The Red Rattle: A Christmas Story of Hope

What follows is an email we received yesterday from Kris and Sara. It brought a smile, a little tear, and blossoming hope to our lives. We hope it does for you too. . . .

dust and jan,

a little story to brighten your day. first, do you remember the
little red maracas rattle you gave Addie when she was just a
whee little tike? this story is about that.

last week we were having difficulty getting addie to relax, rest
and sleep, so we were trying all kinds of things. we found that
one thing worked---her red rattle. when she had it in her hands
she would relax. she didn't really shake it that much, just
held on to it very tight. kinda her "security blanket" deal.
it was very cute.

the cutest part to the whole thing is that she went for about 3
days straight where that was all she wanted and she wouldnt' let
go of it--even at night. there she was asleep in her bed
holding tight to her red rattle snorring away!! ;) very
cute!!!

she's ventured off into other things this week but she still
likes her rattle. i thought of this again last night when i
couldn't get her to sleep after sara left, i remembered the
rattle. so i scrounged around for it, found it and gave it to
her. as soon as she saw it she got all excited, grabbed it
tightly and pulled it close to her chest. immediately she
relaxed, settled down and began starting to sleep.

so thought i'd share that with you guys. have a great day!

Lotsa love and hugs and kisses from US 2 U!
Kris and Sara