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Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life
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Dear Reader,
"What do you want for Christmas?"
When I was checking out at Sears the other day I asked the clerk, a man probably in his 60s, what he wanted Santa to bring him this year for Christmas. He smiled, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Nothing really, I have everything I want."
Like the man at Sears, I didn't think I wanted or needed anything for Christmas this year either, until someone gave me the best Christmas present I've ever received.
My daughter, who is a recovering alcoholic, and hasn't had a drink in two years, called me last night. "Mom, I have something important to tell you." And she continued with a story about a mom and dad who called to talk to her. Their daughter has been an alcoholic for five years, and is not getting any better. In fact things are getting worse, so bad, that the parents (who didn't know my daughter) were calling her to see if she had any idea where their daughter might be. They hadn't heard from her in over a month.
My daughter didn't know where the young woman was, but she listened to her parents on the phone. "It was gut wrenching to listen to this girl's parents," my daughter told me. "Even the dad was crying on the phone."
After my daughter hung up from talking to the parents, she said she realized for the first time, how my husband and I must have felt all those years when she was drinking. "The worry and concern you must have had Mom, how did you and Dad sleep at night? I want to apologize."
I was stunned. It was an apology--an acknowledgement--I thought I would never hear.
What do I want for Christmas?
I had no idea until my daughter called.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
www.muffinsandmayhem.com
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