Our support system is incredible. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law were going to come help put up the Christmas lights at our house today, and Mel’s uncle walked over to assist as well. Some things came up and Mel’s sister had one of the boys not feeling well so her uncle and her put them all on. It is awesome that we have so many people that are willing to help out. When I first met Melanie her sister was in high school and was not driving yet. I would pick her up on occasion from school and take her home and would take her out to practice driving. Mel’s cousins were quite young as well when I first met them and it amuses me still how intertwined our families are and how much integration I have had with their lives. There are all sorts of stories from things we did with them when they were young.
Some of our friends from Toronto are coming up over the holidays and their child wants to play goalie as well. They watched some videos of Xavier doing some drills and liked the exercises and wanted Xavier to demonstrated how to do those moves. Xavier is all excited now to pass on some of his knowledge to the younger goalie. During the goalie schools when there are younger goalies watching he takes it seriously and does not fool around. He tries to be a good role model and attempts to the best of his ability to have good form and show the drills properly. When he does make mistakes he talks to the coaches to correct his form or positioning. Hopefully he can pass this knowledge onto others.
With Christmas coming up we are not 100% done all of the Christmas shopping. Looking back I admire all that my parents gave us as kids. Unlike other families, at Christmas growing up we received 2 presents, and nothing from Santa Claus. We would get one present from our parents and one from my aunt. We never saw this as being odd or that we were different. The fact that we received a present I think was enough. As a young child we had an Atari in the house and we had a computer as well. I always have access to a computer. We had a keyboard to play music as well and I saw the prices on some of the boxes. My father had to save up for months and months to be able to afford to purchase us some of the things that we received. I appreciate that he would scrounge and save up in order for us to get some of these gifts that he had to save up half the year for. I was randomly on the internet and saw so many posts of people in situations that they could not afford to provide gifts for their kids at Christmas. My parents arrived in Canada with nothing and we relied on the kindness of strangers to help out, and my parents were able to carve out a life where they owned a house, had 2 cars, regular vacations and sent all 3 kids to school to received degrees/diplomas. I do not ever remember caring that other kids received more presents than I did, nor questioning why Santa did not give us gifts. If I did ask my parents I am sure they would have just ignored it and not even try to explain it to us. My favorite gifts are random things. Especially if there is some story behind it on why someone gave it to me. I keep all the same things that people give me and Mel thinks I am a hoarder, but they have sentimental value to me and remind me of the person.
I enjoy Christmas and purchasing gifts for other people. I prefer giving gifts to others than receiving things. When I need things I just tend to buy them, so there is not necessarily anything that I ask for at Christmas. I believe in receiving gifts that are fun and not practical. Mel likes practical gifts and does not care if they are fun. Over the years we stopped buying gifts for each other and just get practical gifts for the house, like a new TV, or couch or something big we planned on buying for the house. We have almost everything we need so there is no point in just adding things for the sake of it. This year I feel lucky because we made it through the year relatively fine. At the beginning of this journey a friend of mine mentioned that it will all go by very quickly, being out of commission for 6 months will fly by. It did and then I had brain surgery which added to the journey. I do not mind having to go through this. One thing I learned is that my friends and family will rally around me when things are tough and that I will not be alone through it. Numerous people offered financial, emotional, and any kind of support that we needed. Being on the forums and reading what others have gone through, I am blessed with the support I have received. It is nice affirmation that I am surrounded by more goodness than most people.
Quoc Hao