It is a rare person that is able to experience the joy of watching lives unfold over several years through their work. I'm one of the lucky few that meets people, often at their worst and get to see their lives transformed right before my eyes.
You see, I never just meet a mom or a kid or a dad and their kid, I meet families. People come to me as a parent and a child or two parents and a child or two or three (parents or kids).....No matter what that family looks like when they arrive, I get to meet them when they are young.
By young I mean the family is young. That parent might be 40 or that parent might be 14. It doesn't matter because both of them have just started down a journey that hopefully...if they are lucky...never ends in the adults lifetime.
This week in particular I was struck by conversations with parents who have been with us in the past or even currently but for several years because their kids are older and what they said. It's what they say that blows me away.
One mom was bragging about how her child can now jump on the couch and say bad words and he just turned 5. Most parents would be appalled at these behaviors but she's celebrating that he has made strides despite his disability and wanted to share her joy with us. She recognized that she will someday have to tell him not to do those things but is also so excited that he is now doing them...the things most parents take for granted, she simply doesn't. It was heart wrenching to go through the steps of helping she and her partner to realize he had a disability but I'm happy I was there.
Another came in and congratulated us for receiving the BBB Torch Award for Ethics. She has brought 4 kids to our centers and said she wouldn't take them anywhere else. They are all in private school except for the baby and her words of affirmation meant so much. This mom can take her children anywhere, but she chooses us.
Another mom reached out to me just to send good thoughts my way. Her children are in elementary school now and she lives in another state but wanted me to know she was thinking about me. My gosh, how lucky am I to have this family in my life? One would think our connection would simply be over as her children aged out. Was it because she had breast cancer when they were little and we collectively worried while her kids were little or was it fate that we met and still adore one another? I don't know, but I'm grateful for that life line and friendship.
Then there is one of my longest connections with a woman that I admire and equally love for just being her. She told me that when she and her best friend who also had a son at GL would have a problem they would say, "Let's call Lori, she'll know what to do." Just like all of us, myself included, we don't always want to listen to our moms, so they had someone else they would listen to (even though I probably gave the same advice) don't we all need that non familial voice?
This one is special to me though. Her son was a baby when he arrived and we haven't lost touch even though he's in college now. The warmth I feel when I think about her and the connection we have is based on mutual respect, admiration and genuine love. She was a scared and young mom when I first met her and she is no longer that person. I was able to see her grow into herself and her vision of the best version of herself, but also watch and hear about her son growing into a person that she is proud of and that he is proud of.
I don't always get to see things start to finish. I often lose touch or they move or I wasn't their go-to-person, but there are enough that I do see start to finish (even though we're never really finished) that I know it's good. I know I'm lucky. I know they're lucky too....that we found each other and that our spheres get to intersect for this span of time when we need each other the most.
"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." John C. Maxwell.
I get to share a little bit about what I know with parents when they need it the most.
I get to share my passion for families everyday of my life.
I get to be a part of the most important part of a persons life, when they are young and their family is young.
When my own children become parents I know they will think that my advice might be outdated (even though I spent time this morning coaching a new mom with a 6 week old through her concerns). But that's okay. I hope they all find their Lori who will give them advice and help navigate them through their fears and insecurities and whom they will connect for a lifetime.
I am lucky indeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment