Christmas a time for miracles

As a parent, we do not what we want for ourselves, but rather, what is best for our children.

This was the year for Conner and Sara to be with their dad, however tragedy struck. Darryl's father had a failing Liver and was in and out the hospital for months. The week before Christmas break, his father landed up in the ICU with complete liver failure. His Kidney's were also failing. Without a transplant, Paul wouldn't make it through the holidays.
As a family unit, we decided to remove the children from the sadness their father was facing. Christmas would be around the corner, and it wasn't a time to be cheerful.

The rains slowed our drive back up to Tracy from Southern California. Making what would normally be a six hour drive into a ten hour drive and an accidental turn onto a wrong freeway. Once home, the merriment of first seeing the family faded and Conner and Sara's thoughts immediately went back to their ailing grandfather.

Knowing what sadness held ahead for Conner and Sara, we tried our hardest to divert their attentions towards the spirit of Christmas and knowing it was a time for miracles... and it was!!

Not a moment too soon (nearly two days after being on the top of the transplant list), a kidney had come through to Paul... a week before christmas!! The road ahead was still tough and we were not out of the darkness yet.

Paul's body accepted the Kidney almost immediately, and within a week, he was chipper and full of life, as he once had been.

Now, I'm not sure if he was able to be at home for Christmas, but I do know that he was to be released either the Friday before Christmas or the Monday after... but close enough to Christmas as we could get.

Now, another miracle... a smaller miracle happened the weekend I was down in Southern California. I met my mother's brother and his children and wife. I don't remember them, but when I hugged them, the wholesome family feeling was there and it was OVERWHELMING!!

During my visit to my Uncle's home in San Bernadino, I was able to see old family photos and also the death annoucements for my grandmother and grandfather, who sadly, passed within a month of each other. As I read my Grandfathers announcement, I had electricity run through my veins. As I looked at the announcement I couldn't beleive my eyes... my grandfather was given an LDS burial. He was LDS and I never knew it!

There are reasons we choose the paths we take. There are reasons that god knows have to happen to give another person a chance to live.

Everyday we are thankful for these gifts and although sometimes they may hurt us, that which makes us weaker makes us stronger.