Create the person you want to be, so that you can love yourself flourish.
No one knows how you feel or what you have gone through unless they are walking with you in your footsteps. You cannot feel the pain, loneliness, fear, depression, or anxiety with the loss of identity of others. So instead of criticizing or judging, or fading from their lives. ..just simply be there, stop and take a minute from your life and think of them. Say a kind word, open the door for someone, compliment a stranger, add an extra prayer...that may be the only nice thing that person had done for them that day. We all need to feel that we are loved and that we matter in this world.
Will you help me feel that?
Welcome to my Fund. Many, most, if not all of you who are visiting, have been a part of my story...a part of my journey in life. I hope that it was rewarding, educational, motivational (even if you did not realize it or like it at the time), and that I made a difference in your life in some small way. I know for many of you, my classroom was a second home.
That is all I ever wanted to do...make a difference and matter. That is why I became a teacher. I knew I ould always be a teacher. I have been told that I have a gift, that not many have, for teaching and "with-it-ness". Yes, that is how I knew what you were doing in the classroom when I had my back turned. LOL This is why I have always been overly passionate about my students and whatever we undertook, and put my heart and soul into teaching. It was my love and life.
Remember when I would tell you, "Education is the key to your future." I do believe that, but I am not completely correct. Education, knowledge and worldliness, will get you very far in life and open many doors; however, without your health... it is very hard to enjoy life or apply your knowledge to anything. This, my friends, I have found out first hand.
So, here I am. Starting anew, after having to take a bit more than a year off from teaching. Most of you know how much I have lost, literally 250 + pounds, overcome and sacraficed, but nothing prepared me for a world without teaching. I have lived by the school bell since I was in Little Pine Preschool at the age of 4. While not teaching, gaining strength for a 6 hour gastric revision surgery, and dealing with other health issues, I realized that my "being" was lost without the school, the title of "teacher and Ms. S" and my students. I couldn't share my gift, and it has been very difficult to say the least.
I have had to recreate myself, figure out who I am, recover, repair, and I cannot depend on the classroom to do it in. Create a new ME.
SO...why a Gift Fund? Due to the health issues, I needed to stop teaching and went for quite a time until I received a form of pay. I am still not able to work at this time, and have quite a few medical bills outstanding. So,
I also realized while your health is vital, and education is the key to your future, money is fleeting and goes very quickly. I need help, as I cannot recover from this alone anymore. I have tried everything, every resource, written to places, all seeking assistance...to no avail. I feel like I don't matter. I don't know where to turn anymore, as I have worked so hard this last year to recover my health, but the other holes seem to keep getting deeper. And then I thought, why not rely on one of the skills that I used all the time as a teacher? Raise the funds?!
This is very humbling for me to ask for, and to do, as I have always been the one to fix other people's problems, to give everyone else a helping hand, to suprise others with little gifts of appreciation, and to share whatever I have if someone was in need. I never asked in return, but now I don't have a choice my friends. I am really in need at this point. I pray every day for God to hold me in the palm of his hands, but then I remember he already is because no one could survive all of the odd things, or mishaps that I have gone through and still tell about them LOL
Help me create a "new ME, a stronger and redesigned Ms. S", by giving me the GIFT of getting stable again and getting out of debt. The gift of recovery medically and financially. I won't give up, but I need to know that maybe I did make a difference. Maybe I do matter. I know that these past months, I certainly haven't felt like I do. I miss teaching. (sigh) There are so many days that are physically difficult for me, and it creates sadness and hardships.
Perhaps I shared my lunch, gave you clothes, took you out for dinner, gave you a Prom dress, listened when others wouldn't take the time, suprised you with a cookie or flower, or decorated for that event when you needed the help... you probably said to me "let me know if you need anything". Or maybe, you said you'd pay me back and I said "no problem and forgot about it." Now, I need something.... Now I need a favor back in return :)
My goal isn't to profit from this, but to receive enough Gifts to pay my medical bills off , pay my COBRA medical insurance for 1 year, and to fill my meger savings account , up with gifts once again , which is now at $0. Yikes, thats over $20,000...thats how much I have lost. However, it is hard to get well when you are continually worrying and stressed about finances and collection bills.
After all is said and done... I will be stronger, healthier, wiser, and more humble for everything that I have faced and gone through. I still believe in the power of education, I still will always be your teacher at heart, and I will always believe in you (I knew you could do it all of the time!).
Thank you for being in my life, reading this, and allowing me to be a part of your life. I truly have been blessed by being a teacher, your teacher, colleague or friend. Don't worry, as I will still love you if you GIFT me or not. And... thank God for the chance to create a new Me!
Everyone always tells me that I am a survivor, how strong I am, and how I always seem to pick myself up and climb higher than from where I fell. Perhaps it's because I was born such a premie, at 5 months 3 weeks of my mom's pregnancy, and I survived weighing only 1 pound 11 ounces in 1965! Then the diets and weight issues started at age 5, along with some medical problems. I survived it all, but little did we know I would reach 407 pounds. Not everyone knows that "Mary" or the pain, discrimination, and loneliness that was hidden. But, I fought back and had gastric bypass surgery, even though the insurance company would not pay for it. ..I paid for every surgery, every bit. I worked hard and worked out to be healthy and survive!
PLEASE help me get that back and climb higher once again.
No one knows how you feel or what you have gone through unless they are walking with you in your footsteps. You cannot feel the pain, loneliness, fear, depression, or anxiety with the loss of identity of others. So instead of criticizing or judging, or fading from their lives. ..just simply be there, stop and take a minute from your life and think of them. Say a kind word, open the door for someone, compliment a stranger, add an extra prayer...that may be the only nice thing that person had done for them that day. We all need to feel that we are loved and that we matter in this world.
Will you help me feel that?
Welcome to my Fund. Many, most, if not all of you who are visiting, have been a part of my story...a part of my journey in life. I hope that it was rewarding, educational, motivational (even if you did not realize it or like it at the time), and that I made a difference in your life in some small way. I know for many of you, my classroom was a second home.
That is all I ever wanted to do...make a difference and matter. That is why I became a teacher. I knew I ould always be a teacher. I have been told that I have a gift, that not many have, for teaching and "with-it-ness". Yes, that is how I knew what you were doing in the classroom when I had my back turned. LOL This is why I have always been overly passionate about my students and whatever we undertook, and put my heart and soul into teaching. It was my love and life.
Remember when I would tell you, "Education is the key to your future." I do believe that, but I am not completely correct. Education, knowledge and worldliness, will get you very far in life and open many doors; however, without your health... it is very hard to enjoy life or apply your knowledge to anything. This, my friends, I have found out first hand.
So, here I am. Starting anew, after having to take a bit more than a year off from teaching. Most of you know how much I have lost, literally 250 + pounds, overcome and sacraficed, but nothing prepared me for a world without teaching. I have lived by the school bell since I was in Little Pine Preschool at the age of 4. While not teaching, gaining strength for a 6 hour gastric revision surgery, and dealing with other health issues, I realized that my "being" was lost without the school, the title of "teacher and Ms. S" and my students. I couldn't share my gift, and it has been very difficult to say the least.
I have had to recreate myself, figure out who I am, recover, repair, and I cannot depend on the classroom to do it in. Create a new ME.
SO...why a Gift Fund? Due to the health issues, I needed to stop teaching and went for quite a time until I received a form of pay. I am still not able to work at this time, and have quite a few medical bills outstanding. So,
I also realized while your health is vital, and education is the key to your future, money is fleeting and goes very quickly. I need help, as I cannot recover from this alone anymore. I have tried everything, every resource, written to places, all seeking assistance...to no avail. I feel like I don't matter. I don't know where to turn anymore, as I have worked so hard this last year to recover my health, but the other holes seem to keep getting deeper. And then I thought, why not rely on one of the skills that I used all the time as a teacher? Raise the funds?!
This is very humbling for me to ask for, and to do, as I have always been the one to fix other people's problems, to give everyone else a helping hand, to suprise others with little gifts of appreciation, and to share whatever I have if someone was in need. I never asked in return, but now I don't have a choice my friends. I am really in need at this point. I pray every day for God to hold me in the palm of his hands, but then I remember he already is because no one could survive all of the odd things, or mishaps that I have gone through and still tell about them LOL
Help me create a "new ME, a stronger and redesigned Ms. S", by giving me the GIFT of getting stable again and getting out of debt. The gift of recovery medically and financially. I won't give up, but I need to know that maybe I did make a difference. Maybe I do matter. I know that these past months, I certainly haven't felt like I do. I miss teaching. (sigh) There are so many days that are physically difficult for me, and it creates sadness and hardships.
Perhaps I shared my lunch, gave you clothes, took you out for dinner, gave you a Prom dress, listened when others wouldn't take the time, suprised you with a cookie or flower, or decorated for that event when you needed the help... you probably said to me "let me know if you need anything". Or maybe, you said you'd pay me back and I said "no problem and forgot about it." Now, I need something.... Now I need a favor back in return :)
My goal isn't to profit from this, but to receive enough Gifts to pay my medical bills off , pay my COBRA medical insurance for 1 year, and to fill my meger savings account , up with gifts once again , which is now at $0. Yikes, thats over $20,000...thats how much I have lost. However, it is hard to get well when you are continually worrying and stressed about finances and collection bills.
After all is said and done... I will be stronger, healthier, wiser, and more humble for everything that I have faced and gone through. I still believe in the power of education, I still will always be your teacher at heart, and I will always believe in you (I knew you could do it all of the time!).
Thank you for being in my life, reading this, and allowing me to be a part of your life. I truly have been blessed by being a teacher, your teacher, colleague or friend. Don't worry, as I will still love you if you GIFT me or not. And... thank God for the chance to create a new Me!
Everyone always tells me that I am a survivor, how strong I am, and how I always seem to pick myself up and climb higher than from where I fell. Perhaps it's because I was born such a premie, at 5 months 3 weeks of my mom's pregnancy, and I survived weighing only 1 pound 11 ounces in 1965! Then the diets and weight issues started at age 5, along with some medical problems. I survived it all, but little did we know I would reach 407 pounds. Not everyone knows that "Mary" or the pain, discrimination, and loneliness that was hidden. But, I fought back and had gastric bypass surgery, even though the insurance company would not pay for it. ..I paid for every surgery, every bit. I worked hard and worked out to be healthy and survive!
PLEASE help me get that back and climb higher once again.