I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are looking forward to Christmas.
I mention Christmas because this is a particular time of year. For me, the feeling is mixed since my diagnosis of having only six months to live at age 16 was on December 12, 1990.
Mark Everett Kelly will celebrate his 29th anniversary of surviving a death sentence diagnosis on December 12, 1990.
Why is Christmas so special? Outside of the obvious (the celebrated birth of Jesus Christ), which often is overlooked, the incredible joy you feel when you give is what makes this a wonderful holiday.
For adults, the total joy of Christmas sees the happiness on the face of loved ones when you extend a thoughtful gift. My current financial situation is difficult for obvious reasons, but the anger I have toward myself due to not being able to give this year makes me ashamed.
One of my favorite things to do in previous Christmas seasons was giving to families who faced financial hardships. I attended Three Village Church in Setauket, Long Island, which every year features a Christmas tree in their lobby that has hangs requests for the children of those families.
Many of the families had a parent in jail, recently divorced, or suffered a job loss. I had the pleasure of going with another church member to deliver the gifts to these children, and each time it brought me to tears.
DEALING WITH CANCER DIAGNOSIS
Despite the pain of not being able to buy a gift for your child, receiving a cancer diagnosis is something that makes you question if there is a God.
The families that suffer that brutality sees their entire world change. No gift can ever cover that wound.
I am one of the children that faced precisely that back in December 1990. After my initial chemotherapy treatment, Sloan-Kettering released me on Christmas Eve to spend the holiday with my family.
Never before or since has a Christmas been so gloomy. It was also the last Christmas we spent at the house I grew up in and that I still dream about whenever I dream concerning living somewhere.
My heart goes out to all the families that face similar circumstances this Christmas. To the rest of you, I pray you to experience the joy of giving and making a difference in the life of a family in need.
MY SCARS TELL A STORY
If you wish to purchase a copy, please email Mark at CKMagicSports@gmail.com. The publisher continues to charge too much, and the purpose of the book was so others could be inspired by it, not overpay. As Mark puts it, "I didn't write "War & Peace."
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