A Special Christmas Gift
Sometimes the word merry can be hard to find.35 total reviews
Comment from Sanku
I am very touched by what ou have written .You have started a great practice and will be doubly blessed .I know festival times are not happy times for all .There are people who are alone and they are bound to feel very depressed....
reply by the author on 23-Dec-2023
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I am very touched by what ou have written .You have started a great practice and will be doubly blessed .I know festival times are not happy times for all .There are people who are alone and they are bound to feel very depressed....
Comment Written 23-Dec-2023
reply by the author on 23-Dec-2023
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You caught me off guard! A six! Thank you! This is fierce competition, and your six is huge! I also appreciate your awareness of Christmas is for some a liability. Self harm is a serious concern. But, do you know when the highest rate of suicide occurs. Easter and Spring! Again, thank.-Bill Stephenson
Comment from Carol Hillebrenner
This is a beautifully told story about a terrible loss. You loved him very much to take over the care of your father at such a young age. I can understand why you picked the career (or maybe it picked you) that you chose. This is well-written and heart-felt.
reply by the author on 23-Dec-2023
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This is a beautifully told story about a terrible loss. You loved him very much to take over the care of your father at such a young age. I can understand why you picked the career (or maybe it picked you) that you chose. This is well-written and heart-felt.
Comment Written 23-Dec-2023
reply by the author on 23-Dec-2023
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You found my favorite part as well! Thanks for your review.
Merry Christmas - Bill Stephenson
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Thank you for your review. I choose to believe I chose, but a major nudge from my father. I remember being out of school for over a week and the principal came over to the house to admonish my father. When he stepped in the front door and saw the condition of my father and me holding him up with his arms over my shoulders, the principal said, "I so sorry." And he left.
Comment from Wayne Fowler
How nice! (really!)
And well-written, too.
My mother gave me a similar (but quite different) gift after death. She was a spiritual dynamo.
Thank you for offering me incentive to remember.
Good luck in the contest.
reply by the author on 22-Dec-2023
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How nice! (really!)
And well-written, too.
My mother gave me a similar (but quite different) gift after death. She was a spiritual dynamo.
Thank you for offering me incentive to remember.
Good luck in the contest.
Comment Written 22-Dec-2023
reply by the author on 22-Dec-2023
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Thanks, Wayne, for your review. It was my intention to get the
reader to remember what gift they had received from others who had gone on before us. Merry Christmas, Bill Stephenson
Comment from Ulla
Hi William, I can so identify with with your story. More than you will ever know. Something similar did happen to me as well, but this is not my story but yours. It's beautifully written. What a lovely entry for the contest. Good luck. Ulla:)))
reply by the author on 22-Dec-2023
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Hi William, I can so identify with with your story. More than you will ever know. Something similar did happen to me as well, but this is not my story but yours. It's beautifully written. What a lovely entry for the contest. Good luck. Ulla:)))
Comment Written 22-Dec-2023
reply by the author on 22-Dec-2023
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Okay, Ulla. Thank you for your wonderful review. Now tell me your story. I really want to knows.- Bill Stephenson
Comment from Thesis
Thank you for sharing this story. It is bath sad and inspiring. Our parents are some of the most influential people who guide us to become the adults we grow into and want to be. I can relate since my own Dad died when I was 14. He was the best and I hope I make him proud every day.
reply by the author on 22-Dec-2023
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Thank you for sharing this story. It is bath sad and inspiring. Our parents are some of the most influential people who guide us to become the adults we grow into and want to be. I can relate since my own Dad died when I was 14. He was the best and I hope I make him proud every day.
Comment Written 22-Dec-2023
reply by the author on 22-Dec-2023
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Your words resonate with me and I am grateful to you for sharing your life.
Bill Stephenson
Comment from Janis M.
My mother had a story very similar to yours. Her mother (whom I am named after) died before I was born. It is because she did the same thing, caring for her etc...that she became a nurse, and then I eventually did as well. Having gone through my own struggles and talked to therapists before, the best ones were people who genuinely had struggled in their life as well. It provides them (and yourself) with a very deep level of empathy.
Thank you for sharing your story and allowing me to relate to it.
reply by the author on 22-Dec-2023
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My mother had a story very similar to yours. Her mother (whom I am named after) died before I was born. It is because she did the same thing, caring for her etc...that she became a nurse, and then I eventually did as well. Having gone through my own struggles and talked to therapists before, the best ones were people who genuinely had struggled in their life as well. It provides them (and yourself) with a very deep level of empathy.
Thank you for sharing your story and allowing me to relate to it.
Comment Written 22-Dec-2023
reply by the author on 22-Dec-2023
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And it is that empathy that separates us from all the others. It is the empathy that your clients will remember. And your chosen career comes with a story and I hope you are sharing that with your patients as you are able. Merry Christmas and thank you for the review. - Bill Stephenson
Comment from Bill Schott
This story, A Special Christmas Gift, honors your father with both the symbol of connection via the pursuit of his actual gravesite, and your continuing modeling of his lessons. Nice.
reply by the author on 22-Dec-2023
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This story, A Special Christmas Gift, honors your father with both the symbol of connection via the pursuit of his actual gravesite, and your continuing modeling of his lessons. Nice.
Comment Written 22-Dec-2023
reply by the author on 22-Dec-2023
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My father was a teaching dad and I learned a lot from him in the few short years he was here. He also taught me how to teach and that in by modeling. Bill, thanks for the gift of your review.
-Bill Stephenson
Comment from JSD
A heartwarming and moving piece in tribute to your father. So engagingly written and with an important message for all readers. Thank you for sharing this and best wishes to you this Christmas.
reply by the author on 22-Dec-2023
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A heartwarming and moving piece in tribute to your father. So engagingly written and with an important message for all readers. Thank you for sharing this and best wishes to you this Christmas.
Comment Written 22-Dec-2023
reply by the author on 22-Dec-2023
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I am often asked why I specialized in working with young people with a terminal prognosis and this always seems to surface. Thanks for the wonderful review. -Bill Stephenson
Comment from LJbutterfly
You shared your innermost feelings and thoughts in this heartwarming story of love, loss, recovery, and redemption. You story is well written and a pleasure to read. The overall joyful atmosphere of Christmas and merriment of the holidays, brings sadness to many who have no reason to be joyful. I am glad you were able to find and pray over your father's grave which gave you the closure needed to once again enjoy Christmas. Best wishes in the contest.
reply by the author on 22-Dec-2023
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You shared your innermost feelings and thoughts in this heartwarming story of love, loss, recovery, and redemption. You story is well written and a pleasure to read. The overall joyful atmosphere of Christmas and merriment of the holidays, brings sadness to many who have no reason to be joyful. I am glad you were able to find and pray over your father's grave which gave you the closure needed to once again enjoy Christmas. Best wishes in the contest.
Comment Written 21-Dec-2023
reply by the author on 22-Dec-2023
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Thank you, LJ. This was a wonderful review and you captured the essence of it. That sadness and loss are part of the Christmas spirit.
-Bill Stephenson
Comment from patcelaw
This is a very heartwarming and touching story. I am so glad that your father left you that legacy and that you're able to take what he taught you and become a person who helps others as well. Thank you for sharing your story. I have one question to ask you, have you been on fan story before under basically the same name but a little bit different? Patricia.
reply by the author on 22-Dec-2023
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This is a very heartwarming and touching story. I am so glad that your father left you that legacy and that you're able to take what he taught you and become a person who helps others as well. Thank you for sharing your story. I have one question to ask you, have you been on fan story before under basically the same name but a little bit different? Patricia.
Comment Written 21-Dec-2023
reply by the author on 22-Dec-2023
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Years ago, and then I left to write a book. Then two or three years ago I was on briefly, but I have been gone and I have written three more books since then. I also have one coming out in February. Go to these websites: https://williamstephensonbook.com/
https://stephensonhope.com
FanStory was my launching pad that helped learn how to write in such a way that it kept the reader committed to the book. I am no longer seeing clients as a psychotherapist, although I consult with several pediatric oncologists and a guest in grief recovery programs. But I'm 78 now and have been "ordered" to slow down. Yeah, right! Merry Christmas. -Bill Stephenson
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I?d rather thought that was the same person that I was thinking of I think it was in probably 2014 2015 area that we communicated back-and-forth quite a bit. I don?t know whether you recall our conversations at all but I was very impressed with the work that you do. I think I had mentioned to you that I was bipolar and that I had gone to a lot of therapy and counseling. I have not had to take any medication for bipolar disorder in almost 10 years now so I?m doing very well. I will be 86 in June. How much longer I have to grace this planet, I do not know, but whenever the Lord is ready to call me home, that?s when I?m ready to go.