Don't Get Me Started with Linda Sharp

No Crib For A Bed

It's Cyber Monday and elfing is going strong. 

Analysts were quick to point out that actual Black Friday brick and mortar sales were down, but the reasons are simple - online shopping has made it possible to stay warm, safe (no incidents of people rushing the store doors and/or getting into fistfights over some 5am super deal in Walmart), and cost effective.

Black Friday deals began arriving in my inbox weeks ago.  Black Friday is no longer confined to a single day, just as Cyber Monday deals were in full swing this past weekend and will continue all week.

So this elf has been able to surf, compare, and coupon code without the stress of bargains evaporating in 24 hours.

Your donations this past week have gone towards more sneakers, pajamas, winter boots, and yes, grocery gift cards.  But there are also the fun items like art supplies, play make up, Barbies, plushes, race tracks, and even a set of wireless headphones for a very deserving boy whose Christmas morning is going to be pretty amazing.  Face it, when you want something so badly, even though you know it simply cannot be, having the item materialize is akin to, well, magic.

And speaking of magic...

I have been working on the largest single purchase of this season.  Rest assured, sales and coupon codes abound in this arena also, and being the cheapest elf alive, I am thrilled to have used your funds to add a crib to Santa's DGMS sleigh.  

I am still in residence with my new granddaughter, and love the comfort and beauty she has been born into.  Her bassinet, a full closet of cute clothes, an infant seat that sways, stuffed animals that are bigger than she is, and yes, a crib she won't even use for a few more months.  It's easy to take these things for granted.  But a request from a mom sent me back 30 years and I knew we had to help.

A little over 30 years ago, our oldest daughter was 4 months old.  We lived in Hawaii and a hurricane swept everything from our lives, including her crib.  This same thing happened when the hurricane whipped across Florida in late September - taking every THING from this family.  Their attitude is like ours was - we had our daughter and each other, that was all we really needed.  They have their infant daughter and each other.  Rudy and I well know the slow process of rebuilding a life when the ground has literally been eroded beneath your feet.  This mother is so grateful for family taking them in, helping them gain their footing again, but asked for help to obtain the one thing they need for their tiny one - a crib.

They may not be in a manger, but there is no crib for a bed.  Currently their daughter sleeps in a Pack and Play (exactly like Culley did for months after our hurricane).  And as we found with our child, theirs will outgrow that quickly.

Enter Yes, Virginia.  Enter you amazing DGMS elves with hearts of absolute 24k.  They will be receiving a crib (the kind that converts all the way up to a toddler bed), baby mattress, sheet set, and a super soft stuffed bunny to restart her stuffed animal collection.  

THIS is what you do.  You rebuild hope in a future.  You rebuild faith in the goodness of total strangers.  You rebuild smiles in hearts that are adrift, shell shocked, alone.

Every purchase I am able to make is special, they really are.  But this one?  This is one of those that will resonate forever.

THANK YOU from a very grateful Mom and Dad.  THANK YOU from a baby who doesn't even know what Christmas is yet.  THANK YOU from this elf who is constantly humbled by this community of ours.

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Please keep sending people to our sleigh.  Or if your family needs our help, please ask.  It takes a village.

And if you can donate, the usual routes are open 24/7:

Paypal > [email protected] > please do it as Send Money, not as a purchase.  If you do it as a "purchase" they withhold a portion of your donation.

Zelle > [email protected]

Venmo - @Linda-Sharp-29 

   

 

 

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Elfing is a magical endeavor. 

I find it hard to describe it any other way.  People find their way to my inbox.  They share their worst moments, always hesitant to believe that anything will actually come of it.  And I understand.  In a world where we have all learned - sometimes the hard way - that if it seems too good to be true, it usually is - DGMS is the exception to that rule. 

Even after vetting and finally asking for wish lists, needed items, and most importantly, their trust - I can always feel the person on the other end of the internet holding their breath. 

But then magic begins to happen.  Because of your generosity, I am able to begin shopping.  Actually "shopping" is not quite accurate.  What I do is begin tearing holes in the web looking for the right items, gifts that meet wished for parameters - a warm comforter that's purple ... but flowers; a 7 year old obsessed with singing; a 3 year old with autism who has a major interest in books but tears all the pages out - and shaking every coupon site until one of them coughs up a code to stretch our dollars even further. 

Yesterday I spent the afternoon working the list of a mother with four little ones - ages from 7 months to 7 years.  When I was done, I emailed her what to be looking for in terms of shipping, including a much needed gift card for Walmart for food and necessities.

NowNow, like the little drummer boy asking "Do you hear what I hear?" - I want to share with you the email that came back because you need to "hear" for yourself what it is that YOU do.

"I could literally cry thank you so so much! God bless you! You make such a difference I can’t imagine how many people you have helped and touched by doing this for them. You are an inspiration I hope you know that! "    

It is really important to me to pass this on to you all.  Yes, I get to do the communicating, the elfing, the sharing of what they can expect to arrive from "Santa's DGMS Elves" but NONE OF IT could happen without YOU.  I am a conduit, that's it.  I can only do this because each year you trust me to be a good steward of your investments in this ongoing project of ours.

YOU have helped.  YOU have touched so many people.  YOU are an inspiration.

And I hope YOU know that.

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Please keep sending people to our sleigh.  Or if your family needs our help, please ask.  It takes a village.

And if you can donate, the usual routes are open 24/7:

Paypal > [email protected] > please do it as Send Money, not as a purchase.  If you do it as a "purchase" they withhold a portion of your donation.

Zelle > [email protected]

Venmo - @Linda-Sharp-29 

Joy To My World, Marlowe Has Come

Joy.  As defined by Webster's: delight; gaiety, a state of happiness or felicity; BLISS.

I admit to feeling very little of that the past 18 months.  This new piece of parenting I have been on - that of taking care of my parents, has been draining.  It is has involved stress.  It has involved time.  It has involved fear.  It has involved details and demands, months away from my husband.  And it has involved deep, lasting loss.

Saturday will mark one year since my father passed.  I miss him every day.  I find myself wanting to call and share something, only to remind myself he is gone.  That feeling has been so heightened the past week.  Not because of loss, but because of gain.

After holding my breath since March when Culley told me she was pregnant, I got one of the greatest honors of my life last Tuesday.  I was there in the delivery room with her, Sean, and his mom, as baby Marlowe came into this world.  And I so wanted to call my Dad.  Unclepap was all about the babies.

I have heard it countless times from friends who have been on this road already, but now I know they are right: being a grandparent is the most amazing thing in the world.  Watching your child become a parent is profound - I can still so easily conjure the memories of when she was born.   Memories over 30 years old surely shouldn't still be so close, so colorful, yet they are.  And now she is someone's mother.  He is someone's father.   In an instant they realized they, too, will never truly exhale again.  That fear is an inescapable component of being a parent.  That nothing is about them anymore, that everything is about their precious daughter.  Being here with them as they navigate these first few weeks is a gift.

It was this morning as I sat in the rocking chair, trapped under 6 1/2 pounds of sleeping baby, that I felt it.  Joy.  Pure, simple, sweet joy.  I felt present in a way I have not for some time. For two hours I rocked, memorizing every detail, every sleeping expression on her tiny face.  Just me, her, and joy.  No noise, no demands, no cell phone - just the sound of her gentle breathing ... and the occasional toot.  :)

I thought about how lucky this beautiful little girl is -  not only because she has been born into the lives of Culley and Sean, two extraordinary human beings; not just because of the circle of love of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends - so many babies are blessed with those.  Rather, as I rocked her I thought of the Yes, Virginia emails I have received so far.  From parents with little ones, even babies or babies on the way  - children who are loved like Marlowe, but whose fortunes just are not the same at this point in time. 

Six more children climbed into our sleigh last night.  And we also have a Yes, Virginia baby on the way.  We will be helping them all.  Through your generosity we have already provided $900 in food gift cards, purchased 7 coats, a sleigh of toys, and 5 pairs of boots/shoes.  

And the elfing continues.  Requests for warm comforters, diapers, art supplies, sensory toys, and more food.

My heart has been lifted by you all as we load the sleigh again this year, by the parents whose hearts are being healed by you, if only for a while, and of course, by the best early Christmas gift I could imagine:  a perfect tiny bundle of joy named Marlowe who has changed my world forever.

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Please keep sending people my way.  Or if your family needs our help, please ask.  It takes a village.

And if you can donate, the usual routes are open 24/7:

Paypal > [email protected] > please do it as Send Money, not as a purchase.  If you do it as a "purchase" they withhold a portion of your donation.

Zelle > [email protected]

Venmo - @Linda-Sharp-29 

To Virginia or Not Virginia, That Is The Question

Christmas is next month.

It is amazing to be able to say that.  Time, like a 757, flies.  My life, like yours, is filled on the daily with demands meaning sometimes it feels as if the days blend, becoming one long blur of work, kids, extracurriculars, family, parents, laundry, shopping, survival.

Add on a heaping dollop of national strife, brewing violence, and mid term elections that will determine if this grand experiment called the United States of America dies or hangs on to continue striving to live up to its founding words.

I will be the first to admit that getting into the holiday spirit is a little tough this year.  I am hyper aware of world and national events; we are heading into another move; I am not in my home to even decorate; But I am currently with my very pregnant daughter and we put up the tree yesterday to let twinkle lights work their guaranteed magic as we await the best Christmas gift ever.  

I have an inbox filled with Yes, Virginia requests.  I knew they would come when I wrote about it last week.  What we do not have are donations.  I want to say that that is ok.  I know times are difficult on so many levels, budgets are strained, and putting gas in the car has put a huge dent in wallets in so many places.  

To that end, I want to offer a breather, a break, if that is what is necessary.  We can pick this up again next November when our lives might all be a bit easier, brighter.

Rudy and I will fill what requests we can, and if anyone can donate, the avenues are always open.  But please do not feel obligated or pressured, and please do not feel bad if you just cannot this year.  Yes, Virginia takes a village, but sometimes the villagers have to martial and protect their own resources.

Sending love to you all as I wait for my moniker to change to Mimi.

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Donation routes:

Paypal > [email protected] > please do it as Send Money, not as a purchase.  If you do it as a "purchase" they withhold a portion of your donation.

Zelle > [email protected]

Venmo - @Linda-Sharp-29