Day Sixteen, Gift Sixteen

My posts are getting further and further apart, it is due to my weakness the past couple days.  On day sixteen, I was unable to get out of bed at all...the pain really started to get out of control in the evening.  I am unable to take Tylenol due to liver problems and can't take ibuprofen due to ulcers...a lot of the time I am in pain, I can't do anything but get through it.  Being in bed all day definitely brought back the throbbing in my leg and I have not exercised for two days in a row which has worried me.

For my gift, I knew what I wanted to do, I was just stuck in bed...so it was a question of how to do it.  My friends who own a flower shop brought me a beautiful vase of flowers and told me to either enjoy them or to use them for my gift giving challenge.  I was so thankful!  I knew immediately who I wanted to give the flowers to, my neighbor down the street who gave Jamie the cactus stick.  I wanted to go grocery shopping and bring the flowers to my neighbor, but each hour came and went and I couldn't get out of bed.  I couldn't shower or get dressed.  It wasn't going to happen.  So in the early evening I wrote a letter to my neighbor and asked my husband to deliver the flowers and letter for me.  I could have probably shuffled my way down the street in my oversized sweats and disheveled hair, but decided it would be best not to.

Here is the letter that I wrote:

To our kind neighbor,

I don’t know your name, but I know your heart…You gave my Jamie a present that is completely priceless and we will value more than any amount of money, gold, or jewels in the world.

What you don’t know is that you gave your cactus stick to Jamie’s physical therapist. I’m Desiree, her mother through adoption. Recently, I was diagnosed with a very serious and rare genetic disorder. I have been bedridden for months and fighting to regain enough health to care for myself and my children. During this time, I have committed to giving 365 gifts in the next 365 days. I’ve been blogging about it at www.365giftsin365days.blogspot.com; you gave us your gift on my 14th day. It was completely and totaling overwhelming and I wrote all about it on the blog.

What you also don’t know is that Jamie is adopted out of foster care. She was taken away at one year old due to severe neglect and broken bones. She was placed for adoption fifteen times unsuccessfully due to her behaviors and was considered “unadoptable”…she spent almost all of her life before the age of five in a shelter. She has had a rough life and has lived with us over two years now and her adoption was finalized this past year.

Your gorgeous cactus stick was the best gift that our family has ever received bar none. My husband and I cried Thursday evening over your love and generosity. There is no way we can ever thank you. I do want you to know that your precious heirloom will be regarded as just that in our home. It will hang over Jamie’s bed as a reminder that God has put many angels on this earth to care for our “special” children and adults who can not care for themselves.

Your gift has rest0red faith in me that even after I am gone, my Jamie will be loved and cared for by people like you. I want to hug you and thank you in person, but I have been too weak since you gave this to her. Please accept this letter of thanks and these flowers as a small token of our appreciation. As soon as I am up to it I would love to cook dinner for you and your family.

With much love,

Desiree, Jamie, and the rest of the family

When my husband came back he said our neighbor was quite surprised and his name is Daniel.  He also told Tim that his grandmother loved that stick and even when more advanced canes came out she only wanted that one.  I'm so disappointed that I couldn't go down there myself but as I look back, I have been having more and more good days and that is what I am trying to focus on.  It is hard not to get discouraged, I am doing the best that I can.