Causes Worth Supporting: Hospice

Photo courtesy of Tennessee Hospice Organization

This week I think it's time we looked at supporting an organization that has been there for most of our families at one time or another: Hospice. The Hospice organizations around the country do some of the most beautiful work in healthcare. They make everyone as comfortable as possible in their last months, weeks, or days - and give their patients as much dignity and respect as they deserve. I have experienced family losses many times with Hospice's presence and I volunteered with the local Hospice while I was in high school. This is an organization that not only cares for the patient, but the entire family. The nurses are as caring and sweet as you could ever imagine, and grief counseling is offered for each family to help them through their grieving for a over a year after the loss. Hospice Houses offer a wonderful location to stay for patients that cannot or do not wish to live out their days at home, still giving all members of the family the familiar comforts of a home whenever possible. 

Hospice relies on donations (linked to our local Hospice in Cleveland) to continually offer their services to any qualifying patient regardless of their situation or ability to pay. This is a great kindness when you consider the monumental costs of aging, painkillers - medications in general, and most chronic or incurable conditions. Not to mention the numerous services that Hospice workers provide directly to the families of those in their care. 

 In the field of cinema, there have been some wonderful films that teach us about valuing life for its temporality while showing the beauty that is the succinct existence of a human life. One of my very favorite films does just that in a beautifully, utterly magical way - and that film is Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. I won't tell you anything about the story, though I will share this one quote that illustrates a piece of why I love the film so much. Before I share that though - let's try to remember to support those who support us in our times of greatest needs, alright? They more than deserve it.

 

Thankful Friday

Today I'm thankful for movies. Specifically kid's movies. I've always been fond of them personally, but over the last year and a half movies have created a language for Owen and me use to communicate. Movies have taught Owen empathy, emotions, how to dance, and most importantly - words. He's learned words consistently from watching movies beginning with Toy Story (the only thing I really forgot to include in that collage up there). He laughs, he copies them, - he straight up acts out the movie as it happens. He gets obsessed with movies and we watch them 84,000 times for as long as he's in love with them and then we move on to the next adding the former favorite to our collection for roadtrips to be revisited and loved all over again.

I know, I know, TV is bad, he shouldn't watch that much, I shouldn't let him get obsessed with things, blah blah blah. Listen, I personally - and by extension this blog - believe that parenting strategies are good for the people they work for. There is no one right answer. One family may excel and love co-sleeping, or letting their kid's pick out their own meals - another may have the baby sleeping in their crib from night one, or the kid's only eat what is served to them as a family with no exceptions. I believe you do what's right for you. That's the winning strategy and advice in my opinion. It's the only advice I ever give to friends that are becoming parents. You do what works for you. If you know in your gut that something is right for your family and you have some naysayer lecturing you on how horrible it is - laugh in the face of danger and do it anyway (yes, I just referenced Lion King). And don't judge others simply because you have different ways of parenting. If both people's kids are living a healthy and good life - nothing. else. matters.

Back to the movies and the TV shaming - I let Owen and Mac watch movies and TV. Some days none at all, other days they'll have something or other playing most of the day. Deal with it. They play outside, they color and fingerpaint - they do normal kid things all the time. But they also watch movies. Owen has always focused in on movies like nothing else was happening in the world (he apparently gets that from his mama). We've gone through a hundred different favorites and obsessions and at the end of the day, I don't see him watching a lot of TV. I see him playing with it in the background some days, safely knowing his favorite thing is there with him, and other days cuddling with me when he needs to calm down and watching a princess movie or Mary Poppins, learning to speak when nothing else could get him to talk. Having watched other kids quickly surpass him vocally, I was and am happy to put on a movie that gets him to try new words (or any words in general). And when it's over, we'll go play with pipe cleaners or make brownies together. It's what works for us. And that's all that matters.

I'm grateful for those movies forming a connection with my son that didn't before exist. I'm grateful they have taught him how to speak Whale, how to make ambulance sounds ("bee bo, bee bo.."), how to hold your breath at the exciting or stressful parts, and how to dance while a creepy voodoo man sings incantations. I'm grateful for the things that he doesn't even know he's learning but is ingesting none the less. Like going after the life that you were made for, committing to be there for your family and friends no matter the obstacle, that his Mama and Daddy will ALWAYS come for him, that having what you need is far more important than having what you want, to be kind to everyone, and a little imagination can go a long way. For all the lessons he's learned so far and will learn in the future - I'm grateful for them.

Thankful Friday

Today I'm thankful for having had the opportunity to begin a new year of my life with a new perspective. I (like everyone) spend so much of my time thinking about what I need to do for me, my sons, and our life as a family - that I rarely if ever think about what I can do to make the lives of others better. After my birthday this week, I've decided to make that a bigger part of my life and incorporate it whenever I can. I have already told you that I plan to make food to take to the homeless once a week, but I'll also continue to tell people compliments whenever I think of one - because who doesn't like hearing they look really pretty? Or having a stranger second and support your clothing decision in the dressing room? I'll be trying to do what I can to think of others whenever I can.

Mind you, this is not to say that I won't also spend time focusing on myself or my family. Doing too much of a good thing can lead to bad things if you aren't trying to keep a healthy balance. Moderation and all that, yes? I also don't want you all to think that I write about these things to tell you how amazing I am or how you should all spend every minute of every day thinking about how you can do acts of kindness. My goal with this is to make myself a better person. To be more - and do more. This isn't about thanks or recognition. I want to do these things because I know I can, and that I should. I hope that if you start doing acts of kindness or charity that you will do them for the right reasons as well. 

I hope you all have a great weekend, I'll be spending the rest of today getting things ready for my son's birthday party and the weekend enjoying time with him, my other little one, and my newly returned husband. Until Monday, here are a couple things for you to enjoy and fiddle with:

The Perfect Paper Airplane

The Good News About Cancer

Einstein Didn't Fail Math

15 Things Worth Knowing About Coffee

27 Acts of Kindness

Yay I'm finally writing what you've all been waiting for since Monday ended! I spend my 27th birthday doing 27 random acts of kindness - 28 actually....one to grow on. It was truly an amazing experience and my best birthday to date. I'll be doing this for my birthday every year from now on I think. The list I wrote out to plan our acts for the day had some changes, but I did replace them with other acts as we went. It's best to go with the flow in these situations. This is going to be a long post, so - here we go!

Thankful Friday

This week I've been thankful for the immense progress Owen has made in recent months. Only about six months ago we were really concerned he may be autistic (which we could still find out is the case one day) but he has made so many steps in the right direction that it makes my heart leap. Even as recently as September Owen never had showed interest in other kids or played with them (he was periodically curious about his brother but even when they played in the same area it wasn't together), his vocabulary was then still not more than 40-50 words, and he was having on average 2-6 major meltdowns a day (we're talking inconsolable for at least 15 minutes and sometimes for over an hour, all over not being given the correct cup or the pink fork, etc.).

Now his meltdowns are few and far between, having been replaced by truly minor temper tantrums compared to what I had been dealing with. His vocabulary is over 200 words at this point and while he still hasn't quite learned how to create sentences, I can see he's starting to grasp it slowly (lately he tells me, "Cape on," and has me put on his little superhero cape from the dollar store). He plays with his brother and his cousins now for the first time ever - which basically makes me want to watch in wonder for hours at a time as well as cry just from the pure joy of seeing him finally enjoy this milestone that so many others experienced so long ago.

He's still incredibly picky with food, and has his rough days when things get too intense for him or we break too far from his routine, but seeing him make these strides is still so fulfilling I can't help but repeatedly say "thank you" every time I see him do something I've been working on with him for the better part of a year. We're on a break from his speech and occupational therapies right now but soon it'll be back on track and I look forward to seeing him continue to show us how amazing he really is. :)

Thankful Friday

Today I'm thankful for this blog. Amidst all the possibility and confusion that is happening in my life, it's nice to have somewhere to put up the energy that gets pent up inside. It's nice to think that maybe, one day down the road, this project of mine could do some good and help people remember how to live kindly. I look forward to the smaller projects I've started with this blog and think that I'll learn a lot this year from it. There are so many things I hope to improve about myself and I'm so grateful to be able to do that and hope that sharing it makes a difference to someone else too.

What are you thankful for this week?

Next Monday, I'll be writing my first post of the year about living a healthier life so stay tuned - enjoy your weekend!

23 Instagrams to follow to travel the world in 2014

You can visit Jimmy Stewart's grave  - Here's a little more about it & his amazing life

If you've been considering starting a journal..begin here. (I'll be writing more about journaling in the future)

R.A.C.K. Wrap Up

So Christmas has passed and I've finished my R.A.C.K. It was definitely a different experience than I'd originally planned, and I hope to be able to stick more closely to my preplanned R.A.C.K. activities in the future, but it was nonetheless meaningful to me. I spent the season caring for others' needs and doing what I could to brighten someone else's day. I gave compliments to strangers, had sweet conversations with passerby, gave gifts to those I could, left notes of gratitude and good tidings around for those serving me as well as people who randomly found them, and several other things just generally hoping to remind everyone that this season is truly about us loving each other, not getting so caught up in commercialized commitments and traditions that we actually forget what we were meant to focus on. It was a wonderful activity and I look forward to doing it every Christmas with my family!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday! We've spent a great week with my family so far and are still enjoying the great quality time. It truly is a wonderful life. Tomorrow being New Year's Eve I'll be writing a post telling you my resolutions for 2014, where 2013 has brought me, and where the blog will be headed in the new year as well!

Thankful Friday

This week I've been thankful for my family as I always am, but today I'm really thankful for the peacefulness and inherit therapy of a long road trip. Starting today my husband, sons, and myself are going to be making the 1300+ mile journey from one family home in Minnesota to another family home in Florida. Over three days we'll travel through eight states, sing hours of songs, stop at silly roadside stops (which I'm a sucker for), and generally enjoy each others' company. We as a family have had an incredibly stressful and emotional time in the last few weeks and I'm so grateful for the time we'll have in the car to decompress and process everything that has happened. 

Some get anxious and annoyed at the prospect of being on the road for a long period of time, but I truly love it. Roadtrips are endlessly fun to me - it's exploration at its finest. Stopping at different restaurants (not the ever-present McDonalds), exploring silly roadside attractions, - you know. Typical nonsense. That's the stuff of dreams for me. Roadtrips have given me some of the best memories I've ever with friends and family. Truthfully, it's one of my favorite things about living far away from my hometown. 

In any case, I'm off to start the first day of our drive - hope you all enjoy your weekend and festivities you may have planned! I'll be back Monday morning, here's some things to get you to that workday whistle:

For those having a rough time, here is today.

Make your OCD feel better here.

Ever wonder about tea customs?

Thankful Friday

"Sometimes we need a story more than food to stay alive." - Barry Lopez

I'm sitting in the local library looking over a frozen lake as I work on finishing up a term paper and final to bring a close to this semester of school for me (cue obligatory 'finally'). As I walked in it occurred to me that what I'm thankful for this week has been books. For most of my life they have served as a physical comfort to every situation I've encountered. Anywhere I've lived - it never feels like home until my books are unpacked and living en masse on their shelves. Just looking at the potential escape they offer me makes everything feel a little less stressful or anguished. This week I've noticed not only myself retreating to a book for comfort and retreat, but most of us here have a book or magazine - something to wrap around yourself like a thick cocoon and hide away from what Life really is right now. 

Because Life is not always happy and optimistic. I try to see the silver linings of bad situations - and even continue to do that for this stage of my life - however, that doesn't make it any less sad. Being sad and experiencing hard times is a part of living. Sometimes we even read books that will make us sad to help process a very real loss. It is the fact that there is a book or article to fill every need you could have emotionally is what I'm thankful for. If you need to completely escape into some kind of fantasy or separate kind of fictional experience, or bind yourself up in a nonfiction text so that you can lose yourself in new adventure and facts that are far away from everything else in your life... there is a book waiting to console you in your lamentation. 

So this week I am thankful for the books. I am thankful for the comfort that an incredibly beautifully written sentence can move you into a different mindset, offering some small measure of contentment or serenity. May you all find the book you're in need of this week. Having finished my book last night, I'll be on the hunt for my next dose of tranquility.

What are you grateful for this week?

Enjoy your weekend

Before I write my regular post that I'd planned for today, I want to write a short something in honor of Nelson Mandela, the human rights activist who left us yesterday afternoon. I had originally considered waiting a week or two to write something about him, but I don't think that waiting will make any difference. I simply want to write that we should all take a moment to appreciate the massive contributions that he made in all aspects of human rights. The sacrifices he made, the neverending amount of grace and compassion that he showed to every person including those responsible for keeping him imprisoned for almost 30 years. His was an example we should all aspire to. Mandela proved that we can make a difference, if we choose to ignore all those who say it won't matter.

Wishing you all a warm and tasty holiday!

While Law of Bambi is on vacation this week, I wanted to let everyone know that we hope you have a happy and thankful holiday!

This season I have been thinking every day about how thankful I am to have this amazing husband of mine and our two gorgeous (albeit rambunctious) sons. I'm thankful for ALL of my wonderful family - those by blood, by law, and by the grace of kindred spirits. I'm grateful for being fortunate enough to travel and spend the holiday with my husband's truly sweet grandmother as well as staying for an extended visit over the next 10 days to spend time with her as well as my mother in law. I'm humbled by how wonderful my life is. My oldest son is picking up words and communicating more every day, working to overcome his speech delay and it has been so rewarding to watch him learning so much. My youngest has taken to walking over the last few weeks like a fish to water, and watching the two of them bonding is one of the most adorable things I've ever gotten to spend my days watching. I'm thankful for having the opportunity to work in school and move closer to my dream job. I've especially been grateful for the networking and connections I've made to some amazing people through social media like the great program in Brooklyn educating students and teaching them the art of hip hop and MCing, Rhyme Factory. Or the fantastic local urban garden program in Cleveland I recently found out about, Green in the Ghetto. There are more but I'm so excited for all of the things I will be able to newly support and learn from in the coming year. 

Hoping you all enjoy a wonderful holiday weekend with your loved ones, stay warm & enjoy some delicious food!

Simply Grateful.

Buy this beautiful print from Beach Cottage Life on Etsy

Today I wanted to just quickly say how thankful I am to have the family and life I am so privileged to wake up with every single day. I grew up with amazing parents - I realize their true worth with more certainty with almost every passing hour. It's crazy to me that they never killed me or my sisters for all the stunts we pulled. Those sisters of mine are beautiful women who continually teach me more about myself and who I want to be. They are miles away from me now but never waste a minute before they let me know how much they love and miss me and my family. Each of them has a place in my heart that no one else on Earth could ever fill. 

With Thanksgiving coming this week, who are you grateful for? Have you told them how much they mean to you?