The old adage “it takes a village” has never rang more true for Jason and me as it has the past two years. Neither of us are one to ask for help. We don’t ever want to put someone else out, but recently we’ve really had to lean on our family and friends to survive. It’s not lost on us how fortunate we are to have the size village that we do.
First, there is our parents. We would literally fall apart if it weren’t for Grandma, Grandpa, Grammie, and Papa Randog. Even on days where things are going well, they are always there to pick up the slack, babysit, give rides, fold laundry, do anything possible to lighten the load – not to mention my mom and mother-in-law keeping the ship afloat when we end up in the hospital, no questions asked.
Then there are our siblings/extended family – always checking in to see if we need anything. My grandma is the ringleader of the prayer group. Jason’s cousin Heather lives in King of Prussia and is always offering up her house to us or doing Target runs and drop offs when we are inpatient for an extended amount of time. My cousins’ text group is the best source of comedic relief, and my cousin Tracey has become my unofficial therapist for all things life. These people, with their endless love and support, help carry our stress and struggles when we feel like we aren’t going to make it.
Our friends, especially the best girlfriends on planet, are sending us things we need before we even realized we needed them. From groceries to gift cards and gifts for Connor, they are never not trying to help. Pudge and Casey did something extra special for us during our last hospital stay. Connor is Sadie’s little shadow, and our sweet girl was having an extremely difficult time with us being gone. These two special friends of mine made plans behind the scenes with my mom and brought Sadie down to the hospital to spend a few hours with us then took her back home for no other reason than they knew we were all struggling. Not everyone is fortune enough to have such selfless thoughtful friends, and I will never ever take mine for granted. When we told them we were going to start Connor’s foundation and the golf tournament fundraiser, they all jumped right in, ready to help in anyway – even Jennie and Ashlee, both living far away, are on the foundation’s board and coming to town to help with the tournament.
Jason and I are also fortunate enough to work with some of the best people around. These individuals are always offering to help in any way that they can. They are understanding about our situation and are patient with us as we try to juggle everything that’s going on. Personally, I would not survive the days without our office crew at work – especially Michelle and Matt – they make the days go by with lots of laughs and are always willing to help me meet deadlines when things get a little extra hectic.
Today, 30 of our family members and friends made the trip to Philadelphia to be a part of “Connor’s Crew” at CHOP’s Walk for Hope. Once they heard that we were going, they all signed up too. So many people that could not make it today donated to our team.
The amount of love and support that we have received as a family over the past few months is beyond anything we could have ever imagined. There are not enough words to express how grateful and appreciative we are for every single person who has reached out and helped us in some way thus far. Northeast, PA is such a special place. When we talk about “home” to the staff that we meet at clinic and the hospital, they are always amazed at the strong sense of community that we talk about. They always say, “Wow! That’s not like that around here.” For us, this is just the beginning of sharing Connor’s story and our behind the scenes trials, tribulations, and triumphs. We will continue to humbly ask for your support, because if this foundation, its fundraisers, and our posts can help doctors move forward even one-step in their research of VEO-IBD, then it was all worth it.
Sending a special ‘thank you’ to our village – family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances and everyone in between; your prayers, positive thoughts, shares of the foundation page and golf tournament announcements, and never-ending love and support is appreciated more than we could ever put into words. Thank you for being here with us and following the journey of our little VEO-IBD warrior!
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