Show Your Hope!

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read the date of my last blog here – January 29th!  That’s a far cry from my usual ‘every 2-3 weeks‘ rule that I’ve kept strongly to since I started this blog.

I was also surprised to see that, despite my lack of posting, my blog has surpassed the 30,000 hits mark with readers from 134 countries around the world! I want to thank everyone for following us on our journey through HOPE…

And….I guess I have some explaining to do while I attempt to give you an update….I will do my best to keep this short!

On January 5th, our hometown was rocked by a devastating and deadly fire.  2 precious lives were lost, 1 child was severely injured, and more than 30 people were displaced from their homes – losing everything…including their vehicles.  Feeling helpless but willing to help…a few of us in town joined efforts and formed the Woodcrest Fire Relief Effort.  By mid January, efforts were in full swing, we were working closely with those affected and our fundraising efforts continued.  Our amazing group worked tirelessly day and night until February 15th, when we held a charity auction for the residents.  When all was said and done, the relief effort raised more than $60,000.00 in one month and 3 weeks.  It is a testament to how amazing Chelmsford is.  Words can’t express just how awesome our town is…instead, I’ll show you:

Courtesy of Eric Sciacca

Courtesy of Eric Sciacca

Courtesy of Eric Sciacca

Courtesy of Eric Sciacca

Just a few hours after the fire, clothing and monetary donations were already pouring in….

Just a few hours after the fire, clothing and monetary donations were already pouring in….

*The following photos are all courtesy of Eric Sciacca*

One of my partner’s in crime, Karen Uttecht!

2 wonderful ladies, Shannon Anderson and Elsy Yip!

Christopher Ferreira doing what he does best….BID!

In loving memory of Sue Astle and Paul DesLauriers, both tragically lost their lives in the fire.

Just some of the 16,000.00 worth in auction items….

Our fantastic Auctioneer, Sam Poulten from WCAP.

Our core group – Karen Uttecht, me, Shannon Anderson, and Debbie Siriani. Best team I have ever worked with (aside from Michelle Fox and Chelsea Hertzog!)

It was a full house….for sure!

AttiK donated their time for the event

And, of course….in true fashion – not even 12 hours after I got home from the event (which completely wiped me out and left me running on fumes and in the middle of my own crash), Sasha had a medical crisis that landed her inpatient at MGH for several days.

I then focused my time on helping her get back to her baseline (which took several weeks) and trying to figure out what was going on with Will (who was also having some issues).

All the while, Ralph was working hard to finish up the basement so Will & Sasha could do their school work down there (yes, they are still out of school and are not likely to return until the fall).

Midway through….

All done!

All done!
(Well, minus a few little things – like the door handle and the switch plates/outlet covers!)

  During this time, it came to light that Beast has been having some cardiac issues and there’s a possibility that the issues stem from a metabolic origin.  We literally broke our bank with testing for him, but I knew in my gut that something was wrong and I am SO glad we pushed for answers because, sadly – we were right.  Honestly, I’d do anything for him….Beast is our world and he deserves no less than the best.   We still don’t know 100% what the cause is of his 300 beats per minute + heart rates and the temps of 106.8 with only 6 minutes of activity….but it’s clear something isn’t right.  The vet has been amazing and has been working with others in the practice and outside the practice to figure out what is going on (only us, right?).  The consensus was to put him on ‘light duty‘ and begin the process of obtaining another service dog.  While the thought of this breaks my heart, the reality is that Beast comes first…

I just barely began to catch my breath from all of this when illness hit me…and I landed in the hospital for 5 days (because when I do things…I go all out, ya know?!?!?) BUT….I still celebrated going more than 2 months between hospitalizations (that was my trend). For the first time in more than 2 years, I went 3 months between hospitalizations!

Nonetheless…it was really rough going…

It took me several weeks to get back on my feet again, but I did…and, have been doing much better than I have been in years.  I’m still not great, but I feel like I’m making progress…I keep telling myself ‘slow and steady wins the race’ (although, as you can tell – neither of those are in my vocabulary).

There’s SO much more to catch you up on – SO much GOOD to update you on….but it will have to wait until the next post – which I PROMISE will be within the next week!!!!

For now, I am going to wrangle in the Munchkins….one with a severe migraine (super weepy and in a lot of pain) and the other one tired and grouchy – it’s time get them ready for bed!

The next 7 days will be full of appointments and difficult discussions – so, if you could please say a prayer that the path we need to take is clear and that we handle the answers with care, we’d really appreciate it.

Love and Light,

Stefani