Thank you Jo Jo

Yesterday I went to the bank with a great big smile planted on my mug. In fact, it appeared there Wednesday night and it's still there! Here's why...

In December of 2005 I received a cashier's check for a LARGE amount of money. I didn't believe it was even real. I took it to the bank and they confirmed it was a real check. I was baffled. It came with a typed letter stating: "This is a real cashier's check from someone who loves you. Merry Christmas! Love, Jo Jo the Elf". I felt confused, but grateful, nonetheless.

In December of 2006 I opened another envelope with the same typed letter and another cashier's check for the same amount of money. I was shocked! I couldn't believe how lucky I was to be the receiver of so much! This time I knew it was a real check and immediately I went to the bank.

In December of 2007 I started to wonder if I could be so lucky. I would go to the mail box with anticipation, but never felt sad when it wasn't there. I knew it would be too prideful to hope for a third year in a row. And then one day, there it was. I opened the envelope not believing I could be so blessed for the third year in a row. When I saw the typed letter with the same exact words, I began to cry. No, I bawled like a baby.

Last month I had a huge monitary disappointment. A program for struggling early childhood educators (called CARES - Comprehensive Approaches to Raising Educational Standards) exists to provide money for teachers to enrich their education. This year I qualified for the highest amount of money. All year I have been taking the required administration courses at the local colleges and actively participating in the local chapter of NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children). But because of a glitch in the system (and possibly the economic crisis), CARES decided not to award me any money this year. I was very disappointed and frankly a little worried about how I would make ends meet this year. But when I prayed about it, I felt reassurance that things would work out. I couldn't figure it out on paper how that would be possible, but in my heart I knew it was true.

Two days ago when I got an envelope from the same bank as the previous 3 years, I opened it without thinking. The typed letter sat in one hand, the check in the other for several moments before it dawned on me that for the FOURTH year in a row I was to be on the receiving end of so much charity. Now that my boys are old enough to appreciate what money really means, I decided to let them in on the gift. I walked into their room with a great big grin on my face and showed them the check. (My eldest knew right away what it was; I had to explain the numbers to my youngest.) High fives and hugs went all the way around. And then my youngest said, "Mommy, does this mean Santa can come this year afterall?" Through my happy tears I told him that Santa would have come anyway, even if the money hadn't come this year. But that thanks to our annonymous benefactor, we won't have to worry as much.

The thing is, both my kids know who Santa really is (but we like to pretend anyway). I guess that's why my youngest felt so worried. He remembered that I had told them the money we were expecting from CARES didn't come this year, and that we'd have to be extra careful with how much we spend for a while. Translation: fewer trips to MacDonalds, and no more Blockbuster movies for a while. This actually made my youngest cry at first, but we had a good talk about being more frugal, and I thought he felt better afterward. I never actually said anything about a smaller Christmas (that I can recall, at least), so this made his response to the money all the more touching for me.

My eldest's response: "Can we split the money equally between the three of us?" *grin*

So thank you Jo Jo the Elf. Whoever you are.