| For the first time, I didn't receive a Christmas card | | | | uncles, brothers and sisters all became something |
| from my mother. | | | | else. I had been lied to my whole life. |
| I'm not sure if that's a curse or a blessing. | | | | I found out who my real parents are. Not good |
| You see, 20 years ago I told the biggest lie of my | | | | news. |
| life. It was on a cold, mid-December night, a short | | | | It turns out my birth mother has always been |
| time after the death of my father. My mother | | | | inconspicuously present in my life. Playing another role. |
| became ill and spent the next year in and out of | | | | Every year she sends an emotionless, non-descript |
| hospital, bouncing between excruciating pain and | | | | Christmas card. |
| short-lived moments of comfort. On this night, upon | | | | I've known the truth for two years. The rest of my |
| returning home, I found my mother in immeasurable | | | | family has known I know for over a year. Upon |
| pain. | | | | finding out they cut all contact with me. I'm no longer |
| Days prior she had been released from the hospital. | | | | the baby brother - the youngest of seven. |
| My spirits soared. | | | | They've left me alone to try to figure |
| It was now crystal clear that she had to return. While | | | | out......everything. |
| helping her to my car we stopped briefly on the | | | | Why share this? |
| steps of our home and with tear-filled eyes she said: | | | | Christmas is meant to be a celebration of life. A time |
| "I'm never going to be home again. Am I?" | | | | of joy and happiness. |
| I wanted to burst into tears. Instead, I looked into | | | | We sometimes lose sight of that. Society is plagued |
| her eyes and responded in an effort to comfort: "Of | | | | by stress and blinded by its consumer craze during |
| course you will." | | | | the "Silly Season". We forget that this time of year |
| Less than a week later I watched her die. | | | | transports some to a very dark lonely place. |
| Magically in October 2003, my mother and father | | | | Christmas is anything but merry. |
| came back to life. While in the process of renewing | | | | So, please remember to love, support and cherish |
| my Birth Certificate, a civil servant informed me that | | | | your family and friends. Because, everything can |
| they couldn't reissue it. Apparently the information I | | | | change in a heartbeat. |
| gave didn't match my birth records. | | | | And, be kind to others. Christmas reminds many of |
| "Could you phone your parents and ask them who | | | | what they don't have and a smile from a stranger |
| your real parents are?" | | | | may help to reduce the loneliness. |
| In this instant, everything about "me" changed. Aunts, | | | | I know, I became 'alone' in a heartbeat. |