December 14, 2025: The Christmas Countdown (Day 2)

Oh, the trampoline.

One Christmas when the kids were young, Jess and I decided to surprise them with a trampoline.

Great idea on paper. But reality arrived in a box the size of a small car.

We shoved that contraption into hiding and plotted a secret assembly under the Christmas Eve stars, right after the kids drifted into sugarplum dreams.

Of course, children don’t go to sleep easily the night before Santa. So, my mission finally launched around midnight.

When I opened the package, there must have been 5,000,000 items. Springs and poles and bolts.

And I had never put one together before.

It was like trying to assemble a dinosaur skeleton, with the instruction manual requiring an engineering degree from MIT.

Plus, the temp felt about -20.

So there I stood in the dark, shivering in the yard, surrounded by a bazillion metal pieces. The DIY equivalent of climbing Everest in flip-flops.

Four hours later, a trampoline rose tall. I had won a survival show nobody filmed.

Most importantly, the gift was a huge hit.

But I’ll never forget that long winter night of frostbite and little sleep. And the silent pride that followed.

Great memories often hide inside the toughest moments. You’re capable of far more than you realize, so never underestimate stubbornness.

The best stories — and family legends — are forged within challenges. Think about it… if the trampoline had been a cinch to assemble, I wouldn’t be telling this tale.

The things you’ll remember most vividly aren’t the easy wins, but the hard victories.

Especially when you do them for others.