Those who have the least...

One thing I have learned over the last few months is that those who have the least, give the most. Time, food, money...I have been left speechless, several times, upon receipt of a gift from people who could certainly use the gift themselves, but have chosen to honor our family instead.

For example...

• Jeremy's mom and stepdad, who work four jobs between the two of them, and have put together two amazing fundraisers in less than 6 six weeks, running all over town doing advertising, picking up raffle tickets, and sending thank you notes, along with attending appointments with us, organizing meals, and and babysitting at a moment's notice.
• My friend Lindsey, who has been saving up her vacation time and all her pennies for over a year for a bucket list trip to Nepal, surprised me by buying a plane ticket to visit my family just 2 weeks before leaving on her 3 week trip. She knew I needed her, but wouldn't ask her to come, so she took it upon herself to make it happen. 
• A teacher my mom works with lost her husband to cancer in 2012. He was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer on the day their first child was born. She has sent so much food our way, prewashed and cut veggies and homemade meals, insisting that she has plenty to "pay forward" for the kindness that was shown to her during her husband's illness. 
• My girlfriend Mia, who is just getting her feet under her after her own difficult year, signed up to bring us four meals, and is organizing a fundraiser as well.
• My friend Robin, a long-time vegetarian, decided she needed to honor our Paleo meal requests and tried to cook her first chicken in multiple years...with a 3-month-old on hand! Now, that is love!!

Blankets, games, gifts, gift cards, cash from people we don't know...the list could just go on and on. We can never hope to repay it, but we can certainly try to pay it forward. For the rest of our lives, we will be paying it forward!