The last month has brought many highs and several lows. Some that are hard to wrap my head around. On the high, my kids were all home for about a month and now that they are adults or close to, we can really enjoy the “people” they have become. We had numerous meals out, laughing and sharing stories…such a delight. Our two older children were just happy to hang out with us, which was very sweet. My oldest son, at 23 now, says he can’t even fathom what all his conflicts were when he was in high school…thankfully neither can we (almost). It was a very gratifying time as a parent.

During this happy, “high” time with my own family, we experienced some very trying, “low” times with some friends. My close friend’s husband had surgery and we did as much as we could for him, visiting him often, bringing him food, etc. Watching my friend worry so much was difficult for me and I tried to offer anything I could, even just driving her around to do her errands. Anything to make it easier for her to deal with the stress.

While he was in the hospital some very close friends lost their 19 year old daughter suddenly. It rocked our entire town. I still cannot quite wrap my head around it. The minute I heard I ran to their house with homemade soup and hugged them so tightly. The next day when I knew all their family was coming to town I made the largest pot of pasta, fresh loaves of French bread and took that, along with everything to make Ceasar salad. Once again I dropped it off, hugged and left. I wanted so badly to comfort them, but did not want to intrude in such a private time. For me, I wanted to comfort them and food was a way I could. It was a long week of mourning and everyone is still so sad. This young girl was a friend to so many. I think over a 1000 people came to the memorial service. It was beautiful but so heartbreaking! I have my call into the mother’s closest friends to please put me on the list of people to help out in any way I can. Now will start the SLOW path to healing.

I realized during all of this is, that we are all these kids parents. Our kids have all grown up together – school, little league, etc.  Its times like this that we must all rally around and keep the parents buoyed and loved. I think you can not hesitate in a situation like this because you don’t know what to do or say…you just have to go for it with all your heart. As my friend (the father of this girl) said, the day his daughter died put the biggest hole in his heart and all the out pouring from friends and family is like one scoop at a time filling it back up.

We will all experience highs and lows in our lives. What’s important to remember is that when you are in the midst of a high, there will surely be some around you in the midst of a low. Be there. Do what you can. Even a little gesture can go a long way.

http://www.hybridmom.com/blog/?p=4589

Mary Beth is doing a chat for The Salem Gazette on Wednesday, February 2nd @9pm Eastern.

http://www.chatzy.com/630496002396

Check out Mary Beth Evans as Sara Garrett on The Bay!

http://www.blip.tv/file/4659614

Check out Mary Beth as Sara Garrett in the websoap,  The Bay!

http://www.blip.tv/file/4629130

http://www.canyon-news.com/artman2/publish/On_the_Industry_1168/Take_Two_Mary_Beth_Evans_Exclusive.php

“I can’t believe another year has gone by. It seems like yesterday I was sharing last year’s holiday adventures with all of you. Crazy! All of my kids are older and my two oldest live away from home so the holidays are a great time for us to be together. It is so fun for me to decorate the house, have a fire going and something great smelling baking in the oven for their return. It felt so warm and welcoming and we were all so happy to reunite…..”

http://www.hybridmom.com/blog/

http://www.canyon-news.com/artman2/publish/On_the_Industry_1168/Mary_Beth_Evans_The_Bay_s_Leading_Lady.php

Stephen is featured in the 2011 The Young and The Restless sneak peak.

http://daytimeconfidential.zap2it.com/2010/12/23/yr-gives-2011-sneak-peek

“It is so funny how things are now. My kids are coming home from far away places to gather for the holidays…Geez it seems to happen so fast that we as parents are sitting on “the other side.”  Just this week we heard our youngest son got into college and then… that’s that for pete sake….empty nest is around the corner. What happened to my babies? Of course we all know what blood, sweat and tears goes into raising our children, but hind site is so blury for me.  Now my husband and I are so sentimental about little kids. Last night he invited this adorable family to our house for dinner.  Their kids are 3 and 20 months. My two older kids shared the fun with us and we all sat at the table and enjoyed lasagna I made since their mom told me it was one of their favorites.  Their 3 year old daughter did a mini concert of Christmas songs for us and we were all in love.  What a treat!  I thought about how much fun they will have at Christmas!  With my “old kids” we have to wake them up Christmas morning or it easily turns into the afternoon before we see them.  The years of “holding them back” was so fun! Enjoy those little ones – they will be all grown up before you know it.

To get into the holiday spirit, I made a few pies for my neighbors and I thought I would share a few pictures.

Happy Holidays!!”

http://www.hybridmom.com/blog/?p=4524

Our Patchy Claus charity this year for  Mary Beth and Stephen will be to Mary Beth’s daughter Katie’s endeavors to help the “Girl Child Network.”  Those of you who read Mary Beth’s blogs on Hybrid Mom are aware of Katie’s charity efforts.  Here is the link to the  blog Mary Beth and Katie did on Hybrid Mom about the “Girl Child Network.”   

http://www.hybridmom.com/blog/?p=4200

This is the information Katie sent us when we asked for information about what they were doing.

The group at my school is called The Women’s Solidarity Movement at UC Berkeley. The goal of our group is to raise awareness about sexual abuse and to promote the importance of healthy, empowered women in the US and abroad. We donate all the money we raise to the Girl Child Network and would greatly appreciate any donations from all of you! The Girl Child Network has “empowerment villages” set up in Zimbabwe that help girls who have been sexually abused. The girls stay there anywhere from one night to many years in order for them to attend school and receive the supplies necessary to get back on their feet. I am attaching the education costs to this email so that people can get an idea of how far a donation will go. My club on campus has a bank account with the school but we are looking into the logistics today as far as if we can make checks out to The Women’s Solidarity Movement, our new group. All money we receive we will directly pass on to Betty Makoni, the director of the Girl Child Network at the end of the year. We can use all the help we can get so thank you so much for your help! I will get back to you ASAP with the details for checks, etc.

We were fortunate to be able to go see the documentary film Katie talked about in the blog called Tapestries of Hope.  This was an amazing film and very heartbreaking.  Girls as young as 6 months old are being raped because it is thought that virgin blood can cure AIDs.  In many cases after this happens the girls are the ones punished and are disowned by their families.  They have nowhere to go and the “Girl Child Network” tries to help them.  What was so uplifting was the hope that so many of these girls had that they could better their lives and help others after they had stayed with Betty’s group.

Until we know what to do about checks and MO’s please send Paypal contributions to fanclub@stephennichols.net  and in the message box you can add that this is for the charity, “Girl Child Network.”  Please mark it as a gift so the Paypal fee won’t be taken out. You can print this out as a receipt for your taxes.  Since we aren’t sure Katie’s group will have a checking account by the end of the year if you wish to write a check or MO make it out to Stephen Nichols Fanclub, PO Box 82231, Athens, GA 30608-2231.  In the left hand corner where it says MEMO please write, “Charity Contribution for Girl Child Network.”  This should be sufficient for your taxes.  You should be able to do the same with a Money Order.  As soon as we find out you can write out a check directly to, “The Women’s Solidarity Moment at UC Berkeley” we will let you know.  As always, we will send a card to Stephen and Mary Beth with the names of everyone who gave and the total amount given in their names to the charity.  The total amount raised will also be posted here.

The link to MediaFire at the bottom of the page is the download of the information Katie sent us about the costs to educate the girls.  If you can make a donation this year that is great but we do realize that so many are struggling this year so we do understand if you can’t contribute, or if you don’t want to contribute to this.  We’re sure we will have something in the future you can contribute to down the road.  Please try to have your donations to us by December 26th.  That should give us a week to send the money to Katie so they can mail it to the “Girl Child Network” at the end of the year.

Thank you so much in advance.  We really think this is a great charity.  After seeing Betty’s work in the film we believe we can change the lives of some of these girls with our efforts! Peace, Love and Joy to everyone this holiday season!

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediafire.com%2Ffile%2F9lytjg1smddn3xi%2FGCN_GIRLS%2527_EDUCATION_KIT_COSTS%252C_DEC_2008.doc&h=c417d