Monday Moments of Hope – The Season of Thanksgiving
Hello families-
Welcome to Monday Moments of Hope. As members of our community I hope you will find value and inspiration here. Two Mondays a month we will offer wisdom and experience through this forum.
So another holiday is upon us. Thanksgiving is a time we pause and ponder the concept of gratitude, family and friends. You may be spending it at the Ronald McDonald House, heading to the Macy’s Day parade in a van full of strangers, who now are family. You may be inpatient. You may be home and in or out of treatment. Or, you may be struggling with another holiday without your child. Seeking gratitude may seem far-fetched, or nearly impossible for some.
When your child’s life is abruptly changed and your whole world turns upside down, how do you find any gratitude in that situation? Life becomes single focused, and as parents, we feel paralyzed. New terms, new doctors, terrifying statistics, treatment decisions, how do you find gratitude in that? For me, it happened when I was able to pause in private, (sometimes that meant the bathroom at the Ronald McDonald House) and think about the smallest gesture that came my way that day. Sipping a cup of coffee, a text from a friend, a sunny walk to the hospital, a smile from a stranger. These tiny little things became fuel. They would give me a little wind in my emotional sail. You may be in that situation now. You may be trying to dig out of a dark hole and gratitude seems impossible, but it is not.
We get that. We at Band of Parents can simply offer you our experience, our wisdom and our support as we reach out to help you on your journey. If you are in your home town you may feel isolated, as if no one understands. If you are in New York, you may feel lonely. Introducing the concept of gratitude may be new, but try it. It will empower you and give you another tool as you navigate the life you never imagined being yours. Start with one small gratitude and see how it can grow. The holidays can be a struggle for some, but finding the small glimmers of love and light through mindful gratitude can help.
We would love to share our resources with more families by having them join Band of Parents. I would like to welcome families that have joined our community since June:
- Raquel Martinez Carrillo, Elliot -West Hartford, CT
- Stephanie Allen, 5-year-old daughter – Vancouver, WA
- Tiffany Groover & Gabriel Bonin, Logan, 3 – Glennville, GA
- Ivie Summers, Iliana, 12 – Florissant, MO
- Beth & Tony Heil, son JW – Carrollton, MO
- Judith Ann Davis, grandmother to Millie, 2 – Seminole, OK
- Yalan Shao – Barcelona
- Atianna Zalyan, Nick, 5 – MSKCC
- Megan Burton, Aria, 6 – NY, NY
- Maude Pampel, Sam – Dallas, TX
- Emily Pierce, Morgan – MSKCC
- Ying Zhou, Eugene – MSKCC
- Orla Waters, Tessa
- Toby & Lindsay Ohmer, Marley, 4 – Carmel, IN
We would also like to share with you several parent contacts. Feel free to email us and we will be a part of helping you make sense of the unthinkable and offer you a supportive hand as you travel along this journey.
New Member Support: Dana Gentile: Dana@bandofparents.org, Fran Demers: Fran@bandofparents.org
Grief Support: Caryn Franca: Caryn@bandofparents.org
