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Left by the Dryers at Six Years Old, Found by One Woman Who Stayed

“Sweetie, where are your parents? I still remember that voice. I was six, sitting on the floor by the dryers. My biological mom left me there and never came back. I kept staring at the door, waiting. People walked past me until Kate stopped. She asked me that question, then sat beside me. She stayed with me at the station for hours. No one showed up. Every number they tried failed. I had nothing but the clothes I was wearing. Kate came back the next morning. And the next. She brought snacks, a blanket, and a small notebook for me. She told the workers she’d foster me “until the right thing happens.” The right thing ended up being adoption papers with her name on them. She raised me on her own. Two jobs. Every school event, every tough night, she was there. I became an officer because I wanted to be what she was for me—someone who doesn’t walk past a lost kid. She still calls me her best decision.”

"I keep thinking about how Davie Hogan's story worked because it wasn't just about revenge - it was about someone finding their own way to reclaim their dignity. That's universal." #WritingAdvice #StandByMe

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If anyone needs a pick me up today, I'd like to share my tradition of watching this every 9/11.

Today, we honor the fallen, but also the everyday heroes who stood up to help those in need.

#9/11 #The Great Boatlift of 9/11 #remembrance #everyday heroes #twin towers #Youtube

Way to be a hero ❤️

Truly livin’ on a prayer.

#jon bon jovi #suicideprevention #ask for help #things will get better #be brave #tomorrow is another day #everyday heroes

Everyday Heroes

So I’ve been thinking of Everyday Heroes a bit lately. Not the heroes who are awarded medals, or get public recognition for whatever they did, or my least favourite of all, the Social Media Hero more interested in posting their good deeds to satisfy their own demented need for attention. I’m talking about the heroes among us, the everyday people that we might not give a second glance to in passing. People we might see everyday but have no idea about their lives as unrecognized heroes. Think about that for a moment, can you think of anyone who might be like that in your life? While you are pondering that, let me tell you that I have many heroes in my life, I would like to tell you about a few of them.

I have always been rather introverted, in fact I often refer to myself as an outgoing introvert, which I suppose sounds strange but in my case is accurate. I had always wanted to work at my skills as a wordsmith, but on my own I was floundering. One day I saw that the Powassan Library had a Writing Group and so I thought I would stretch my comfort zone and attend their next meeting. Although I found it intimidating and stressful, I recognized that I needed this push to get me to write. So every other Saturday at 10:00 I showed up, in time I got comfortable and tried my best to assemble my random thoughts into some kind of order that might be tolerable to read and just maybe give people a few things to ponder. We are an eclectic group of people who support, encourage and help each other do something we all love. Although we would all probably write without the group, for myself it is belonging to this group that pushes me to write, that helped me revive a blog that had long ago grown stagnant. Even after I was forced to move away they still let me attend via Zoom. This group was started by Faye, she is the glue that holds us together. Now I know she would brush it off suggesting it’s no big deal, but it is a big deal to me. If she had not started this group I would have missed out on an incredible gift, a gift that has given me purpose and so much joy as my world collapsed around me. Faye is one of my Everyday Heroes.

When Robin and I made our first visit to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, it was a pretty overwhelming day. First they did a bunch of tests to confirm the diagnosis before sending us to the far end of the hospital where the ALS Clinic is located. We sat there in the hallway looking at the club I have just joined, the one no one wants to join. Looking around at the others waiting, knowing this is a preview of what is ahead for us, these broken people and their exhausted caretakers, and my head was just spinning. We eventually are placed in a room where a stream of doctors, specialists and research people come and go, the day was all such a blur. On that first day, and every visit we made to Sunnybrook there was this one person who stood out, far above the rest. Brianna couldn’t make me better, no one could, but Brianna could help make life more bearable, and she repeatedly did. She is my Occupational Therapist. She was the one who in the coming months would repeatedly help me get the equipment I needed to survive and adapt to the steady decline. It’s not just that she is so incredible at what she does, or that she is so efficient at managing so many different things at the same time, it was her compassion and empathy. Of all the people at that ALS Clinic, she was the one that calmed our frayed nerves, she was the one who we knew cared, was truly on our side, the one we could laugh and joke with despite the dire situation. I haven’t seen her for months, and I won’t ever see her again, but I hope she knows that she made a difference, that she had an impact on my life, and that she is one of my everyday heroes.

Robin and I were doing our best to navigate a complicated system involving our ALS Clinic, numerous different doctors and specialists, drug companies, Insurance companies, medical equipment supply companies, Community Care with all their services, ALS Society, and numerous other organizations. It was hard to keep track and just generally overwhelming. Then one day we met my Killer Blonde, she was one of the two Assessors I needed to be approved by for MAID (Medical Assistance In Dying). Although she certainly didn’t have to, she agreed to take me on as a patient in her Palliative Care Practice. She is a kind gentle soul who immediately put us at ease, despite the nature of our first meeting. She visits with us every two weeks for an hour, actually listens to our challenges and helps us to overcome whatever we are struggling with. She doesn’t claim to know everything but if she doesn’t know, she does find out the answer and gets back to us. She has laughed with us, and she has cried with us. We know without a doubt that she genuinely cares and you can’t imagine the amount of comfort that brings to us as we struggle through each day. I’m not sure how she does the work she does, caring as much as she does while caring for the dying. There are no happy outcomes in her work, but she can help people to a kinder, gentler death, and that is a pretty noble profession. Dr. Celine is one of my Everyday Heroes.

When you are diagnosed with ALS you are given exclusive membership in this elite club, a club no one wants to join, but once in, you find yourself surrounded by others in similar circumstances who understand like others not afflicted with this disease can not. You will see people who fight this disease by advocating for the rest of us, by fundraising millions of dollars hoping to find a cure, or maybe by just offering that helping hand to others. Some of my ALS friends have helped, guided, supported, listened, inspired and just made this intolerable journey a little more tolerable. My fellow ALS People, you are my Everyday Heroes, thank you for helping me make it through the dark days.

Families that include someone with ALS, well… they know things other families don’t know. Things they can only learn through walking through the hell that ALS brings when it moves in with you. They watch as their PALS (Person with ALS) dies bit by bit. They watch their dreams disappear, sometimes they watch their career suddenly end as they stay home to care for their loved one. Their once carefree life full of possibilities is now just full of medical equipment, medication, expensive bills and lost hope. It’s hard watching the person you love die. The caretakers are so completely exhausted struggling to go on, longing for peace and rest but knowing that only comes after their loved one dies, and that’s a high price for peace and rest. The family members who care for their loved ones, they are my Everyday Heroes.

I would like you to think about what that would be like to have strangers in your home, helping you get dressed, bathed and toileted. ALS, besides robbing you of a functioning body, also steals every shred of dignity you have. We presently accept 3 hours a week of help from a PSW, that lets Robin get out and have lunch with a friend, or maybe grab some groceries. We are entitled to ninety hours a month of care. Due to the many little crises that now come up every day Robin can no longer leave me on my own for very long, too many things can go wrong. The reason I mention this is because my sweet Robin continues to do everything, the work of so many. I assure you she has never worked so hard in her life, and that is saying a lot considering she was once the mother of four children under six years old. She does this because she loves me, she does this to spare me having all these indignities to me being done by strangers. What does Love look like? Love looks like my precious Robin. She is my very favourite Everyday Hero.

#als #gratitude #love #everyday heroes

Everyday Heroes

#als #gratitude #love #everyday heroes

#everyday heroes

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