Matt and Marlie: A Pink Christmas

Christmas Eve night turned out to be awesome. Let me explain why...my Mom met Stephanie in her breast cancer support group. Stephanie is a young Mom with a 4 and 1 year old. She was diagnosed with breast cancer early this year and has gone through chemo and radiation. Stephanie lives in the Fall Creek neighborhood but I don't know her personally. I have kept up with her through my Mom. My Mom takes her to doc appointments and cooks for her family. As always when you hear stories like this you assume someone or some group is taking care of them.

It was just after Thanksgiving when my Mom was giving me an update on Steph when I decided I should ask, "is anyone helping her?". Of course, people here and there, but there was no organized effort. So I told my Mom that we needed to do something and the plan was in action.

We set up a CareCalendar for her and have meals already scheduled for her twice a week through March. And it's as if God was putting Team Stephanie in motion because a few days before Christmas she got test results back showing that the cancer had spread to her lungs. Although I don't know Steph well, we have been praying for her every day and this news was heartbreaking.

So my Mom organized a team to decorate her neighborhood in pink so that Christmas morning she would have a surprise from Santa too. At 10:00pm Christmas Eve about 25 people, most who do not know Stephanie, gathered for prayer and decorating in the rain and cold. The only way to describe that night was like the excitement your kids have Christmas morning when they realize Santa came and brought presents. We were all so excited. My brother, my Mom, Doug and I and my dear friend Laura and her au pair hung signs and balloons in all the yards while the others decorated her house and tied pink ribbons throughout the neighborhood. Then at 5:00am the next morning Doug and my Mom and I went back out to fill her yard with more pink balloons.

Stephanie said when her Mom told her to look out the front door, her 4 year old, Garrett said "Mom how did Santa do all that so fast?" She said they all cried and later her and her husband went walking through the neighborhood to see it all. They ran into several neighbors who told fun stories of the previous night.

This is what Christmas is all about. Please pray for Stephanie and her family. And next time you hear of someone in need, take it upon yourself to help! Don't assume someone else is doing it! I have learned my lesson and I wished I would have put Team Stephanie into action sooner. Thank you to all the wonderful families in Fall Creek who are helping Stephanie's family with meals, childcare or carpooling. What a blessing to live in a neighborhood with such caring people.