Dear Reader:

Yesterday was filled with so many surprises I asked Mandy and Eva Cate (they came bearing bags of Christmas gifts) if they had decided to have Christmas at my ” home”.

There were two bags brimming over filled with every kind of thoughtful trinkets.memorabilia, and culinary delights.

Jo Dufford had sent her bag to Doodle, Doodle added her bag … I left a message with Jo that finally I know who Santa Claus is and another Sammy the Cardinal arrived to wish me Merry Christmas.

And Doodle gave me the second item ( like Lassie’s Benne Wafers) that means Christmas to me! It is nicknamed ” Trash” but it is completely the opposite…once one puts their hand in the jar … it stays there until it is empty!

I shared some goodies with all the staff coming in and out. Want to spread Christmas!

As Mandy and Eva Cate prepared to leave ( with Winnie in her Christmas sweater -with the word SPOILED on the back) someone knocked on the door smiling brightly and explaining she was to clean certain rooms.

The brightly smiling young woman introduced herself as Anna… she had an interesting accent coming from her warm demeanor. When I asked her where she was from, she replied she was Russian.

Now more interested than ever… I asked her how she landed here in Charleston and precisely here at the Palms … especially with the ongoing Russian assault on Ukraine.

” My family has been blessed” she said.

Her loving family all grew up in what was Russia at the time until borders changed… she married and moved with her husband to Ukraine.

As conditions worsened with part of her family caught up in Putin’s Russia family now…anxiety increased.

What saved them was that another brother ( two years earlier) before Putin began his assault, fled to the United States and joined the military.

So now he was allowed to bring immediate family into the US … Anna and her husband escaped just in the nick of time.

I listened with mouth agape … this young beautiful woman, cleaning rooms, was filled with an inner glow. When I asked her how she liked the US… she just started nodding vigorously and said ” We bless it every morning before we go to work. ”

See how impactful stories can follow and find us if we are open to communication. I sent her back home with gifts and goodies. She just kept shaking her head in delight!

And today is my middle ” child’s” -Walsh’s birthday -Kringle Dingle!

And I discovered the town of Summerville ( where all my children grew up) just celebrated its 176th birthday! Pretty cool!

Jackson called me and told me she had on ” ” Big Blue ” ( coat) because it was really freezing when her boys took her into Princeton NJ to eat out and enjoy the Christmas lights( She reminded me that it was Brooke who bought all the blue coats for us. Memory lapse but wow only Brooke could have known we would need them in the future-no matter where we were . Thank you Brookie…A lifesaver!

So until tomorrow…Today is my favorite day! Winnie the Pooh