Restoring Hope thru Love - My Story
Posted: Thursday, August 04, 2011
by Ingrid Weir
http://www.facebook.com/ingritaweir
This has been hands-down, the most difficult year of my life. I have been sick for years now, from a house that was filled with toxic mold that we couldn’t see… that was hiding in the walls, ceilings, and floors of the home. Since discovering the cause and moving to another home, I am getting better every day. Still, there has been one tragedy after another, and I had two choices to make: slip into a deep depression and give up – or, I could do something with the experiences to help others.
The culmination of these two events caused both my boyfriend and I to essentially emotionally implode, which caused me to lose him and the aforementioned family, as well. I’m still not even sure what happened, but I think we were both just too sad for each other. The grief took hold of us so much that there was no way we could be there for each other the way we needed to be – or not to be on some days – let alone for ourselves.
During this whole time, of course, my boss had been very ill.
“Guess what happened?! They came! These people worked their hearts out and arses off for my sister. Some of them had never even met her – heck, one of them had never even met me! Nevertheless, they did it, and it was amazing!”
Let’s add on to that, my cat dying. At the other house, I had several cats that suddenly died, but my cat, Hank Vance, I had gotten him back to a healthy pillow/cat for quite some time. This was with a daily combination of topical hydrocortisone and antihistamines. He was better for so long, but suddenly, he wasn’t, and there was nothing that could be done. I knew it was happening, but I hoped and prayed that I could get him back to health. For weeks, we were alternating force-feeding him, and I would just sit there and hold him for the two hours in between… after several weeks, though, all of his organs finally shut down as had happened with so many others, and he passed away.
Then, we add on to that, the troubles with my teenage son. I won’t go in to those, but trust me, the terrible twos have nothing on a teenager hell-bent on self-destruction. We are working on the issues every day, though, and I will continue to hope, pray, and work at it until that is no longer an issue. By the way, I am accepting Botox gift certificates to help hide what teenagers do to your forehead if anyone is ever looking to give me a gift. ;-)
So, that’s enough complaining for now. I have been getting better every day – a few days here and there, it seems like I fall back. However, physically, I am becoming stronger with each passing day. Very few days go by where I cannot feel my legs or arms anymore, and neurologically, things are looking up, too! Heck, the fact that I can write at all is evidence of that. For a while there, I couldn’t put a sentence together – much less all of these words in what is hopefully a logical, reasonable order!
Now, comes to what I decided I had to do. I have a secret shame. I become incredibly depressed. There are times when I am texting or on Facebook, and I’ll be sarcastic and witty… offering advice to others on how it’s going to get better, and using lots of exclamation points, too! All the while, I may very well be crying uncontrollably. I just cannot stand to be like that – and I definitely cannot stand anyone else knowing that I am feeling like that.
So, what did I decide to do? I encountered so many people going through so many hardships in the last couple of years, and I always felt helpless. I didn’t have the money, the time, the energy, or the expertise or skills to help. But then, I had a dream. I had a dream that a group of us went to my sister’s house that she had been working on for a long time, but there was too much to do… I had a dream that we went over there and fixed it so that she could move back into it in a day.
We had been going over there to try to help her as much as we could, but it was kids and me, so there was only so much we could do. It seemed like no matter how much time or energy we spent, there was still so much left to do that it was insurmountable. So, I told her about the dream, and she kind of laughed and said how that would be nice… and then, I went to Facebook. I organized an event for that weekend and asked anyone, who could help to come.
Guess what happened?! They came! These people worked their hearts out and arses off for my sister. Some of them had never even met her – heck, one of them had never even met me! Nevertheless, they did it, and it was amazing!
After this, a few other people came to me, asking for help for others in similar situations. At this point, I realized that I had to start a nonprofit organization to do just this. I decided on the Hope and Love Wilson Brown Foundation, and people are signing up like gangbusters! It has been amazing to see the outpouring of love from friends, family, and strangers alike. We are working on providing hope to two different families right now, one is the McNair Family, whose 7-year-old son has Muscular Dystrophy, and they are about to be homeless if we do not help fix their home. The second is the Hauge Family where Mrs. Hauge was just diagnosed with lung cancer while they were in the middle of working on their home. Now, she cannot be around the paint fumes, dust and debris during the construction, and they are running out of time and money to do the rest of the tasks, as well.
So, what is the point in all of this? Life gave me lemons, but it gave these people even more lemons. So even if I do not have enough sugar, myself, to turn it all into lemonade, if each of us ask our neighbors for even a teaspoon of sugar, eventually, we will get enough together to make it sweet.
The motto is, “Restoring Hope thru Love,” and this is true not only for those we are helping; it is true for the volunteers involved, as well. I have never been so moved by such an outpouring of love from the community and willingness to help. I highly recommend – if you are having a rough year, too, to do whatever you can to help your community. Science will even tell you how well it can work to your benefit.
For More Information on The Hope and Love Foundation
Facebook: www.facebook.com/hopeandlovefoundation
Website: http://www.hopeandlovefoundation.org
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Hi Ingrid.
What an amazing story!
KUDOS to you for what you've accomplished in your life and for others!
Hugs,
DianneThank you, Dianne. I definitely cannot take much credit. I certainly couldn't do it without the help of everyone else!
Hugs back!
With every footfall of your story, I became sorry, then tired, then grieved. Then I thought. Wait she's getting through this. Keep reading. My gawd, you have learned a ton and gone through a ton. I just read a thought from a Kabbalist: The point is not to build character, but the soul is to be transformed. Many lives don't seem to be settings for transformation. If you will forgive me for what might appear to be too intimate: Yours does.
Thanks for your article.
Yours, ChristoferThank you Christofer. You are far too kind. I am quite blessed, I know.
Many thanks for reading my stories,
Ingrid :-)
What an absolutely awful time you've had, Ingrid. I think you've done incredibly well to get through, survive, and then to triumph the way you have. I agree, love heals. May you have tons of it for the rest of your life!Thank you, Jennifer. It is nowhere nearly as difficult as many, but we all have to band together and survive, I think. Love is an amazing healer, and I hope the same for you! All the love in the world!
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