Count your blessings DUers

[proud2BlibKansan]

I know, these stories come out of the woodwork at Christmastime. There have been so many here on DU on the last few days. But if you have internet access and are able to post here or if you are even intelligent enough to get to a library and log on, then you are way ahead of a lot of people.

I just heard about a family yesterday. 6 kids. The mom just got out of ICU for severe diabetes complications. They are being evicted Jan 1st. The kids had no presents coming to them until one of their teachers found out and we are now taking care of them. The teacher found out not because the family called (that happens a lot this time of year) but because the teacher called the family because she noticed a change in a student. The phone had been disconnected. So the teacher went to the house and found 6 kids being cared for by a relative. None of the kids had come to school and told anyone that they weren't having Christmas at their house. Mom had told them not to do that.

Another family in our school neighborhood is now dead. Dad killed 4 kids and his wife, then shot himself on Saturday. Neighbors and relatives had no idea he was homicidal or suicidal.

Just a few blocks away, a man stabbed a 17 day old baby. The man had just been released from a psychiatric hospital.

So please count your blessings. There are people in this society who are much worse off.

Donate to DU's charity drive. And have a wonderful Christmas.

[annabanana]

1. 4 kids and his wife, then shot himself

That is so unutterably sad. This got very little coverage.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. I first heard it on MSNBC

and a co-worker told me yesterday she saw the story on Univision. So it did get coverage.

In NE MO, 7 people died yesterday in a house and they think it was carbon monoxide.

There have been too many tragedies here in the last few days. Way too many.

[malaise]

5. It received bare mention

afterall they were busy on Mt Hood. :sarcasm:

[liberal N proud]

2. Christmas is the cruelest time of year

Children from mis-fortunate families are the ones who suffer the most and the suffer the most at this time of year. When they go to school and see all the other kids with their hopes of Ipods and X-Boxes dancing in their heads. The unlucky ones can only dream of the day they get a pair of new socks or mittens or maybe even a meal on Christmas day.
America has so commercialized Julius Cesar's birthday (Christmas) that it destroys the very reason for the season.

I so wish that I was among the wealthy for I would be doing everything I could at this time of year to help out those who are unfortunate and would do without Christmas without help from someone. I keep saying this and people keep telling me that if I were rich, I wouldn't do it. But I believe that I couldn't sit back on my fat ass and enjoy the fruit with out thinking about the people you mention among so many others in similar situations.

Yes Christmas is the cruelest season of all.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. Yes it can be a very sad time