by Kat Ballew

Created on: October 11, 2009

The best gift I've ever received is one that I've been given over and over again. I have received it many times, and it is the gift that keeps on giving.

It was many years ago. A very young woman was in the hospital. She was having a baby. Unmarried, she was a disgrace to her family. But it was happening just the same. She was scared and felt very alone, and when it was over, she finally felt like she had been given a gift. She would never feel alone again, nor ashamed. Her life had changed forever.

I met my soul mate. We were married in January, and life was wonderful! We bought a boat and went out in it almost every weekend, usually with friends. One particular weekend we went out alone, just the two of us. It was a gorgeous day; we fished, had a picnic and took pictures of the scenery. We tried to take a picture of the two of us, arm in arm. He was holding the camera away with one hand and aiming it at us. We stood on the seat of the boat, and just as he snapped the picture, we both fell over. He was an excellent swimmer, I am not. I love being on the water and around it, but not in it. Still, I was not wearing a life jacket. The boat kept drifting further and further away, and I panicked. The last I saw of him he was trying with all his might to save us both. After that, I fought with all my might to keep myself afloat, screaming for him. The next thing I remember was being pulled onto someone else's boat, scared, screaming for my husband, and all alone. They found him three days later. It was August; we had been only been married for seven months.

Years later, I met someone else, but things were not going very well. We decided to separate. It was my birthday, and with a little persuasion from friends who wanted to take me out to celebrate, I relented. But everyone there had someone, except me. I felt like a third wheel, so hopeless, so useless, so depressed. I went home alone and cried. Although I remember seeing all the little bottles of pills, I don't remember taking them. While the doctors fought to save me, I don't remember it. I woke up in the hospital two days later, and my family wept. What I had done was a mistake, a disgrace. But it was also a very rude awakening.

I was driving home from work after a long day. It had begun to rain. Just as I rounded the corner, I hit a pothole. I totally lost control of my car and ended up in a field that used to be a trailer park. There were metal post sticking up everywhere. I was so scared, and the car I was driving was a five speed. I was wearing heels. All I can remember is holding my hands over my face and screaming, please, God, take care of my kids! The car stalled, I must have hit my head. When I came to, no one was around and everything was quiet. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

I don't know why, but through my lifetime, I have been given the same gift over and over again. From the very beginning, so many years ago, when my mother was in the hospital, unmarried, scared and all alone, she gave me this gift. And since then I have been given many more chances to keep it. And this gift, my friend, is the best gift I have ever received. It is the gift that keeps on giving. It is the gift of life.

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