Hello good friends. I'm back, and exhausted, from a wonderful Christmas in Salt Lake City and Park City, Utah. Besides Christmas, we celebrated the engagement of my sweet and special step-daughter. She is planning an August, '07 wedding and we are so excited!

But another thing happened to me that I wanted to share with you before I forgot about it and it became lost in my foggy brain.

While having lunch with my hubby, my son and his wife, one of the waitresses came over to our table and threw her arms around me and gave me a big hug. As she pulled back, I recognized her. "Dee", was an ex-employee of mine, one that worked for me over 10 yrs. ago in Salt Lake City. At that time, "Dee" was a victim of spousal abuse. The bruises that she covered with make-up quickly became larger and the stories she made up to hide the abuse became less credible. At one time, I spoke to her, telling her that if there was anything that I could do to help her at any time, to call me. That call came on a Friday evening. "Dee" had been beaten almost beyond recognition. After getting her medical attention, I offered her a room in my home, a place that her husband would never think to look for her. She spent the week-end with me, resting and talking about her tragic marriage, one that she ultimately ended shortly after this horrible beating.

Our company closed son afterward and we all ended up going our separate ways. I never saw "Dee" again but heard that her ex-husband was arrested for dealing drugs and was in prison.

So, last week at the restaurant, after exchanging pleasantries, "Dee" begins to tear up. She told me that she had been hoping to run into me for years so she could tell me how that one week-end had changed her life. Not only had she divorced her husband, she moved away from their friends who shared his partying lifestyle and drug use. She explained that her marriage to this man had caused her 1st husband to take her to court so their 2 children would not have to deal with him. She was able to get custody of those children back and now one of them was pregnant, ready to make "Dee" a grandmother in March.

She thanked me for taking her in all those years ago. She said it was then that she made decisions that changed her life, that all she needed was someone to talk to and believe in her. She had to get back to work so she gave me one last hug and left.

Now I'm NOT telling you all this story to blow my own horn. NO WAY! It's just that we all hear about taking time to help another person. We do it every day on this site. I simply wanted to tell you how a story actually ended, and how it became my favorite gift of all. You just never know how one act of kindness turns out.

Love to all,
nancyh