Friday, December 21, 2007
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AT THE SIDEBAR (Column)
Baby’s Story Shapes Holiday Perspective
By J’AMY PACHECO
I was in the middle of decorating my Christmas tree last weekend when I decided to take a break. Tree decorating is no small task at my house, where a brightly lit, heavily decorated 7.5 foot fake pine spins slowly on a revolving stand in front of my living room window each year.
The tree had actually been put up Thanksgiving weekend. I left it bare for a week so my enterprising daughter could put the stand on its rotating cycle and give her Barbie dolls rides on the branches. It took another weekend to get the lights on, and last weekend, I finally started putting on the bazillion decorations we’ve collected over the years.
I was particularly frustrated with some animated ornaments we have that are powered by the light strings. The machinery of their moving parts makes these ornaments unusually heavy, so not only do I have to find a branch strong enough to hold them, but I have to find lights that don’t blink, or the ornaments won’t work properly.
When I realized the task was making me mildly crazy, I decided to take a few minutes off to surf the Internet. Almost immediately, I stumbled across an online article from the Los Angeles Times that discussed unanticipated ill effects resulting from generous health care aid provided to third world counties.
In the article, I read of an African woman who suffers from AIDS, and who recently gave birth to a daughter. The baby died – not because of her mother’s illness, but for lack of a $35 oxygen tube. The story chronicled the loss of some basic health services in a country in which billions of dollars are poured into AIDS, Malaria and other high-profile illnesses.
When I read of the baby girl’s body being wrapped in a blanket and placed on a shelf until someone could remove it to a morgue, I couldn’t help crying. I also couldn’t help contrasting that mother’s experience with my own, which took place nearly 12 years ago.
When I gave birth to my daughter, she came prematurely. A medical team tried for two days to delay her arrival. Mindful that they might lose the battle, they also gave me steroid shots in an attempt to mature her lungs so she could survive outside.
They succeeded, and my four pound, 12 ounce baby had to spend just one night in intensive care. After just a few days, we came home together. I was provided with an electronic device that would wake me up if she stopped breathing – but every time it went off, it was because she’d managed to wriggle it away from her heartbeat.
When I read the article, my little miracle was dancing in my family room. She’d just spent the $25 she won the night before in an essay contest buying Disney music and a cd in which Weird Al Yankovic laments being stuck in a drive-thru restaurant line.
As I sat at my desk, I smelled stew cooking in the pressure cooker and saw pumpkin pie cooling on the stovetop. I heard Weird Al go on (and on and on) about ordering a cheeseburger, curly fries and a root beer. I saw the ornament collection my daughter and I add to each year in one of our favorite shopping rituals.
I thought about all of the money we waste on things like fast food, shoes we’ll hardly wear, the latest and greatest in digital cameras, computers and sound systems; DVDs, dishes used only for holidays, bubble bath, and gadgets that do everything from shaving ice to forming food into fanciful shapes, and warming our toes.
It occurred to me that each of the ornaments I’d been wrestling with cost about the same as an oxygen tube that might have saved that baby’s life.
I realize that my not buying the ornaments would not have made a difference in that baby’s life. But reading about the situation in Africa made me realize how sheltered and protected we are in this country. It made me more aware of how lucky we are.
During the holidays, I hope you’ll take time to appreciate the many gifts you won’t find under the tree – family, friends, health, good food, good hospitals, transportation, and even the air you breathe.
I hope you’ll also take time to consider what you can give to others less fortunate – whether it’s your time, money, or even some of the “stuff” you have that you really don’t need. I know I will.
I wish you a holiday surrounded by people you love; good health, a world of peace, and all the best for 2008.
If it comes to pass, let’s find a way to pass it on.
Copyright 2007, Metropolitan News Company