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Thank you Michigan for Noticing

 

Sitting in Lansing, Michigan in the capitol building last Wednesday (9/18/19) I wiped the tears from eyes as I listened. Let me back up a bit. I didn’t plan to become the full-time guardian for my three-year-old grandson, I don’t expect any praise, compensation, or reward. However, when someone notices and recognizes the effort Paul and I have made, the empty nest plans we’ve shelved, the commitment we’ve made it’s like when I ran cross country in high school and heard the unexpected cheer as I rounded a turn on the course. I didn’t need the encouragement to finish the race, but it helped. It was reassuring and lifted me.

Well, last Wednesday, I sensed a lot of cheering. It was the Michigan Children's 1st Annual Relative Care Day in Lansing, at the capitol. Relative care is when a relative, like a grandparent, steps in to care for a child in place of the child’s parents. Sometimes these arrangements are informal, sometimes they are court-ordered, and sometimes they are foster care arrangements. 

When our group of Relative Caregivers was in the House Gallery, Michigan State Representative Frank Liberati stood on the House floor and called for everyone to stop and recognize the work, the love, the time we give. He called us Heroes. Tears came to my eyes. It just felt good for someone to recognize the important work we’re doing every day. The work is not glamorous but is truly setting the stage for the future of our community, our state, our country, and our world. It is tirelessly loving unconditionally, helping with homework, tying shoes, calming night terrors, just showing up, every single day. It is always putting the best interest of these children we love in front of everything else in our lives. 

Thank you, Michigan, for pausing a moment and noticing. 

www.grandfamilytoday.org

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Hi Cathy- LOVED the post and thanks for putting together your website. I know a number of grandparents raising grandchildren and shared the resource with my school colleagues.  It's true that it really takes a village.  

 

Be well,

 

Mary

Carey,

Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. Could you refer Your friend to the Website we created? It is intended as a place for us relative caregivers to connect socially and emotionally. There is a forum for members (membership is free). Our hope is we can find each other, support each other as we show up for the children in our care. 

www.grandfamilytoday.org

~ Cathy 

Thank you, Cathy, for taking the time to post this touching piece. Shared on social media, perhaps it will remind us all to give a special hug and thanks to grandparents and others rearing grandchildren or relatives. We are all in this together. I know a friend who is rearing two rambunctious grandsons. She said to me Sunday after church that she just wished people would “invite us over.”  She is alone with the two boys. I know she is exhausted. The more we can “spell” each other and provide a little respite? The further we can all go. 

Keep sharing your beautifully written posts! 

You are a light.  Glad you are modeling the importance of taking time to be recognized and recharged! 

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