Debbie Downer state the neatest thing happened, a neighbor brought me this:

My car keys. My car keys that I lost 4 years ago. Back when we lived in our first apartment, on the other side of town, before we moved to Florida.

When my mom first got diagnosed with brain cancer Jason and I moved to Florida to be with her. The first surgery left her unable to drive so we moved in to take Mom to her radiation treatments. During the process of packing up our apartment, I lost my keys. We searched high and low looking for them. We finally gave up and had to call a lock smith to cut and program a new key from my car. They were my only set at the time. When we got to florida and started unpacking we thought the keys would turn up. Nothing. When we moved back to Tennessee and got our boxes that we had been storing, we thought our keys would turn up. Nothing. Needless to say, we gave up on ever finding them. Then yesterday my neighbor brought them to me. We gave them our old living room furniture and her daughter found the keys stuck in the chair. They were suck in the back in a place only a kid's hand could fit. I know this had to be true because I tore that chair apart looking for them.

As I stood there holding my lost keeps I was flooded with memories from that time in my life. I just kept replaying the moment I found out my mom was going to die. I remember at the time thinking that car keys were so unimportant. It didn't matter that is cost us $200 to have a new key made. What really mattered was family. We were going to spend time with my mom during what would be the last several months of her life. Suddenly my whining over medical bills and broken down cars seemed silly. What mattered was family. It is the holidays and I have my health, my husband and a beautiful baby boy. So what if I haven't slept in days or have mounding bills. We will be fine, we are blessed and we have each other. Thank you God for giving me a simple gift to help me remember to value my blessings because life is short.

Oh and I am going to rock the heck out of that keyless entry. No more standing in the rain with a baby fumbling around trying to unlock my doors. That's right Tennessee, bring on the yucky weather. I can totally take you. I am so glad we didn't sell that chair to the girl on Craig's list who wanted it. I am sure there is a moral in this tale about being kind to your neighbors as well as remembering what is important.

PS. As I was editing this post (I know you are thinking, she edits her posts? Yes, yes I know that I am horrible at typos, grammar and spelling and even with the proofing process miss a lot my errors. But, I do try. Really I do) the mail man came and in the mail was a Christmas card from a family friend with a check in it. A check! A nice check that will help with those bills. It is a Christmas miracle! Now my keyboard is wet with tears. See, things do work out when you stop your whining.