Hi everyone. Ruby here, off hiatus again. So this year was my first year at SafeHope for Christmas. And it was definitely amazing. Leading up to Christmas, we had a potluck where the staff all brought something, and we spent the day together. It was very nice, and all the foods were amazing, ranging from turkey to naan and chicken biryani. With the leftovers, I got to cook an excellent soup. Getting my Christmas gifts was amazing, I had asked for some make-up stuff, headphones, and stuff for my Switch, and we also got other gifts donated to us, which included lots of skincare, speakers and treats. It was lovely to receive gifts, and my first thought was appreciation, and not how much can I flip this for lol. All my gifts have found a home in my room. We also recently got new beds which is amazing! I’m getting such a better sleep now!
I socialized with staff and other residents over the break and even had a staff member ask me to help her learn how to do a different make-up look, which we had a lot of fun with. We also got to go out for food and it was very nice to spend time with staff outside of the house and get to learn a bit about them, and share bits of myself with them.
But the best present of all was not something that could be bought. I got to go to my home town with two of the lovely program staff, and see my grandparents. Being able to hold my grandma and my grandpa felt almost surreal. I got them Christmas presents, and seeing their faces with their gifts was great. It truly made my heart happy, because I haven’t seen them in person for about five years. My grandfather said he was proud of me, which is huge because he doesn’t say that about anyone. Leaving was very very hard though, my grandma cried and didn’t want to let me go, which in turn made me cry. My grandma was feeling very lonely and sad that she couldn’t see much family, so when I told her I was able to come up and see her, it definitely brought joy to her.
Honestly, this was probably the best holiday I’ve ever had and I’m so incredibly grateful to SafeHope and everyone here, including volunteers, and donors. Thank you so much for making my Christmas special.
-Ruby.
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