Teachingmommy: Christmas Drive 2014....Thank You

Monday, January 26, 2015

Christmas Drive 2014....Thank You

I know most of you see my updates on Facebook, but just in case there's a few of you out there who haven't....

Thank you.

Please take a minute to watch and share the Christmas Drive 2014 video...

I couldn't be more sincere when I tell you: This year was unprecedented. So many of you donated, collected items, sent money for glasses, paid for clothes and shoes, held drives to raise money for books, bought toys out of your own meager paychecks, made Goodwill trips, sent cash to a family of 8 who had nothing, bought hundreds of children blankets and socks and toys, gave stuffed animals, forwarded my plea for help to all your family and friends, sent toothbrushes, mittens, hats, scarves, backpacks, coats, and even...a Christmas tree for a family who didn't have one. Clothes for a foster family who was living in their car.

This list is by no means complete, but please believe me when I tell you that I can't even write this meager "Thank You" without some tears because...YOU created a spirit and love and joy in the hearts of hundreds....HUNDREDS...of children and their families. You saw a need, you acted, and I humbly thank you.

As the memories of our own Christmas' fade away and all we are left with are the pictures...I hope a few of the images in this movie will stay with you all the year through. I hope a few of the smiles in the toothless grins gives you a boost on a day you're needing it most. I hope the sound of the squeals when the kids realized they got pajamas is a sound you carry with you all throughout the year.
I know I will. From the bottom of my heart: Thank You. I am blessed to know each and every one of you.

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Spanish Steps: Rome, Italy

Must Read Books & Great Authors

"A Tree Grows In Brooklyn" is a novel by Betty Smith first published in 1943. It relates the coming-of-age story of its main character, Francie Nolan, and her Irish-American family struggling against poverty in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. The novel is set in the first and second decades of the 20th century. The book was an immense success, a nationwide best-seller that was distributed to servicemen overseas.
"Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell. This is my all-time favorite book and you MUST read this at least once in your lifetime. It has won the Pulitzer Prize, it is available in 31 different countries and it has been hearlded as "The Great Amercian Novel"
"My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult is a heart-wrenching novel about what it means to be a good parent, a good person and a good sister. Kate has had cancer since childhood and her younger sister Anna was concevied to be a perfect-match bone marrow donor for her. As Anna grows up, she struggles with how she and world will see the rights of her own body. This novel is the first book in years that had me crying. It was very well written and very enjoyable if you're in the mood for a tear-jerker.
"The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls is a memoir about a nomadic, deprived childhood told with the wonderment of a child who always wants to believe that Daddy will be a hero in the end and that Momma really does know best. You are enrapt reading about Walls and her siblings rifling through trash cans at school looking for food, doing the skedaddle in the middle of the night, or waiting for Dad to come home after another bender. It's a riveting story and a testament to Walls' desire to rise above a life that could have easily turned her into just another tragic headline. I really appreciated this story because of the very real probability that some of my students are living this very life.
One of my favorite authors (I have everything she's ever written) is Marian Keyes whose stories are set in Britian or Ireland. She is the internationally bestselling author of Watermelon (which is my favorite), Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, Rachel's Holiday, The Last Chance Saloon, Angels, Sushi for Beginners, Under the Duvet, and her latest, The Other Side of the Story. Her books have touched readers around the world, and they are now published in 35 countries and in many different languages.