Ollie and the Holidays

More than a few times over the holiday season, someone said to one of us “Christmas must be really hard” or “Thanksgiving must have been tough”. I suppose in some respects that’s true.

Yet somehow, the whole experience was gently uplifting

Yes, we looked at pictures and cried. Yes, we watched as kids were passed around or tore into their shiny-wrapped boxes. And yes, it hurt (a little). At the same time, it made us so happy to see other's joy and to absorb just a bit of that. Christmas and kids go together like the proverbial peanut butter and chocolate, and that’s a good thing.

Still, Bekka and I asked ourselves many times: “How did we survive this so well?”

It wasn’t all roses, but there were more flowers than weeds. We didn’t decorate this year - in fact we didn’t even get each other gifts. What we did do was see friends and tell stories and laugh a lot. We saw family, and we laughed with them too. OK, so we cried some in there, but it was never melancholy. Sad at times, yes, but never melancholy.

The answer, I think, lies in Ollie himself and the way we chose to celebrate his time with us each and every day. One of Ollie’s nurses commented that she’d never seen a family stay so positive yet so realistic. It wasn’t easy, but we felt it was something we had to do for him and for ourselves. We knew there was an endgame. We knew that it was coming sooner rather than later – but that it wasn’t a reason not to enjoy every little moment of this precious life we had been given. The results were many beautiful little memories tucked away – memories that taken together far outweigh the big bad ones. Ollie almost made it too easy. He smiled that big toothless grin and used those great big blue eyes to draw you into his angelic little world.

We look back and marvel we were able to observe every major holiday with Ollie. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day (don’t think those weren’t special!) So many good memories for so many holidays. Remembering those times when our little guy was there to snuggle with – that’s what helped us get through what could have been a terrifying time.

I won't lie - we miss you terribly little man, but your time here was so special to so many. We’ll always have a Jolly Ollie Christmas in your honor.

One Million Dollars for SMA Awareness and Research?

Yes, you read that correctly.  One MILLION dollars.

But only if you help.

The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation (GSF) has already won $25,000 in the Chase Community Giving campaign on Facebook.  (That's Chase as in the big bank and credit card company.)  And, just as they pledged to do, they donated all $25,000 to SMA research at the University of California-Irvine, California Stem Cell, Inc., and Dr. Hans Keirstead.  (Check out this news release from Families of SMA for more info on the research.)

How did GSF win $25,000?  The same way they'll win $1,000,000...with your help!

Facebook users became fans of the Chase Community Giving campaign.  Then they voted for GSF.  And asked their friends to vote as well.  Simple, really.  GSF was one of the top 100 charities.

Voting for round two begins Friday, January 15th and ends Friday, January 22nd.

Will you help?  Please!

Will you ask your friends to help?  (Get some great ideas from the Strong family here.)

One million dollars would dramatically change SMA.