Whats going on???
Halloween after the storm….
Yesterday I sat at a play date with two other Moms while our 9 year olds played football. As they played in the background we got to talking about what was going on with our families. One of the Moms is someone I have just recently gotten to know so was surprised when she told me that she was a survivor of Cervical Cancer, This same mom has a young daughter that is going through a medical crisis now with a recurring tumor near her growth plate on her leg. It struck me as odd as I sat with these young Moms, only 40 (both of them) that one was a Melanoma survivor, the other Cervical Cancer, and myself a breast cancer survivor. In addition the daughter who is in treatment for the tumor condition is in my middle son’s class is who has Juvenile Diabetes. The Mom who is the Melanoma survivor is also dealing with an autoimmune thyroid condition as well. WOW that is a lot for 3 young families!
I thought to myself that 40 years ago my Grandmothers were not sitting around talking about cancer and autoimmune disease within their young families. My Grandmothers both lived into their 90’s as well as their siblings and there was NO Cancer and no autoimmune disease to speak of on either sides of the family nor in their networks.
What are we as MOMs doing to question the state of our country’s health? We are receiving an application per week to Mothers Grace for aid, from young families with cancer and life threatening illness.
As Storm Sandy hit I wondered again about the state of our environment and it’s effect on our country and our health. I realize this is just one piece of the puzzle, however in my opinion, this should not be a Partisan issue but perhaps one of caring Mothers wanting a safer earth for our children and grandchildren. Here is what we do know….an overwhelming amount of scientific data and experts in the field tell us that the Earth’s climate is heating largely due to rising greenhouse gas emissions, which is contributing you our extreme weather and climate events. Our air is not as clean (especially herein the valley) allergies and respiratory illness are at an all time high.
I think as we consider the safety and health of our children (as I know all of you Graceful Mom’s do), the topic of the environment and the direction of our country’s climate strategy should be considered. Germany, England and China have very aggressive plans and we as a super country are behind in our plans..This is in no way meant to be a political topic here just a consideration and thought provoking topic for Moms everywhere.. As I watch our kids take care of the environmental duties (recycling) at their schools as kind of a robotic duty I am pondering other ways for them to get more involved.
Check out one of our fist grant recipients, Graceful Mom, Connie Uddo of St. Paul’s Homecoming and Hike for kaTREEna who is on a mission to help storm victims, her organization has helped to restore over 30,000 homes after storms and hurricanes and replants vegetation and trees in these stricken areas. I hope we can support more of these efforts and also the pro-active initiative that will help change the tide before the storms…..