It’s something everyone takes for granted. Some people even complain about it, but the truth is that spending the holidays with your family is a gift. You might have the occasional fight with your mom or go toe-to-toe with your racist an/or homophobic grandfather at the dinner table, but family is family. There’s no guarantee they’ll be around forever and you should spend this magical time of the year with them, even if it’s not as fun as you might want it to be.
Safyre Terry of New York unfortunately doesn’t have the luxury of spending the holidays with her family, as they were all killed in an arson attack two years ago. Her father, sister, and two brothers perished in the fire, and Safyre only survived because her father used his body to shield her from the fire. Despite her father’s sacrifice, Safyre still suffered burns to over 75 percent of her body.
In the past two years, Safyre has had over 50 surgeries and has lost her right hand and left foot. She’s tough and continues to take tiny steps towards her recovery, but she’s still just a little girl who loves Christmas.
Safyre’s paternal aunt Liz Dolder, who now has full custody of her, bought her a tree to hang Christmas cards on this year. She was so incredibly excited to fill it up with cards, but Dolder warned her that it might be impossible to fill up, saying “Honey, that’s probably not gonna happen. We maybe get 10 cards a year, and the card tree holds 100.”
Dolder posted this request to Facebook, hoping some of her friends would see it and take the time to send Safyre a Christmas card. The response has been overwhelming, and the post has been shared more than 22,000 times. It has also been posted to Imgur and made the rounds across the Internet.
I have no doubt in my mind that Safyre will receive her 100 Christmas cards to fill up her card tree, but what if she received 1,000? Or 10,000? She would be ecstatic. And after all she’s been through, I think she deserves a little happiness and Christmas cheer.
If you want to make Safyre happy, send a Christmas card to:
P.O. Box 6126
Schenectady, NY 12306, USA
Happy holidays to all, but especially to Safyre Terry. .
[via Buzzfeed]
Image via Facebook