The Thanksgiving Holiday decorations are packed away and the turkey and stuffing consumed, our Christmas tree up, decorations out and carols playing I can’t help but be reminded why we are doing what we are doing. Why Bug’s Bikes exists at all.
Last year at this time I lay in a hospital bed physically recovering from surgery, emotionally recovering from the roller coaster of finding out I was pregnant, discovering it was not viable, learning I probably would not have more children and having emergency surgery. We went into the Christmas season last year tired, emotionally broken and financially stressed. Steve had taken two weeks unpaid to help care for me and do what was needed for Bug.
There was a point last holiday season that Steve and I looked at each other and had no idea where Christmas was coming from. How we were going to provide the Santa gifts, the joy that Bug or any 4 year old should enjoy on Christmas morning. We didn’t know how the bills were getting paid, the lights staying on or the heat still keeping us warm.
It seemed pretty bleak until one of Steve’s friends asked if he could buy Bug a gift, if that would bother us. Hard as it was Steve accepted the offer, put pride aside and accepted help from a friend. One evening the guys showed up and they came up our stairs. First one came in with a Toys R Us bag, then another and another and another. I couldn’t believe me eyes. They just kept coming up the stairs one after another and when they were done they asked if Steve could go out for a drink. They left and I sat in total disbelief and cried. Overwhelmed and in awe of these guys and their generosity. The gift they gave us was so much larger that the pile of toys or bills that were paid. They gave us the gift of easing our minds, of taking that little bit of stress away. They gave us the ability to watch the joy on Bug’s face on Christmas morning a glow as he took in the magic of Santa.
Steve and I vowed to give back, to take those gifts and pay it forward. Our way of paying it forward is the creation of Bug’s Bikes. Bug’s Bikes gives us the opportunity to take away a little of the stress for a family in providing an item, an experience every child should have. We get to ease another Mom and Dad’s mind if just for a moment, that one expense is covered, one item is taken care of, one item that would never be a priority otherwise. We also get to provide a really cool item to a child, like Bug, a child with disabilities. Give a child an opportunity they may otherwise never have.
So, I guess my motives are not all pure. I have to admit, I get a giddy, warm feeling every time I get to talk about giving another bike away. I can’t wait to see the smile on another child’s face like the one on Sienna’s when she finally got her bike. The same glowing face that Bug had last Christmas when he saw all his amazing gifts from his VERY SPECIAL Santa Clause! Thanks to all of you who have joined and supported us in this cause, who have embraced Bug’s Bikes with us. Those of you who have helped us make this come alive! Thank you to all of our very special Santa Clause friends (you know who you are) from last year who showed such compassion for us as a family in a time of need. We promised we would pay it forward…
Merry Christmas from Bug’s Bikes!
