Weekend with the Family!

This weekend I am spending some much needed time with my family! My mom’s birthday is this weekend and she has decided to plan a birthday weekend celebration. Friday is when my sisters and I get in town and we cook dinner for her. Saturday, the family plus cousins, Aunts, and Uncles are going to dinner for her birthday.

This year is different from my mom's birthdays in years past because of all of the support and love she has shown for me during my time of battling my illness. It means so much more to me to be able to see another birthday of my mom, who is the woman I look up to and who teaches me many life lessons.

 I love the time I get to spend with my family. With my sisters and me away at college it is always a good feeling when we get to spend time together. I hope my mom has an amazing birthday filled with laughter and love! Love you mommy!

Helping others

During my stay at Children's Hospital I met so many kids that helped me be a better person. After getting to know these kids, my family and I wanted to help them in any way possible. We began talking to them and their families and helping them to understand that everything is going to get better. Many of the families we met didn’t have the funds to travel from their home to Children's Hospital every day. It was hard to see these kids and families struggle. Even though I was going through a hard time, helping these other families helped me to feel better. It was a good feeling to know that I was helping others while we all struggle to live another day.

I always encourage others to go out there and make a difference in someone’s life. Help them understand life and living while they go through a hard time.

Life!

Whenever you are faced with a challenge in life I think it gives you more hope and determination to stand up against whatever you are faced with and have a positive outcome. I love to hear other success stories of when they were faced with a negative situation but decided to stand up against it and tell others their testimony.

Whenever I think of “Blessing in Disguise,” I think about where I am now and how I have gotten to this place. I also think about the certain things my situation has taught me. It has taught me to NEVER take things for granted, to live everyday thankful for the things and people in my life. It has also taught me to not sweat the small stuff, because in the end those things don’t really matter.  I have a better appreciation for life and a better appreciation for living and waking up every day.

As it get closer to time for me to graduate, I can’t help but be thankful for where I am now! I never knew if I would be at this point in life where I am happy to have had the opportunity to come back to college and finish out my academics. I never knew if I would be able to actually get closer to the goal of doing what I love. Having gained an internship for the summer, I see my dream becoming reality.

Be thankful for where you are in life. Be thankful to be healthy and to be able to be in college. Be thankful for the little things in life. These things make you a happier person!

Grief

Grieving can be very hard. When you lose someone close to you it can be really hard to accept the fact they are gone. It is okay to cry and wish that that person was still here. I feel when someone in the family is diagnosed with a chronic illness the family begins to grieve in the beginning. They have to have time in the beginning to accept the fact that this has happened and they are going to do everything to keep that person alive.

Saturday afternoon, I attended the funeral of a 14 year old boy named Tyler that I met at Children’s Hospital. Many people attended his funeral, everyone from family to friends to nurses and doctors. Many people knew Tyler at Children’s Hospital and could see how determined he was to be in remission. Walking into the church every seat was filled and many people stood along the back wall.  Three gentlemen stood up and talked about the funny side of Tyler. He was a funny boy who always spoke his mind. It was amazing to see all the support in that church.

After the funeral, I saw many of my nurses and staff from Children’s Hospital. One of the ladies told me and my mom that she was going to find another job because she could not let herself not get attached to many of the patients. She pointed to Tyler and said “That did it for me.” At the funeral I felt as if many people were mourning the illness of such a young and happy boy. Everyone grieves in their own way but it felt good to come together with many others that are grieving the same lost of a young boy.

This funeral taught me that grieving is okay and no matter how many times you grieve it doesn’t get easier.

High School Days

Why is it so hard to be nice to others now days?

Friday, I was asked to judge a local pageant for high school girls. Fifteen girls competed to become the next Miss RHS. The pageant consisted of interview, talent, and evening gown. While we interview each girl for three minutes, one judge asked the girls, “What is one problem that teenagers face?” Every girl that was asked this question answered “bullying.” Many of the girls went on to tell us that there is bullying problem in their school and they have witnessed it before. One of the girls made a good point when she said she can’t figure out why people can’t accept others. Not everyone is a like and the ones that are different and stick out are the ones that get bullied. I think it is really hard for others to accept others of a different nature.

The girls were also asked a question wondering why they wanted to be the next Miss RHS. Many of the girls said it was because they wanted to see someone win other than a “popular” girl. This made me think about my high school days and how difficult it was to see the same girls win everything. But when you go off to college those things don’t really matter anymore. You meet different people from all around the world who all have a common goal in life. In college, you understand that people are different and either you chose to hang out with them or you don’t. College is where you begin to find yourself and you stop thinking about trying to rise above the “popular” girls.

Just a thought.

Pageant Time!

This weekend I was asked to judge a pageant for K- 8th grade. These are always the hardest pageants to judge because you want to make everyone a winner. I had to be at the school early that morning and get ready to interview the middle school girls. All the judges read over the girl’s bios and were impress by the girls in seeing who their role models were, what their greatest accomplishment was, and their dreams for the future!

Many of these middle school girls picked their role model to be an amazing person, other than their mom. One girl's role model was her aunt who was diagnosed with spinal bifida. She told us how her aunt is determined to live a normal lifestyle despite her illness. She went on to complete grad school, she tries to get out of the house any chance she gets, and she has a dream of becoming a teacher and is working towards that. I thought it was amazing to see this 7th grader notice those things in her aunt, and want those same characteristics as her aunt.

After the interviews we judged all the girls in evening wear. All of these girls had gorgeous dresses and loved to be able to get dressed up and have fun! The night was a success and everyone had a good time!

Community Service!

I love community service! I love the thrill and excitement of helping others out!

This week, I had an appearance to speak at a local church for their Black History Month Program. I was very excited to be able to speak to the youth about the amazing things God has done in my life and how he can very well do the same in theirs. It was an amazing night and I felt as if I was able to get through to them. I walked away feeling as if they had understood my message and where I was coming form. After the program many of them cam up to me and circled around me and were just excited to have me there at their church. I felt very welcomed and was very excited to be able to speak into their lives.

March 2nd was Dr. Seuss' birthday. To celebrate his birthday every year there is an event in his honor called Dr. Seuss Read Across America. I went to an elementary school and read to a third grade class. I love being able to speak to kids. Sometime it can be hard to keep younger kids attention, but these kids were excited to hear Dr. Seuss books. One lady, that also read to some of the kids, dressed up as Dr. Seuss and I heard it is something she does every year. Many of the kids love to hear her read!


Community service is great way to get involved while also giving back. It is amazing to see just how many people will remember you for the amazing service you have done.