…Then one day, out of the clear blue, we received an anonymous donation for thousands of dollars. It was generosity beyond anything I had ever known; generosity that my family and I desperately needed. For years, I wondered who it was who had shown me such kindness. I silently thanked him or her every day of my treatment, which eventually became my recovery.

I have witnessed a good support group provide a much-needed lifeline, a place to share feelings confidentially, make new friends, and learn from others who have walked a similar path.  When people with a common purpose and shared life experience come together they are less likely to feel alone, negative, depressed, anxious and symptoms of loneliness and fatigue melt away, if only for an hour.

The Living Journeys Youth Group was so helpful for me when my mom was diagnosed and eventually passed away from breast cancer. There isn’t anything quite like knowing you have a group of people that you can turn to who will immediately understand what you’re going through, simply because they’ve been in a similar situation.

Both cancer and death are really stigmatized subjects that most people have a hard time talking about, so one thing I’ve really appreciated has been having a place where talking about death is met with both support and a good dose of morbid humor. Losing a parent young can feel really isolating at times and I’m really grateful for the community Living Journeys has fostered so that no one who has been affected by cancer has to process it alone.

When I was informed that I had a very bad cancer, I was shocked.  Most folks with adrenal cortical carcinoma stage 3 search for outcomes and learn 20 percent of patients survive 5 years. After surgery and during my chemo treatments, Living Journeys helped arrange food, counseling, and support for my children.  It was a dark time for me. Through it all, I attended cancer support meetings with other CB Cancer folks.  Some are still here.  Many have passed.  I will forever be grateful to the good folks that built Living Journeys’ support infrastructure and funded it.  Living Journeys gave me hope when I was in need.

My sigh of relief is audible all the way from across the street on Thursday afternoon as I pull a healthy, homemade meal out of the cooler on our front porch. This meal is there every week. It is constant. It is nourishing. It makes my night doable. It reminds me every single week, that there are community members still supporting our family. It reminds me that five years into this cancer thing, we are still getting support from Living Journeys.

I had no idea the extent of Living Journeys programs and the many ways they support families with cancer in the valley. They started bringing us meals, delivering produce boxes, offering travel reimbursements, quarterly financial grants, covering emotional therapy, the list goes on.

Your organization has a heart and a soul. It has embodied a life force. I feel very fortunate to have experienced this.