To the George Baileys in my life…

Today, as I finished wrapping.

Yes, you read that correctly, today, Christmas Day, I was still wrapping.

Wrapping for family that we would visit later.

Tomorrow, I will record the events of the day from start to finish, but right now, I just need to write down the impressions that came to my mind as I watched “It’s A Wonderful Life” while tying beautiful bows on special gifts for the people I love.

I was enjoying the movie.

Just cruising along, loving the casting of the actors, noticing detail after detail of the storyline like I never really had before, and watching children come and go out of the corner of my eye.

I remembered how much I laughed the first time I saw the movie and George and Mary were singing at the moon.  Corny, but so funny to a teenager.  I have to admit that I have had my share of “corny” moments, but never singing at the moon while on a date.

I remembered how I thought to myself that I too, would love to fix up that old house and live in it someday.

I even remembered how weird I thought it was that they practically attacked each other when they realized their true feelings for each other, and how in a moment, they just knew.

But, I didn’t remember just how normal George’s life was.

I had never thought about how truly simple his life had been.

No travel, no education, no accolades, no medals.

Just simple.

A loving husband and father.  An honest businessman who truly cared about the people who he served.  A good citizen and a loyal big brother.

As I watched him go from place to place with Clarence, learning about how seemingly small things had completely altered the course of people’s lives…I began to cry.

I know, crazy mom, crying again at a movie she has seen dozens of times.

But seriously, I thought about the people in my life that have altered it here and there, for the better.

My George Baileys.

I thought of friends who influence my life for the better.  The ones that you love to spend time with, because you walk away from them and just want to be better.

I thought of my sisters who inspire me.  Inspire me to create a sense of style and make my house a home.

I thought of my brothers who constantly remind to keep a sense of humor.  Tonight alone, I found myself laughing over a Superman shirt my brother gave my dad and another brother who spent the entire present opening session teasing my 12 year old over a text she had sent.  I have another brother, who, when he is actually awake and present (basically when he happens to get some shut-eye between rounds at the hospital) is hilarious.  His wife just said last week, “Sometimes I forget how funny my husband is.  I think to myself, I married a funny guy.”

Then I thought about a time when a doctor truly saved my life, and how another doctor saved the life of one of my babies.

Then I thought about how just last week I was vacuuming the car at a car wash, where two of my children were supposed to be watching the baby as I vacuumed Cheerios out of her seat, and a stranger saw my baby wander behind a truck that was backing up.  He saved her life.  What if that “George Bailey” hadn’t picked up Annie?  How my life would have changed forever!

You see, it isn’t the BIG things we do…it is the little things…everyday… that matter.

George really was the richest man in town, not because of the big grandiose things, but because of who he was and what he had chosen to do when those hard decisions came his way.

Thank you to all of you, who have changed the course of my life for the better.

Thank you for making the choice to bless the lives’ around you.

Merry Christmas!