Day 8 of 25 Days of Christmas, the gifts my ancestors gave to me.

Day 8 is a family friend that taught me a lot.

Maria Peltier.

Maria was a friend of the family; her husband used to work with my parents.

My parents, Maria, and her husband would hang out, so that meant we kids would all hang out as well. I can remember lots of games of risk being played as a kid with the adults while we kids would be upstairs fooling around doing God knows what.

Then, as we got older, Maria and I became friends as well. I worked for her at one time in one of her work-from-home adventures. Maria and her daughter were in a car accident, which put Maria in a wheelchair. But nothing slowed this lady down for too long.

Maria had a way about her and didn’t care what people thought of her. She liked to portray she was a hard ass, but I know deep inside she was a marshmallow.

She loved all 4 of her kids, and when the grandkids came, they were her new loves.

Maria loved to shop, and especially around Christmas, I spent many hours at her house wrapping gifts for her kids and her grandkids.

They had an indoor pool, and we would go over there all the time to swim after work or after an intense wrapping session.

One day Maria said, “Hey, why don’t you go skinny dipping?” I was like, are you fricken kidding me?

No one was at the house but her, her husband and her daughter, who was one of my best friends at the time, were there. She promised that if one of the boys came home, she would not let them back there. I looked at Nikki and said, "Well, do you want to?"

We thought, "What the hell? It's not like anyone is there." It was dark, so you couldn’t see much anyway, and I went skinny dipping for the first time. It was one of the best experiences of my life; it was very freeing and relaxing.

Maria loved to cuss and swear, and she beat to her own drum. We had a lot of good times growing up over the years, and she and I would talk about a lot of things. With Maria, you could tell her anything, as there was a no-judgment zone with her. And she was a sounding board to help me process things as I was growing up and trying to navigate my way through life.

She died of cancer, and she has shown up in my dreams just as much as my relatives have since she has been gone, and once in a while, she has a message for me or her daughter.

The gifts Maria has given me are:

·         Live your life like no one is watching

·         Don’t care about what other people think about you

·         Family is everything, but stand your ground

·         Do what makes you happy

·         Be adventurous and live life to the fullest

·         Try the thing

·         Swim naked; it could be just what you need

·         Don’t be afraid to try something new

·         Christmas is the best holiday

·         Life can be a game, play it

Do you have a family friend who is rebellious and makes you want to try new things?

I would love to hear their story. Please share it with us.

Remember that this time of year doesn’t have to be hard; remember the good times hold onto their memories. Reach out to someone if you are struggling and remember that the limit does not exist!

If you want to hear stories of overcoming all odds, check out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unstoppableovercomers1508/streams

With love and gratitude,

Dorothy