It's Simple. Be Kind

WOW! This has been a busy month for me. The outpour of support from family and friends has been positively overwhelming as I do what I know I was meant to do: spread awareness and fight to help others who may not be ready to fight for themselves.  What started out as me "getting involved" has turned into so much more. I have received many letters from friends and friends-of-friends all telling me their stories of heart break, embarrassment, and shame. One thing we all seem to have in common is apologizing for who we are and who we were meant to be. Yes we were very different as children, but the theme I keep seeing is we were targeted for things that made us who we were. Maybe we were targeted because of  sexual orientation, weight- too skinny or over-weight, poor growing up. Things we couldn't always help. Even POSITIVE things made people targets! Good grades, successful in athletics, being picked for homecoming court, or because they wouldn't drink at parties.  It...

I used to hate that old saying, we all know it, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." I used to think to myself something must be wrong with me because words definitely hurt and they hurt bad. When you are younger and you scrape your knee or fall, you pretty much forget about it after a few minutes and you move on. But words- those were different for me. Things people said to me stuck with me. To this day I can remember things that were said to me- and I also remember how they made me feel. Especially if an adult was the one saying it to me. For example, when I was younger, I was a cheerleader- big surprise right? I was very proud of what I did. I was very proud of being involved with a group and all the hard work we put into our routines and cheers. I was so proud of my uniform and my clean white shoes, and I was even more proud when we got to wear our uniforms to school! Now I am talking grade school- I was in 4th grade at the time, our unif...

My son is turning one this month! That sentence has yet to completely sink in. I have been watching him walk around our living room these past two weeks, but not like I usually do - not necessarily on alert to shoo him away from the occasional uncovered outlet, or kick him out the utility room to stop him from eating his occasional snack of cat food- but just watching him. Taking it all in. He has his own very busy agenda these days- and it's absolutely amazing to me. There is no way he will ever know the joy he brings to my life, or the powerful love I have for him- that is until he has his own child himself. He'll never know the happiness I feel when he stumbles up to me with his arms open to give me a hug, or when he aggressively gives me one of his open mouth kisses on my cheek. I could literally sit and watch him learn and play all day long. It's so beautiful to me. And please tell me I am not the only one that will sit in the car and let my child finish his nap?? O...

I absolutely LOVE seeing my Facebook feed flooded with all of your children's “first day of school” photos. They are so happy, proud, and excited.  I think to myself:  “Wow, I remember my first day of school with their mom or dad!! Wasn’t that just 5 years ago?? OK maybe maybe it was more like 25 years ago...but who's counting?  We all have such high hopes as we send our children off to begin a life long journey of learning.  I would imagine no one sends their kid to school and thinks, “I hope he has a hard time making friends this year.” In fact, we all hope the exact opposite: “I hope my kids have fun today,” “I hope they like their teacher!” or “I wonder what subjects my kids will love”  maybe even “I’m pretty sure my son will be homecoming king by the end of the week." You get the idea. :)  As I personally reflect on future hopes for my son, I would like to add "I hope my son is a good friend." I hope he gives others that are different from him a ch...

This is so exciting for me! I'm officially a "blogger"! I'm not sure that is even the correct term?? Please forgive me - I'm learning as I go! I am so excited to share with you, a day in the life of me! I promise to keep it fun and interesting! I have a 10 month old son, and a husband of 1 year...how can life NOT be interesting? Between the toilet locks, the obstacle course of Lego's all over the carpet, and my husbands protein powder mess, I think I can manage to come up with a few things here and there. I'm excited to share our adventures and my simple message to "Be Kind. Make a Difference"- It's simple right?