the best christmas gift of all

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to take dinner to an elderly couple in my ward. Last week the wife was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, a cancer that has a 10-20% survival rate. What cheery news to receive during the holidays. As I was driving to drop off dinner I was thinking of comforting words I could share and preparing myself to cheer up a distraught couple.

I pulled up to the small house and could see the man in the front room sitting alone and reading. I knocked on the door, ready to be the holiday-cheer mister, and was greeted by a happy face and an even bigger smile.

I introduced myself and explained that I have only been in the ward for 4 months so it was okay he didn't know my name, to which he said with a huge smile "I have been in this ward for 65 years! I'm 92 you know." Our conversation then drifted to his wife's condition. He told me that she was going to have chemo-therapy everyday for the next five weeks, and that it wasn't bad at all. "She is doing great" he said. As I stood there I realized that those 5 weeks included Christmas and New Years. He said that he hasn't had any breakdowns because he and his wife decided that they were going to be calm about it and take it one day at a time. As I stood there listening I noticed their front room which consisted of a couple couches, a table, and a lamp. I couldn't help but begin to tear up as he continued to tell me that they have so much to be grateful for and that they were excited for christmas. In that moment the roles were reversed. I had come to serve them, and as I stood there, he was serving me.

As I was getting back into my car I looked back at the modest home and thought of this couple, together during the holidays and SO happy together. Despite the hard time that man is going through he was able to touch my heart and remind me of God's Love for all his children. What a special Christmas gift that was, one I will never forget.