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Friday, August 17, 2012

Help the Child, Help the Mother

TODAY'S THE DAY! I am honored to be working with The United Nations Foundation as a contributor to their month-long Blog Relay - Blogust - as part of their Shot@Life Campaign. Yesterday, the relay baton was held by Liz from This Full House, and today it's my turn. For every comment left on this post, $20 will be donated to the United Nations Foundation and 4 life-saving vaccines will be given to a child in need - $20 per comment up to a maximum of $200,000 to reach 10,000 children . PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT AND SHARE TO SPREAD THE WORD: COMMENTS HERE ARE WORTH $20 AND ARE SAVING LIVES TODAY!


Throughout my years of blogging, I’ve been inspired by so many people, not just who write their own blogs, but who participate in the conversation through their thoughtful comments.

Each October since 2005, I’ve written about the loss of my son Taylor. Those who have contributed to that conversation have brought peace to my mind and heart, not only at the time they initially commented, but over the years as I’ve reread their words of support. I thank all of you who have contributed to that peace.

Today, it’s our opportunity to share that peace, that support, with mothers around the world.

One thing I remember my doctor telling me when doing his best to explain the circumstances surrounding my son’s death, is, “There’s nothing you did to cause this, and there’s nothing you could have done to prevent it.” That idea has rolled around in my mind for years: as a mom, I did everything I could to save my son’s life, and that idea has brought me a measure of comfort.

My desire has been, for almost 12 years now, to help those who are dealing with the loss a child, whether a miscarriage, a stillbirth, or an infant, toddler, or child death. Earlier this year, I learned that there are areas in the world where the death of children (from easily preventable diseases) is so commonplace that when it happens the mothers of these children don’t even cry.

Did you catch that? The mothers, when their children die, don’t even cry. Because death is a probable, even an expected, part of childhood in their part of the world.

This idea knocks the breath out of me. Those mothers. I want to hold them and tell them it’s okay . . . knowing full well that I don’t know their world, I don’t know their culture. I still have a desire to help them, to do what I can to prevent that loss for them.

Many of the diseases from which so many children pass away are easily preventable with immunizations. You may not have $20 to donate to help, but you have your words. Your comments, today, are worth $20 each -- $20 to donate to the United Nations Foundation to give 4 life-saving vaccines to a child in need.
Life-saving.

With your comment, you’re not only helping the child, you’re helping the mother. Your kind word will help, as my friend Tara’s words have helped me through the years. She made this comment in October, 2007, and I think the words apply to our Mother friends around the world:



Thank you, Tara! Thank you, All! Let's get as many comments as we can today, and we'll help comfort and strengthen mothers around the world. 

Tomorrow, the relay baton shall be passed to the lovely Ana from SpanglishBaby. Don't forget to head over there tomorrow to comment (and therefore donate) more!

Please feel free to share this post on twitter, or facebook, or any other way you feel comfortable doing so. To learn more and join the conversation, you can follow Shot@Life on Twitter, or like Shot@Life on facebook


633 comments:

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Anonymous said...

Hope I'm not too late!

Anonymous said...

Great cause, thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Im sorry for your loss and its so great you have turned something so sad into positive energy.

Lak Mobes said...

Its great that you shared this touching story, and that you are working on this cause and helping others. Thanks again.

Anonymous said...

God bless and protect all the precious children in the world.

Sharman said...

Thanks to the wonderful sponsors! All babies deserve a good start in life, and all mothers deserve the means to protect their children.

Anonymous said...

May all mothers continue our true calling and be steadfast in all situation.

Sarah E said...

Thank you for sharing your story and helping with this cause. Glad I can help make a difference in the lives of others!

Jackie said...

Thank you for your story. Sometimes pain is so intense that tears won't fall but instead motivates others to want to keep living.

Vanalee said...

Thanks for your post to help mothers and their children. I am glad I too can help by commenting.

Betsy said...

Well, Jenny, lovely blog and lovely idea. And lovely you.

bids2calvin said...

Hope this counts! If not, I'll try the next blogger :)

Anonymous said...

This is an amazing effort. Thank you for sharing your story with us. I am a mother to an 18 month old. I can not imagine life without her. Counting my blessings everyday.

Andrea said...

What beautiful words and support your friend gave you. I am sorry for your loss, and I am thankful for people such as yourself who support so many in so many ways. This is an incredible cause and I am happy to do my part with a simple comment here!

Crystal T. said...

I'm sorry for your loss. It's terrible to lose a child. I hope that this comment will help other children.

Nicole said...

Love it! Thanks Jenny!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing your story, and for doing something to make a positive difference in the world.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing your story, and for doing something to make a positive difference in the world.

Stacy J said...

Thank you for what you are doing to inspire us and change lives.

~Brandy~ said...

The fact that many women often expect their children to die in childhood is a reality that need not exist. Thank you for blogging to help make that happen.

Anonymous said...

Yay! This is so exciting! We are all raising money together to help someone! Right now I am pretty much vaccinating a kid to protect them for life! Thanks for being part of this!

Justin Gronfur said...

Thank you for being an advocate of such a great cause as Shot@Life and thank you for your blog.

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR BEAUTIFUL WORD!!JANE

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this post. Best wishes to you and all involved with this cause!

Amy said...

I Love that a COMMENT is a Currency in this CAUSE. Way to GO- Shot@Life! Thanks for your thoughtful post too. Still can't fathom the lack of tears when I can turn on the news and cry on demand.

Nathalie said...

A wonderful program to help children in other countries.

Elise said...

Thanks for all you do to support others experiencing loss

Diana said...

This is a fantastic initiative, raising awareness, raising funds and making it easy for us mouse-potatoes to get involved and help out.
It should also encourage us to think – and discuss – the necessary education campaigns that should accompany such immunisation drives. There is still a lot of ignorance to be overcome, even in developed countries such as the USA, and unfortunately, we are now also dealing with the backlash of the covert operations in Pakistan that took place under the guise of vaccination campaigns.
Lots of work to do, but, as the famous proverb says, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”
Thank you for participating!

all.things.fadra said...

Just reading some of your comments on THIS post tells me what an impact your words have. So important that you share them for clearly so many people have been helped and comforted.

By the way, I love that quote you posted in that comment from 2007. Isn't it amazing that words from 5 years ago are just now making their way to me and having a huge impact on me today?

Love this community we're part of.

kraftenkrazy3 said...

Thanks so much for the chance to bring shots to children in need. It is hard in every day life to find the opportunity to do such good with so little effort. Thanks for what you and Shot@life are doing!

~Brandy~ said...

I just love this idea so much so here is comment #2 for me!
I recently got back from a wonderful weekend in Ottawa Canada with an organisation that is near and dear to my heart. World University Service of Canada (WUSC) works to bring students from refugee camps in Africa and Asia to study in Canadian universities and colleges. I told everyone about Blogust and what a great fundraising initiative it is. What I wouldn’t give to find a generous donor to contribute to WUSC’s Student Refugee Program (SRP) in the same way! I am currently fundraising in my own small way for the SRP by challenging myself to run a half marathon in December and blogging about it here:http://21kforchange.blogspot.c…
Communities, be it online or otherwise, coming together for a cause is just so incredibly inspiring to me!
Thank you, Jenny, for taking part!

AdriansCrazyLife said...

I'm hoping that additional comments count towards the total. I'm making a second pass through the calendar to catch a few days I missed the first time around.

Suzanne @ MOM CONFESSIONALS said...

What an incredible story. Thanks for sharing and for being a part of this incredible movement.

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