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One day, while wandering through the garden, Nkya had a
revelation: We are about to celebrate Christmas and I feel so
confused!!
"What is the spirit of Christmas?" |
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She asked everyone she could, but found no clue as to what
christmas was really about until.....
on a walk around the grounds she was attacked by a local thug. She defended herself as best she could for such a little girl. Afterwards she was left with the thought, "why did that brute attack me? What have I done?" |
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She took this assault to be a sign from Heaven to look
for the truth. Only with a long and soul searching voyage
would she find her answer.
Thus, we donned our "wise men" garb and set out to find the answer..... |
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We walked, crawled, rode donkeys, rowed across immense lakes and followed our hearts and the bright star that shone in the sky... | |
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Many moons we traveled, the hardships were many. We ate herbs and roots (and drank heavily from "mother earth") supplied by the powers that be and yet we were happy. Then we saw a sign, the same thug that had assaulted Nyka was spotted again. IT WAS A SIGN! We quickly followed..... | |
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and were led here......to the place where surely the answers must lay. Though we could see no "manger" from afar, we had good feelings about what we were soon to experiience., | |
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But alas, we could not go unto such a holy place without gifts. Nyka, being the academic scholar that she is, searched out a small but lush patch of myrrh to bestow upon the holy shrine...... | |
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but as we entered into the shrine we were surprised to find the manger empty. Nyka, at first disappointed and disoriented, soon realized the significance of it all...... | |
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Happiness is not measured in gifts we get, nor in how many we give. Nor can joy be weighed in pride of accomplishments or vanity. It is found and given only in love. | |
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We know that we are surrounded by lots of love from family and friends and we wish the same for you. Thank you for the Christmas spirit. |
Some of the things that we are thankful for yet we take for granted: health, family, friends, economic stability, shelter, luxury of choice, physically able, peace and happiness.
The year of 2002: Nyka goes from crawling to walking, to running; from cooing to a few sounds to distinct words. From listening but not understanding, to listening but trying to understand, to listening and understanding to listening and ignoring.
Summer with families always a joyous occasion. Nyka bringing in the teeth with pain for all three of us, especially at night. We traveled to India, the States, Eastern Turkey (where there is heavy build up for the possible war with Iraq), to the Aegean Sea to see where Aristotle lived and learned for several years. We found love from so many friends here at school and back home. Lori, one of my best friends got married. It was a great year. Can life possibly get better?
