Ho Ho Ho Harlequin Holiday Extravaganza - RaeAnne Thayne- A Cold Creek Christmas Story

Wow its only two weeks until Christmas and today I have RaeAnne Thayne visiting the blog and in keeping with the giving spirit of Christmas is sharing a very special, very personal memory that has turned into a pay it forward Christmas tradition for her family. I hope you enjoy this very touching post and then enter to win a copy of RaeAnne's holiday novel, A Cold Creek Christmas Story plus a handmade Angel ornament.
Enjoy!

Angels at Christmas by RaeAnne Thayne

Several years ago, we were going through a very difficult, frightening time when our son, who was born with severe disabilities, was about three or four. That year had been particular tough for him, health-wise. By December of that year, he had been hospitalized several times with pneumonia and lung-related issues, which often prove deadly for medically fragile children. We were discouraged and afraid and our savings had long-since been depleted with his extensive medical bills.

To complicate matters, the furnace in our 100-year-old Victorian went out the first week of December and the costly replacement added to our worries.

The holiday spirit was just about the last thing on our minds as we headed toward Christmas, though we did our best to make it bright for our older daughter, who by then was around ten.

One night we were watching a Christmas special on TV when the doorbell rang. Our daughter rushed to answer it and came back with an odd expression on her face, holding a wrapped present. She explained that nobody was there, only the present, which turned out to be a lovely ornament for the tree.

The next evening, the same thing happened – the doorbell rang, our daughter rushed to answer it to find only a small present on the doorstep with no giver in sight.

This continued every night for, you guessed it, twelve nights, until Christmas Eve. We tried various ways to discover the identity of our mysteriously generous friend. Our daughter would camp out in front of a window overlooking the front door but she had no luck. Sometimes the present showed up in the morning, sometimes it would come in the mail, but more often than not it was a nocturnal delivery.

As a result of this thoughtful, caring angel, we turned outside of our fears and troubles for awhile, finally remembering to focus on the hope and wonder and joy of the season.

Each year now, we try to do something special for someone else (anonymously, if we can) to remind us of that year when twelve simple gifts of kindness helped shine much-needed light into the darkness of our fears.

What about you? How have you helped someone else this holiday season or in the past? Or how has someone touched you? I would love to hear! I’ll give away a copy of my current release, A COLD CREEK CHRISTMAS STORY, along with a handmade wire-wrapped Christmas angel ornament.

RaeAnne Thayne is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than fifty books. Her books have won many honors, including four RITA nominations from Romance Writers of America, the Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence and a career achievement award from Romantic Times magazine. Her stories – described as “poignant and sweet,” with “beautiful, honest storytelling (that) goes straight to the heart” – have sold more than four million copies and have been translated into more than a dozen languages. 

http://www.raeannethayne.com/

RaeAnne is giving away a copy of her holiday novel
A Cold Creek Christmas Story plus a handmade Angel Ornament
US ONLY
Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to visit GoneReading for filling

all those literary lover's stockings!