Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved?
When a family receives a cancer diagnosis for their child it’s surreal. It has taken me eight years to finally talk about it with consistency.
At the time when my daughter received her stage four diagnosis she was three years old. Two days prior I had signed on the dotted line after being hired on the spot to work in public affairs. This came after a stay at home stint I had to navigate with my son after receiving his ASD diagnosis. I just felt as if I was finally catching my breath from therapies, homeschooling, and living on a strict budget—then this happens.
Everyone was devastated, including our Catholic school community where we had a lot of friends. I felt so isolated. I also felt too silenced to know what we would need. But a dear friend immediately organized a meal sign up.
There was a light for us in this very dark place. Over the course of a year we received the most thoughtful meals I have ever received to date. I actually had low expectations, only to discover that these moms were chefs! I learned that a bunch of largely “stay at home moms” were actually the heart of everything. I have never felt so loved. We have never felt so loved. They thought of every person in my family. Even my husband and provided wine, desserts, magazines, and toys. I will never forget it. I vowed to do the same. It’s love like that which inspired The House of Maryam. You can never have enough love of the good kind. I feel like in this regard, I continue to pay things forward. If you are going through something, I got something good for you.
