Month for Giving Thanks

It is the month for giving thanks, and I want to take just a moment and thank you for sharing your family member with us at More to Life. I hope you already know that we love them very much and enjoy our days with them. We are grateful for your decision to stay with them through this difficult chapter of their lives. Although it is not easy, we know that there are many joys that come with being a loving, family caregiver. And we want you to know that we are with you and are here to help in every way we can. And by “we” I mean all of us at More to Life. I can safely say that we all want to help and lighten your burden in every way we can. And while I am speaking of “we”, I want to let you know how much we (and that would be Amy and me) love and appreciate our team, Liese, Jackie, Ferne, Teri, Jordan, Cherie, Michaela, Mikaela, Danika and Karen. They are each so unique and offer such wonderful variety to our program, and yet they all have one powerful thing in common, they love you and your loved one.

They really care and would do almost anything for them and for you. While some came to us by walking through our front door, others through referrals from friends or family, some by school assignment and some in answer to prayer, I can’t help but believe that they came by some Divine direction. Some are here for weeks, some for months, some for years, but each for the time needed to impact certain lives and to be impacted by certain people and circumstances that will change their lives forever. I have worked on many amazing things in my former career from the Hubble Space Telescope, prototype aircraft, cryogenic transport systems, security systems for the Pentagon and other projects that have taken me to distant countries, but nothing has changed my life with greater positive impact than what I see in a single day, just watching the mini miracles that occur at our little “club”. While I have not seen the mental disabilities healed or the corresponding pain removed, I have seen the load shared and carried with joy and hope. I have seen a 93 year old lady in her final month of life give words of comfort that soothed the broken heart of her friend as she mourned for the sudden loss of her grandson-in-law.

I have witnessed the temporary restoration of sight to a blind man every time he engaged in “noodle-ball”. A “grumpy old man” finds a purpose, smiles and loves again. A little lady saves her Bingo Bucks for six months to buy a treasured prize, and then gives it to her friend. So many who suffer with chronic pain and discomfort, with every reason to stay home, still come and find relief as they lighten the burden of a friend. My former associates ask me if I miss Engineering. They couldn’t possibly understand unless they walked a mile in our shoes, but I tell them anyway, that I do miss it, but nothing like the way I would miss caring for and being with our seniors each day. I give thanks each day that I get to spend with my family and with my “other family”, because that is what I consider you and your loved one. And so, from all of us at More to Life, we wish you the very best that life has to offer during this month of Thanks Giving, and that would be a heart filled with gratitude.

From our family to yours,

Jeff, Amy and the MTL Team