IN MEMORY OF JEAN GIBBONS
To my friends and supporters…
I write this note after reading so many beautiful emails, cards and notes sent with such tenderness and love after my mother's passing. I can't describe the feeling of warmth and support I feel from each word, each hug, each expression of friendship. When Dr. Jamie Huysman and I created Leeza's Place years ago, we knew we were on to something good, but we could have never imagined the power of the communities of support that each Leeza’s Place represents. My heart is full and my gratitude is deep for the honor of sharing a life of service with each of you. When you have a community of angels lifting you up, there is nothing that can keep you down.
My family sends thanks and love to all who have lifted our spirits and kept our hearts from breaking as we said goodbye to our steel magnolia, Gloria Jean Gibbons. The disease that kept my mother's brain trapped is gone, we have buried her earthly body, but the wonderful woman who insisted that I tell her story is still here. She is dancing in celebration at the victories accomplished. At Leeza's Place, we stand for all the maternal energy that has ever guided a lost soul home. We believe in all the outreached hands that ever lifted a burdened heart. We honor all those who tirelessly commit themselves to make it better for someone else.
Please know that you have made our family's journey easier because of the blessing of purpose and the lightness of your love. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts and the depths of our souls. I am more committed than ever to continuing my mother's living legacy of change and hope through Leeza's Place and with each of you, who are gifts far greater than this small town southern girl could ever imagine.
I love you and I thank you,
WELCOME TO LEEZA'S PLACE
You've found us because you either know or love someone who is in a health crisis. Maybe you are the person who has seen your entire world turn upside down because of a diagnosis. Your heart is broken, your senses are numbed and you feel lost and confused. Well, that's where we come in with our work at Leeza's Place. Keep reading because our joy, our privilege and purpose is to help you at precisely this moment. We're here to help you get connected, get coached and get confident after a life-changed illness or chronic disorder has broken into your previously sane and safe existence.
Thanks to many of you, we are growing and families are healing. Your gifts of time, talent, donations and shared faith have created a tsunami of love and we are blessed to be a part of each success story at each Leeza's Place across the country. Under the creative leadership and fatherly hand of our co-founder and executive director, Dr. Jamie Huysman, we have solid programs that are delivering real outcomes and strong relationships with many groups and organizations in the nonprofit and for profit sectors. I am personally moved to tears daily when I see our care advocates and mighty volunteers pull off miracles.
We began with my promise to my mother that I would take her story of stolen memories and use it to educate and empower. Now, we have a new promise…and that is to all of you who wonder where the strength will come from; all of you who wake in the middle of the night with a terrifying gasp of "now what"; all of you who journey so courageously and feel so alone. We promise there is life after diagnosis. We promise to give you the tools to find your way. We promise the caregivers and their diagnosed loved ones that you will not have to look down a long, dark tunnel and fail to see a light. We will be a beacon for your journey of hope and together we will begin to make it better.
Read on for exciting news about the people and places that make up the Leeza's Place communities! I am so very proud of our growth and commitment to helping caregivers and their loved ones. Welcome to Leeza's Place!
LEEZA'S PLACE - Caregiver Stress Groups
If you're looking for inspiration this month, here it is! I love the photos our Leeza Care Advocate Kathy Miller sent us from Provena St. Joseph's Leeza's Place in Joliet, IL. What fun! These ladies have been crocheting and knitting since May of 2007 and have been giving baby hats and lap robes to the Provena St. Joseph Medical Center community. So far, they have gifted more than 150 families and patients with these incredible works of art crafted with such love.
These stress release groups work on many levels and I hope this example encourages all of us to look for ways to relieve our own stress in our lives by reaching out and giving something handmade to others. The group gets much needed socialization and support, they are wildly creative and they are giving something with no expectations.
So what is your gift? Maybe it's letter-writing, painting, reading, sewing? Whatever it is, get together with others who share your need to give and watch it grow. Thanks Kathy and thanks especially to the "Crochet Stress Away Group" in Joliet!
