Give Love

I've never wanted something more than to help someone else. I have always wanted to be there for the people I love. I want to be there for people I don't know and who needs a person to talk to or to lean onto. I am always awake for people who needs somebody's help. Whatever they need help with. I do all that I can.

When I just turned 10, I volunteered as a helper for children in need of toys for Christmas, holidays, birthdays, and all the days in between. Through the five years of volunteering in this special, wonderful program in the West coast, the Metro Toy Drive, more and more people came to help, and more children like me came to volunteer and help many children in need. I remember helping children in Shriners hospital and giving gifts to the children. We loved and helped everyone, even each other. We all grew from these experiences and it has and always will be something many of us, even myself, will want to do again and again. To help people, to give to children, to be there for friends and even strangers in need.... That's something I dream of all the time. It has always been something I do and want to do every day. This gives me peace. This gives me hope. And most of all, best of all, this gives me an enormous amount of love, and thankfulness, filling my heart, and I want to give my heart out to people I love forever.

I was looking back at pictures and videos and remembering moments when I met some amazing people, people that the world knows and or remembers, like Amy Roloff. She's a pretty cool person, I remember. And in the Metro Toy Drive, MTD, Helpers, volunteers like me, set up a little area in our nearby Starbucks, a box saying Donations for children in need, giving unwrapped gifts of love and hope. To help bring joy and laughter and light into childrens lives. These donations made everyone smile. I've felt abundant love and comfort from receiving toys and other fun things as a kid. And I wish for every child to have that too. Always.

I'm no longer a child, which is crazy, crazy how fast time flies. It's remarkable. I'm older now, and yet I still want to give. I want to be here and show that I am still here. I will always want to bring people together to help others. It gives me so much joy! I don't think I could do anything else that gives me this much joy and happiness. If there is, I couldn't believe it. I have loved these moments in my childhood and I want to relive the feelings of giving every day.

5 years ago we all went on new journeys, 10 years ago, we started together something huge and we'll each remember what we did for someone else. Imagine this... A kid like me, helping other kids like me, giving them something to hold onto and enjoy and care for, toys and books to read...

One of the places we gave donations to, also gave me something in my life years later. I had severe scoliosis* and it progressively got worse. *Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine. The degree of it was scary. Normal range, I believe, is about 10 degrees and lower. I could be wrong. And the degree of my spine was 45-47 degrees. My family and I decided at 16, a year after MTD moved on....that I needed surgery. And where I had my surgery: Guess! Shriners hospital!

I look back and it's just amazing. I didn't realize this place was the same place I'd visited 5 years prior because of love. That same love was giving itself to me. It's just beautiful. I'm thankful for the new life I have because of what I'm able to do now, many things I couldn't do before having surgery. And I'm grateful for all the efforts of the doctors who've helped me. The last day I was in the hospital, my nurse walked in and she made me close my eyes. Had me hold out my hands and she gave me two stuffed animals, it may have been three. I was given a small blanket and a pillow as well, on it were loving notes drawn into arrows. I wondered...what if these gifts were part of the same ones we donated? Whether or not they were, it gave me so much joy. And several weeks went by. I ran for the first time in years. My back and my legs didn't ache. My ribs and breathing had trouble catching up but I could run!

I will forever love the days of giving as a child. And now I pray to always have a moment to give as a friend, no matter how old I get, always give every chance I can.

There is one cause I dream of working with and that's CharityWater.

Give to the one who searches for a hand to hold. Love the man or the woman, the person, the animal, and bring a smile to their face. Make a moment good for them today, to one day remember again. Give your best efforts to the good causes you believe in. And give yourself a moment to love and believe in yourself too. You deserve to tend to your needs, care for your body, and keep yourself healthy. Help yourself, guide yourself, achieve the goals you dream of in your life.

Believe in your loved ones. Believe in mother nature. Learn some ways of how to give the world peace of mind and comfort. Be yourself and always strive to be a better you. Be a good example to your fellow neighbors and siblings. Above all. Smile. Every once in a short while. Just have a little faith and smile.