Bruce,

Thought I'd share with you a Christmas Story that could have been the sadist Christmas in 60 years. You may want to share with others.

For 60 years a family tradition in my husbands family, which includes himself and 3 sisters, have been to spend the night of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at home with their Mother who is now 80 and Father who is now 79. My husband and I have been married for 36 year, we have 1 daughter, who is divorced and 1 granddaughter and each of his sisters have married and have one child each who are all now in college. The total for 1 night is 15 people….in a 3 bedroom house with 1 bath, living room, kitchen/dining room combo and den. We move beds over, blow up mattresses and prepare for the family tradition.

Everyone usually arrives by 5 or 5:30 pm on Christmas Eve. Everyone brings something to snack on or to make sandwiches with and believe me no one goes hungry, not even the occasional guest that drop by to wish us a Merry Christmas. Since the family is so large the adults draw names and the kids draw names and we set a limit on spending. This way each family can share a gift to another member of the family and still provide Christmas within their own family and Santa, which is NOT wrapped, (why would Santa take time to wrap presents anyway) still comes, even for those that are in College....it's all in the excitement and surprise that makes it so much fun on Christmas morning. Now that I've given you the history of our Christmas, we were presented with what would have been the sadist Christmas ever.

On Monday before Christmas my mother-in-law, who has been on oxygen for around 12 years, had some breathing issues and had to be taken to the emergency room. She was admitted and we all hoped she would make it back home before Christmas Eve night. On Christmas Eve the doctor told us there was no way she'd be able to come home as she had a severe case of bronchitis and it would only make it worse. They were all in tears because their mother wasn't going to be home for Christmas, as she'd been in the past. It's the one time of year that their mother enjoyed the most where her whole family was together for 1 night and she wasn't going to be there. But my daughter, who is getting her bachelor's degree in IT and Networking, told my husband she could make it a little easier for them all with his assistance.

She took my home laptop and made sure that Skype was up and running, then added Skype to her computer and then checked to make sure they both worked. My husband took my computer to the hospital and set it on the sink across from my mother-in-laws bed. We took my daughter's lap top to the house and she dialed in and my husband answered. We could see and speak to my mother-in-law and she was able to be a part of the Christmas Eve activities, without wearing herself out and as friends and family dropped by they could see and speak to her.

We had support from the nurses at the hospital that assisted if we lost the connection and thought this was the nicest thing that anyone could have done for someone in the hospital at Christmas. We shared with the nurses the Christmas tree and all the presents stacked up under it for Christmas morning and our Christmas tradition, which they were now a part of. We were actually able to watch her as she slept and on Christmas morning after Santa came the night before she was able to watch the kids as they opened their gifts. She may not have been there in person, but she didn't miss Christmas with the family. Each of my husbands sisters were in tears of joy and thanked my daughter for what she'd done and told her that was the best Christmas gift she could have ever given them.

I don't know if hospitals would allow this to be set up in a hospital room due to possible liabilities, but for parents who have kids who have cancer or other life threatening illness or elderly people who's family can't been there when they are in the hospital and are all alone, this would take the loneliness out of being there and would probably aid in their recovery.

Just thought you'd want to share this with others.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU BOTH!