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perhaps you will like my Christmas Tree post!  :)

You got beautiful childred ladyhill......

I smile just imagining their faces unwrapping......it's so wondeful There is so much content in giving happiness..........i wish I could be there and watch......

Thank you for your kind words, all of you, but the help is Gods,

I am but his servant. And not as much of one as I would like to be either.

I made mistakes. I wasted money in stupid ways when we didn't have it.

Someone took pity on my anyways, it was God.

We all screw up at some point and do something stupid. I hold it against nobody. Just sad we live in a society now where my 18 year old can't sign up for college "because he would have to take the bus there and takes an hour each way" My 16 year old believes she "must" have a car and really very few teenagers still understand that they were MEANT to be broke and not have any real furniture or luxeries when they just moved out from home!

We didn't either did we? I know I didn't. I was poor into my 30's and then just made an average income until I was 38. My children had toys and clothes from Army post trash cans I searched 4 nights a week and I sold everything I found the following Saturday in 105 degrees without an umbrella, standing for 8 hours on a fleamarket. I collected soda cans, I remember..if I crushed them, I could get like $5 a bag. In a good night I would have 2 bags. Thats $300 a month!!! Not including the other useful stuff I found. But wow was it nasty? oh yeah! The things and fluids my hands dug around in.....

Did it matter? Was I ashamed? Not one bit. I did what I could do when there was no other option and we made it through. I cam to this country 8 months pregnant with 2 small sons. My first Christmas, that same month, we had $20 exactly for me to make a Christmas of. That was 18 years ago. 20 bucks wasn't much then either.

I walked my fat belly down the sand hills in California to the trash container of the drug store and found me the nicest little discarted Christmas tree.

I dragged it home and headed back out. 99 cents for some lights, 3 or 4 for ornaments...I squeezed out 2 big plastic trucks and a teddy bear and took a second teddy that used to be my own so both would have 2 gifts. They were 2 and 4 then.

And you know what? Maybe it was the best Christmas ever, even though then I felt bad about it. But they very happy, I still have the picture of them with their bears in front of that tree.

We EARNED that Christmas, even if it was Cheeseburgers for dinner, it was OURS......

I just wanted to say that we need more people like you in the world.  When my fiancee and I were on top of things so to say, we would help out the ones in our town that we knew needed it.  There are so many people out there today that just take advantage of others.  Thank you for helping the people around your community.

Thank goodness there are still good people in this world. and thank god for you! Have a Blessed Christmas

-Joe Russo

Copperas Cove, Tx

Even though you struggle at times like the rest of us, how wonderful you try to give when you can. Kudos. It is wise of you to request to meet people who need help in person as there are many frauds out there. Even begging for money and making fictitious profiles that try to pull the heart strings. It is such a sorry thing there are those kinds of people out there giving the real needy a bad name and taking advantage of the situation.

And you are right....you can do a lot on a shoestring and with a little imagination to make Christmas just as wonderful for a child as if you had spent 100's of dollars. Makes everything more meaningful too. People who live beyond their means and now suddenly find themselves struggling need to learn the meaning of being frugal. Get rid of all the cars and luxuries, and move to a smaller house. Material things don't make you happy and trying to attain some kind of social status only has gotten many into financial trouble.

Sorry, I guess I will get off my rant now. Just wanted to say I think it is wonderful that someone "pays it forward" as you do. Those who come from simple roots know better then anyone the meaning of hard work as you apparently do. And also possess charity, compassion and a willingness to help those less fortunate. You will be blessed many times over for your kindness to others.

God Bless.