Contest Entries
My mother died on October 10, 2006, at age 65. I miss her so much! You take life for granted until someone is taken away from you that you love dearly. I took care of my mother for years and I wish I had more years to spend with her. My mother was always there for me. My life just doesn't seem the same since she is gone. My mother was sick for such a long time. She had a Muscular Dystrophy Disease called Myasthenia Gravis that affected all of her muscles. As sick as my mother was she never complained. She always woke up in the morning in a good mood and always had a smile on her face. My mother was unable to work and had to live her life with assistance from others. My mother needed assistance with things like eating and bathing (things we all take for granted). Even though she was very ill and had to live on a low-income disability check she always wanted to try and get everyone something for Christmas. My mother would find a pretty poem and have me type it on pretty stationary paper for her. I would go to the Dollar Store for my mom and purchase a cheap frame to frame the poems so she could give them out as Christmas presents. It might not have been much too many but the gift was truly from my mother’s heart. If I could win this contest and win the $400.00 from National Payday Loans I would like to do something in honor of my mother. I would like to have a picture of my mom copied on the stationary paper with one of her poems and have it framed. I would send the framed picture to all my moms’ brothers, sisters, children and friends. That would make this Christmas special for the ones that love and miss my mom dearly….
Every year my 3 children like to give to others. There are two ways that we have learned to do this that cost realtively little to do.
The first thing we do that costs virtually minimal money is to get together wth our church and collect canned goods and hams for those less fortunate than us. Then, one night, my family, along with others from the church, go out and deliver these fixings for a great Holiday meal.
Second, my children like to give gifts to their teachers and other special people in their lives.So, we decide on a craft for them to make and give to these people. Overall, this costs maybe &25.00. Pretty good for a gift they can use for a long time!!
I was very short on cash and had a lot of gifts to come up with so I requested a payday loan and used it to buy the gifts. What I did was shop at stores that had sales buy one get the other half price. I also went to victoria secret and bought the lotions in a large quantity and all my friends and relatives got something. I also checked my closet if I had anthing with the tags on that I could exchange for a gift on my list. I also baked decorative holiday cookies and packed them in a 99Cents tupper ware and wrapped it up nicely. I got fancy chocolates from costco and wrapped it up an gave them as gifts. I bought blank cds and recorded my friends favorite song and gave them as gifts as well. I gave gift cards from Jumba juice of $5 and it worked out great! I had survived that xmas with a little creativity and the help of payday loans I was able to get everyone on my list a little something to show them that I was thinking about them this holiday seson.
If I had an extra $400 this year, I'd probably use it to plan a large Christmas dinner so all of our family can get together is year. I know the electronics and gadgets are what everyone wants but the money is not there to buy that kind of gifts. With my husband being laid off and both of our daughters needing prescriptions, I am cutting corners everywhere. Unfortunately, the grocery and heating bills are one of the places we had to cut. If we could plan a dinner, we could get together like we used to do before everyone grew up and went their separate ways. I know my own daughters are looking forward to a time when we can have all the latest gadgets but I also know that having a strong family connection will get them a lot farther in life. Most of the things we give as gifts this year are going to be hand made. The next thing I’d get with extra money would be supplies so we can make more crafts and blankets to share with our friends and family. Everyone loves our hand made blankets and it’s great knowing that I can make them with my daughters. Each of us adds our own special touch.
This Christmas is an unusual one, with 2007 being filled with unplanned events such as a temporary layoff and my husband being off work due to a broken hand which didn't allow him to work. But, coming closer to the end of the year we found out that my brother was being deployed overseas - to Egypt. He is now currently in Washington state while we are here in Pennsylvania. He has 4 children all together. Two are actually his wife's from a former marriage, but he took over caring for them since she was unsuccessful at collecting support - long story in itself. They have very little money and upon his deployment he told his wife to use the money for his return home for Christmas to buy his kids Christmas gifts. If I had the extra money, which obviously my circumstances have made it really hard to find, I would either purchase gifts for his children or buy him a ticket home so that he could be with his family on Christmas before his final deployment to Egypt.
