Spending New Year’s Eve contributing to breaking bread for individuals that need love, kindness, and support the most this holiday season was significant for me since I spent a majority of this year on the receiving end of that same kindness with a sick child.
2023 was a year that was nothing short of the bring you to your knees type of humility that life will serve up to you from time to time. In my case, it was when my 2 month old daughter, Liv, was diagnosed with high grade glioma brain cancer on 1/13/23.
Along with that diagnosis came the overwhelming support and kindness of family, friends, and strangers as we found ourselves on the receiving end of the same love, kindness, and support that was expressed this evening. At the end of the day, not having to worry about what to feed yourself (or the kids) was a relief and a huge comfort when switching between hospital and home stays.
We lost count of the amount of meal trains and baked goods that individuals and families chose to bring to us, but what it did was instill a deep sense of appreciation and gratitude for how much impact small gestures of kindness and a warm meal can have on someone in need or enduring hardship.
With the year coming to a close and with it, a much healthier one year old girl, we find ourselves shifting from a place of needing support to one of giving back, paying it forward, and being the enabler of that support for others in the same way that this support was provided to us.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to be a small part of the F3 contributions to breaking bread this year and to close out a tough year by providing others with comfort and support in the form of a warm meal.
