Board of Directors & Friends of Hope Scarves

For the month of December, we wanted to show our gratitude for the dedicated people that support our organization throughout the year. We have highlighted our steadfast weekly volunteers who make sure Hope Scarves are selected and mailed each week, and we focused on the many groups and organizations who attend our monthly nighttime “Sips and Scarves” as well as Employees at businesses who have invited us for a Day of Service. Finally, we would like to honor our Friends of Hope Scarves committee members who launch our annual event, Colors of Courage, and our Board who help steer and support. We thank you all! 

Hope Scarves Board & Friends of Hope Scarves

Board of Directors 

As a nonprofit organization, a committed and engaged Board of Directors is essential to successfully fulfilling our mission. At Hope Scarves, our Board goes far beyond governing – they engage in a storytelling workshops, volunteer at Hope Scarves events, enhance our connection to the Louisville community, and bring countless others into the Hope Scarves family as scarf recipients, donors, volunteers, sponsors, and friends. In 2020, our Board will be tasked with dreaming about our future as we start strategic planning. We’re grateful for their visionary leadership as we turn big possibilities into goals and goals into action.

 

Friends of Hope Scarves

Everyone wants a team they know they can count on- the Friends of Hope Scarves are the volunteers we call when we need a skilled team planning larger projects like Colors of Courage and smaller events like Bites and Bubbles. They have dedicated countless hours to making sure every detail of each event is planned and executed to perfection, taking on each task with camaraderie and a smile. Most of the individuals serving as Friends of Hope Scarves have spent years volunteering with our organization, and they never hesitate to share their passion for Hope Scarves within the community.

Thank you again to all our volunteers.

We’re grateful you’ve shared your

time, stories, talents, and hearts with us. 

Gratitude changes everything

Each day is a gift. Even the hard ones.

Some days are hard.  Really hard.  But even on these days there is the opportunity to find gratitude.  (Sometimes you have to look hard.)  This morning, my heart sunk as I scrolled social media and saw that several of my friends spent yesterday in treatment.   What moved me is that they didn’t post about their toxic side effects, long waits or what they were missing out on.  They all posted about what they were thankful for-“caring nurses, warm coffee, oatmeal cookies, family by their side.”  They acknowledged the simple fact that they have access to treatment as something to be grateful for.

Approaching life with gratitude doesn’t change your circumstances.

It changes everything.

I have terrible mouth sores.   7 cancer sores to be exact.  A painful reminder that I’m at the end of my 21 day chemo cycle.  I’m bummed that it hurts to eat as we prepare for Thanksgiving dinner.  (I mean, c’mon!)  But, I choose to focus on the sun shining & our friends like family that traveled from Michigan to spend time together.  I am grateful for time to rest and reflect and give thanks.  Gratitude doesn’t make my mouth hurt less… but it changes my perspective.

We all carry some kind of pain.  Sometimes it weighs us down and is hard to find the thankfulness.   But, we can’t give up on gratitude.   That’s when it has the greatest potential to change our lives.  “Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” -Aesop

I’m grateful for each of you- who listen to my story, who support Hope Scarves and who help us change the way people experience cancer.   Each day is a gift… I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with joy and gratitude. And that you find a way to carry this intention with you.

In that way, may our Thanksgiving be never ending.

 

 

 

 

 

Growing older is a gift.

Today, I turn 43.

While some cringe at the idea of growing old… I celebrate!   All I want is to get old and wrinkly.

I actually thought I was turning 44.  I was convinced. It took a calculator and a persistent husband to bring me around to the idea that my proper number is 43.   It’s just that my 40th birthday party (which was an epic surprise) seems like much more than 3 years ago.  So, so much has happened since then… cancer progression, trips around the world, radiation, weddings, bad scans, surgeries, good scans, deaths, births.   I guess when you live so intensely the years seems longer.

I wished I was 44 because all I want is to get old.   50 is a big goal for me… 50 and healthy, actually.  If I may be so bold.  44 was just a little closer, but I’ll take 43.  And hold my breath for a moment thinking about what the next seven years toward my goal hold.

Then, I refocus on today.  Today is a day to celebrate!!

And, I have.  Last night my friends turned bookclub into a little surprise party.  Gathered around a cozy fireplace with friends was the perfect way to kick off my birthday weekend.   Today my kids made me birthday breakfast in bed (a MacGregor family tradition).  Then, I spent time on my yoga mat.  The teacher started class in child’s pose with “notice your breath.”  Tears dripped onto my mat as I grounded myself in gratitude.  Lunch with my boys, a little shopping & now a chocolate chip cookie and cup of tea in my favorite coffee shop. Tonight, I am meeting girlfriends to learn circus tricks and then bubbles at the Champagnery.  Tomorrow, dinner with dear friends.  Sunday, I’m hoping to volunteer together as a family.  Birthday’s are all weekend long in my world.  How lucky am I??

Today, and every day I reminded each year is a gift. Even as I live with a disease that is probably going to kill me, I choose to not only live, but to love & laugh and experience the gifts this life brings.

It’s not just about staying alive.  But to truly live.

How do you act on your aliveness?  We have to work with what we are given.  When we accept the things we can’t change and cherish each day, each year, each breath – we find the moments that bring the most joy.

Cheers to being fully alive! Bring on 43.

ps.  Thank you for all the birthday wishes, texts, messages, calls.  I feel all your love and it means so much.