Paying it Forward is good for the soul...

Toy Drive for Sick Kids Hospital!!!

My 30th birthday is fast approaching! In 2 more weeks I’ll have hit that milestone! If I look at this last decade, I’ve changed immensely as a person. Where was I on my 20th birthday? I can’t even remember. Is that old age or chemo brain I wonder, lol?!

I remember turning 25 like it was the most devastating experience I would ever encounter. All through my teenage years and my early 20s, it was a big deal for me to reach a quarter of a century. That seemed so ancient! The day I turned 25 my family was vacationing in Panama. My dad took us there for my mum’s 50th birthday. His birthday is the day before mine and my mum’s is 4 days after mine, so it was a week of birthdays in my family. Actually, December 7th marks the start of a crazy workout for my credit card. We have my dad’s bday, then mine, then my mum’s, then Christmas. Boxing day is mine and Shawn’s anniversary, then we have New Years to fund, then a week later is both Shawn’s AND his mom’s birthday on the same day. Whew! Never mind me, how about my poor brother’s bank account? Craig’s birthday is literally at the very opposite end of the calendar, June 13th. Friday June 13th. I bug my brother about his birthday being so far away from ours all the time. It fits with all the other areas I rib him about, such as having black hair when all of us have light hair (my mum did have jet black hair in her youth though, a rationale I kept from my brother when he was younger and unable to use this point back at me, and I have (oops, had) light hair by way of a bottle, but semantics don’t enter my side of this argument obviously. We also have never found any of his baby stuff, like a baby book or cards about his arrival. They weren’t with the box of all my baby stuff that we found years ago in our basement, which meant he must’ve been dropped on my family’s doorstep I explained gently to him. I was horrible to my brother growing up. It’s a wonder he’s the well-adjusted young man he is today, truly. The psychological damage I inflicted during his childhood was hard to endure I assume. Can you imagine having me as an older sister? Today, sure, I’m a cool older sis, but when I was younger? I couldn’t stand the sight of my brother! Even when I was bored at home, I’d almost always choose my own company over Craig’s. When we did play together we always fought and never made it to the end of any game without him in tears or me storming off. I found our 2½ year age gap a huge obstacle in my youth. I think the worst part about this is Craig truly liked me I think. He actually wanted to hang out with me, and I always brushed him away. When he was really young, I’d sometimes wake up to find him standing at the entrance to my door during the night. I'd ask him what the hell he was doing, and he’d reply meekly that he was waiting for me to wake up to ask if he could sleep with me as he had a bad dream. I wasn’t always a horrible sister. I did sometimes allow the nightmare-free zone of the other side of the bed to comfort him. Sometimes I didn’t. On those mornings, I’d wake up to find him sleeping on my floor! I know, I know. That wasn’t even the worst of my torture, trust me; not even close. Before I get hate mail though, please understand that we have a wonderful relationship now. It just took twenty years! It was when we travelled to Scotland together when I was 20 and Craig was a few months shy of 18, and that trip was the beginning of the amazing connection we now have. Craig and I are extremely close and have been ever since then. We’ve worked together; hung out together as friends, travelled together and just genuinely enjoy each others company. I’m sure that has to do with missing out on each others company when we were younger. I don’t regret our early relationship as it’s laid the foundation for who we are as people today, and we’re both pretty awesome individuals, so no regrets, right?

The whole point of that rant was to talk about Sick Kid’s hospital. I’ve made mention to this before, but Craig spent time in their care when he was a young boy, around 5 years old if memory serves me. They took excellent care of Craig and fixed him right up. This is the hospital that I’ve always held in the highest regard because they nursed my brother back to health. I remember visiting him there and I remember how friendly the staff was to him as well as me. I mostly remember being so sad to see him there though, and all the other kids that were in there too. The hardest part was always leaving him overnight. He was so upset to not have us with him and I remember the elevator rides with my parents afterwards being especially difficult. Those memories never leave you. Those memories are what inspired me to initiate a toy drive for Sick Kids Hospital this Christmas. I can only imagine how difficult not spending Christmas morning in my parents house around their tree with my family would be and I’m (almost) 30! How about those kids that are going to wake up in a hospital bed on Christmas morning? I want to contribute somehow, so I figured what better way than to do a toy drive? I’ve started with swapping all birthday gifts from friends and family with toys for kids. I’ve requested that no one buy me gifts this year; I’d like to please receive gifts for kids of any age. They don’t have to be expensive, just fun! The dollar store has great gifts for kids, so even if you don’t have a lot of money, you can still contribute. $5 could buy 4 colouring books AND a pack of crayons! I’m having all the people close to me drop these off at my house before December 14th. I’ve also started a bit of a snow ball situation as now my friends are asking if they can do a toy drive at their workplaces and drop those toys off too for me to deliver. Good thinking so I’ve asked that my work do something similar and I’m going to go there to pick them all up too. I’m writing about this as I want all of you to also have a chance to contribute. Helping out others makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Cancer gave me the kick in the ass I needed to realize this fact. I wasn’t a big “donation-giver” before; I didn’t really ever go out of my way to take any fund-raising initiatives. I sometimes would give to my friend’s causes, but not always. It took me getting cancer to realize just how important this type of generosity is not only to those on the receiving end, but to the human spirit. If you want to do something truly selfish, help someone else out as it feels really good. So far, cancer has made me a better person on the inside, and I think if I can take anything positive away from this experience, that should definitely top the list of benefits. I actually care more. Kudos to all of you who care without having tragedy affect you personally! I wasn’t that person before but I am now and that’s really what matters. I think that type of thinking also comes with maturity. I do know that it’s never too late to start! If you’d like to contribute to this toy drive, please email me at kellysjourney@yahoo.ca and I’ll let you know how where to send the toys to. Or if you’re in the area of Scarborough, me or my cohort’s could meet up to pick up toys or can direct you to where to send them. Some of my extended family is sending us cheques to go and buy toys ourselves, and we’ll be making some toy-shopping trips around town in the next few weeks. Toys do have to be new and in their original packaging as they're going to a hospital. The point is, not only are you doing something special for children and their families at the time of year when no child should be doing anything but smiling and looking forward to Santa’s arrival, but you’re also doing something so good for yourself. It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe this, it’s true, I can attest to it, but that is your choice to make. For me personally, it makes me smile to do something for another now. I’ve realized the value of smiling so I’ll do more and more to make myself smile instead of scowl. I’ve frowned enough for one lifetime I think. There’s simply no more room for it in my highly-valued life.

For ideas on toys, you can visit this link:

http://www.sickkids.ca/EntertainmentandDonations/section.asp?s=Donations&sID=8878&ss=Beneficial+Toys+and+Items+for+the+Hospital+Environment&ssID=17871

Thanks! : D