A Little Fairy Tale

     Once upon a time there was a group of people that came together due to a mutual interest in helping people. They came from different places, most hours and hours away, to engage in a program and learn more than they had before so that they could pursue careers that they anticipated loving. Each of these people ended up in this particular place, in this particular program, for various reasons, and those reasons are irrelevant for this particular fairy tale.
     Within this group smaller groups formed. The smaller groups were fluid and often able to come together, separate, swap members, swap back and generally get along. The larger group and the smaller groups were good spirited, generally happy, worked well together and the people within them  somehow seemed to grow to care about one another very quickly. Their caring was shown frequently and genuinely. These people were in a field of caring, and they did seem to fit in.

     This particular smaller group had grown close and studied together, cared for one another, and were reliable when it really counted. This group was made up of three girls and a boy; Nicole, Carla, Andrew and myself. The winter months came and this group had a sad matter brought to their attention. Hanukkah fell early that year, and made it so that Carla, who happened to be Jewish, would not be able to spend it with her family. Instead she would be spending the time of celebration studying, states away from her loving family. Andrew told Nicole and myself about the unfortunate timing of these events, so we had no option except to act. This little group had grown close for a reason, and the reason was that we already cared.



     Andrew volunteered his apartment, Nicole her sneaky friend skills and her car, my mother food and a little bit of funding, and me some mediocre cooking skills and enthusiasm. While Carla prepared to spend these 8 nights of celebration alone, away from her family, knowing that they would be spending this time together while she did her best to learn, we went to work. The three of us snuck around behind Carla's back to learn everything we could about this very traditional holiday as quickly as we could to throw together a surprise to help one of our friends be just a little less homesick during a holiday we didn't necessarily understand.

      In addition to bringing it to our attention and volunteering his apartment for this surprise, Andrew helped us by speaking with his family and friends to find traditional music and other common rituals that we might be able to pull off. He let me come over early to decorate his apartment somewhat sparsely (you have to remember that we were still poor college young adults) in the traditional colors and with Hanukkah decorations that my loving mother (who hadn't even met these people, I might add) found for us. I brought recipes that I found online, and hoped that Carla could help us with them since they seemed a little more complex than I was used to. Andrew also surprised me with a box of chocolates as a gift to my mother for helping us pull some of this together.

     While Andrew and I scrambled to get this little party together, Nicole did her part. She picked up a somewhat saddened Carla for our scheduled study session. Carla had been putting on a brave face for us, but we all knew how sad we would have been if we had to miss Christmas with our families. Nicole and Andrew pulled off what may have been the most difficult part of this whole little plan, which was convincing Carla that she needed to come up to the apartment instead of just picking Andrew up. We worked together to bring a little light to the festival of lights that one of our friends held dear. 

At one point, Andrew even confiscated my phone.

 Anyone who knows me knows that this was a dangerous move for him to try, but I let him keep it for a bit so that we all could dedicate our attention to our darling friend.

     It isn't time for Hanukkah again. I haven't even seen these people in over 2 years now, since I graduated. I don't even know what made me think of that darling evening that spread so much sweetness and caring between the four of us. This celebration was during our very first semester together. Following that a lot of things happened to push us closer together or pull us apart, but no matter what happens, I'll always remember my Hanukkah. 

The End.

Christmas Cards

    So lately I've been working on my Christmas cards. (If you want to get a little Christmas [or plain holiday] joy in the mail email me, facebook me, text, whatever... your address and I'll make sure you get some love too.) Looking at the cards I'm sending out really made me notice how much has changed in a year. I know I have a tendency to focus on the negatives, the things I've lost and the things I'm unhappy with, but change can be a global thing and in this case it is. Sometimes when things change so drastically we like to say that we've stayed the same, it's just the people around us who have changed. This time I'm proud to say that it's me that's changed, and I'm glad for it.
    This year I'm sending out a lot more cards, trying to spread a lot of joy and remind people I care about that I'm still here. Two people have been struck from the list and my life, two of the people that this time last year I considered to be two of my very best friends. These two people were in my life for years and now are no longer welcome in any way. They are now the type of people that I wouldn't even wave to if I saw them. They are people that I had extremely unbalanced relationships with, relationships where I gave them everything I had and got very little in return. Of course true friendship isn't about what you can get from others... but in retrospect I find it really painful to see the lack of respect that they held for me when I was doing everything I could to treat them well. Even with this realization, it hurts to know that these relationships that I invested so much time into are over and gone. This feeling makes me have to really look at myself and try to figure out why I would miss people that didn't treat me well and only made me feel worse about myself, while alienating people that could make me happy. While I try to figure all of that out I recognize that I have changed. I've grown to a point where I can see past the facade that other people put out of being a "friend" while they are really just using you for their own benefit. Granted, it adds to my trust issues and causes me to question the motivation of most people in my world, but I feel like I'll be protecting myself in the long run.
    Last year I was still in school. I was working towards an accomplishment that, while I didn't see how big of a deal it was, only 7.62% of people in the United States over the age of 25 have accomplished. This figure ranges from 6-8% of people overall depending on where you get the statistic, so I picked one on the high end. Master's degrees aren't easy to accomplish. I recognize now how big of a deal it is, and how it makes me far more marketable. I'm really lucky that I can do good work and really help people in need. Granted my field is not one that makes seriously huge amounts of money, but I can work flexibly and pay my bills, and when I go home at night I know that I'm doing something, even if it is something small, to make the world a better place. In addition, I have the luxury of being able to move if I need to, and still be able to make a living. I've got a great job that I love right now, and I am looking for an even better one, just because I can.
    One year ago I was preparing for an interesting Christmas, opening my home to people that had nowhere else to go and no other families that they could spend it with. I let these people act as members of my family and gave them all of the love and appreciation I give to my own family. Now I've cut one of those people out completely, and am preparing to bring the other home because we are starting a family of our own. That isn't to say I'm pregnant, just to clarify, but rather that this person will be in my life forever and every Christmas will be spent with him.
    I've changed a lot in a year. I've made concious choices about my life and what I deserve, let people that weren't worth it go, taken a stand on the harassment some people feel is appropriate, started a career, said "yes" to a marriage proposal, recognized what is truly important, and grown as a person. I'm proud of everything I've done in the past year and I'm excited for what I may get to do in the next year. I've never been a new years resolution person because I don't think you should need a new year to make changes. The kind of person I am, however, is a loving, caring daughter and fiance, a dedicated mental health professional, and an ambitious student. I am the kind of person who may take things hard because I dedicate myself 100% to the things that matter to me. I give more than I expect to get, and I want to make a difference. I'm looking at life closer now so that I can see what I need to do to continue to be the person I want to be. No matter what happens I will make decisions I can live with, and I most certainly will not have regrets.

Live, laugh, love. Give yourself to the world. Don't be afraid to get hurt. Keep people who love you closer than anyone else. This is what I've found makes daily life most enjoyable. Hopefully whatever you're doing works for you.

<3