Anything for my kids.

You know that saying, "I'd do anything for my kids"? Well, I've had the opportunity to put it into action a few times. I went into bankruptcy to provide medical care for my son....medical care that our insurance deemed "elective" (because, yes, I elect for him to stay alive). I've quit my job to be with them, I've worked extra jobs to provide for them. I looked at myself in the mirror and decided to get healthy for them.

But the biggest one of all was moving across the country for them. Away from our family, friends, and everything that we knew (but not because of those things, of course). This will be the first holiday season we are thousands of miles apart, and won't be spending the holidays with family. It's sad how pretty my house will look decorated and no one will see it. It's sad that we won't be exchanging gifts in person, but rather mailing them. If we'd known last Christmas was the last in a while we'd be together as a family, and with my grandmother alive, maybe we all would have tried a little harder to get along and enjoy it more.

But getting back to my kids....the boy, especially. The ten months we've lived here is the longest stretch of time IN HIS ENTIRE LIFE that he's gone without a hospital visit. EVER. This is significant, friends. Can you imagine being 12 years old and ten months is the longest you've gone without an IV? Or a breathing treatment? So will I miss my family at Christmas? Yes. Is it worth the separation? Yes. Because once you've had a child, and you say, "I'd do anything..." sometimes you get the chance to make good on that promise. 

I heard my parents say the same thing over and over when I was growing up. And now that "anything" to them means Christmas morning without me for the first time in 35 years. Despite their sadness, my heart knows that they understand. Because sometimes doing anything for your kids means letting them do anything for theirs.