Dear Carney Family Jingle Elves, We read your last note that was left on December 24th and wed sincerely like to thank you for being our Christmas Jingle Elves - what a truly amazing and extraordinary experience for the Carney family! We still cant believe that for 24 straight days during December you all worked together to intentionally provide some joy to our family. We were, and still are, floored by all of it. While we are unable to adequately capture exactly how we feel, on behalf of my family, please allow me to try to provide some context to how much your efforts have meant to our family and a great reminder it has provided to us. When I was a student in college, I volunteered on a weekly basis for about six months on the Pediatric Ward at University Medical Center. My initial reasons for doing this were mostly selfish. I needed to show some volunteering time with kids on my application to the UA College of Education for when I was to apply for admission. A friend recommended I look into volunteering time there. Not only would I be able to check the box off, but I might even get something out of it is what she told me. Boy, was that an understatement! I learned many things in those six months, but my greatest takeaways were that two things people desperately need during difficult times is to know that others care and that they have something to look forward to. You see, the kids in the UMC Pediatric Ward were there for a variety of reasons. Some had broken limbs, many had just had a recent surgery, others were battling a serious illnesses such as cancer. Many of these kids spent countless hours alone in their hospital rooms. Moms and Dads had to work and couldnt be there all the time. Some kids seemed to have no relatives that ever came to visit. Again, trust me when I say they needed to know someone cared and needed to have something to look forward to. I am still ashamed to say that during that six months, there was a period where for three consecutive weeks I did not show up for my volunteer post. I had no good reason. I was young, immature, lazy, selfish, and heck, I wasnt getting paid for it, so what was the big deal if I missed a few volunteer rotations? Upon my return that following week though, I was taken aback at how excited some of the kids, the regulars, were to see me. I specifically remember a little boy named Brian telling me how much he looked forward to my visit every week and how much he missed me. His parents asked me to take home and read a journal he had been keeping. Upon reading his journal, it really hit home for me how much my weekly visits and work with Brian meant to him...and how disappointed he had been when I had missed those several weeks in a row. The personal experience I share from many years ago was a great lesson to me, but it does not hardly convey the full power of knowing someone cares about you or having something good to look forward to and what it means to the Carney family at this time in our lives. I share this with you because with what my wife and our family are going through, the truth is that the roles are reversed and my family and I are the kids in need now. And, just like those kids, we too need to know someone cares and we need something to look forward to. You see most of our future events seem heavy and looming as we wait for news on whether the chemo is working, or we wait for news of the latest brain MRI and if the tumors there are shrinking, or we wait on insurance news of treatments that have been denied, etc. As such, thank you so much for the time you put into Jingling our family during December. We were blown away by the creativity, the generosity, and the love and care for our family. We genuinely looked forward to what each new day and each surprise it would bring. I am still not sure how we were deserving of this incredible individual and collective effort and attention, but I can assure you that we are humbly grateful and very honored. We were reminded again that people do care for us and there are many things to look forward to on a daily basis. Thank you again. Your names and efforts are forever etched into the hearts of the Carney family. We are indebted to all of you. A belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you. Sincerely, Kevin and Jami Carney and the Carney kids
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 03:34:58 +0000