Once upon a time

Once upon a time a long time ago, I was a young, young Mom with two little girls and far away from home in a foreign country and married to a beast of a man. He had a terribly violent temper and was abusive in every way imaginable, he controlled all the money, the car, was cruelly abusive verbally and physically. After smashing my head against a wall and hitting me in front of my two little girls, I knew I had to leave. I had no money, no job, no plan but I knew I had to go and I did.

Christmas was coming. We lived in an elegant neighborhood and no one would have known that I scraped together coins to put food on the table for the girls or that I was selling household items to keep the lights on. No one knew. I was scared but less scared than within the marriage and just knew I would find my way.

One day a couple of weeks before Christmas the doorbell rang, there stood a woman, a single Mom, someone who had less than I did, normally. “Here”. she said “is 200.00 so you can buy heating oil and stay warm.” ” And here” she continued “is my Zeller’s Card (at the time like Walmart) I think there is 300.00 left on it,” she said, ” take it and make Christmas for the girls.” Tears still spring to my eyes all these years later at the kindness from someone who had so little and gave so much. She gave us Christmas and Santa came and my little girls’ eyes sparkled in the magic of the gifts and my heart glowed.

And now many, many years have passed. Those little girls are grown women now, making Christmases of their own. I went back to school and earned the degree I had always wanted. I met and married the great love of my life, I bought and owned my own Indoor Tennis Club, I moved to a tropical island, and have lived at my favorite ski hill. I have known both the greatest joys and sorrows in all these decades of life. I have the great honor of coaching others. I have never once again experienced domestic violence again.

And so at this time of year, I remember with such gratitude, the day such an angel appeared at my doorstep. And I remember to help those in need, knowing that this is the way of the world.

Merry Christmas to all.

Coach Susy