Bullying And Afterwards

Barbara: A friend of ours showed us this unbelievable video of a speech given by a young, unknown (at the time) girl, just 18-years-old, who had never given a speech before this one. Now Molly Burke is a full-time speaker for Me to We, a school-focused initiative developed by Free the Children. The program encourages today’s young people to work toward peace and goodness the world over. Molly brings a uniquely young and current perspective to many issues facing youth, including bullying, mental health and overcoming adversity.

I knew I had to share the video with you here, especially in light of the terrible spate of suicides of bullied children making the news lately. Instead of focusing on the wrongs of the world, I prefer to post pieces that focus on what’s right. And Molly, a victim of bullying, shows us exactly that. That hope and courage (and time!) can overcome the worst.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t embed the video into our blog: the video is here. If you want to see Molly, she begins at the 2:15 mark. But here’s the most amazing part—the part you don’t want to miss, the part that will blow you away, happens around the 5-minute mark.

Have you overcome bullying in your past? If so, what was the solution? In my case, it was time. After I was groped by a group of boys in my high school hallway and verbally tormented for the rest of that school year, I found my escape in the drama department. Then I rediscovered my self-confidence, and then the next year, the furor had died down and it seemed that I had been forgotten as a target. Conversely, there is also the question of the bully. Speaking with a friend yesterday, she told me that a close friend of hers—a kind, decent, loving, sensitive, compassionate woman—had been, in her own words, a “terrible bully" in her teens. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Pack For A Purpose Re-visited

Barbara: Deb and I thought that today’s short post could be a little re-call of our amazing trip to Costa Rica and our discovery of the wonderful charitable organization, Pack for a Purpose. We discovered Pack for a Purpose thanks to the organizers of our trip (Costa Rica Gift of Happiness) and were just so impressed with the idea of bringing useful gifts to your host country that we jumped at the chance to participate. The Pack for a Purpose site easily outlines what might be most needed in your destination country, whether it is school supplies or medical essentials, and how to drop them off. You might remember that we decided to bring soccer balls and school supplies and to donate them to the Maleku tribe.

Pack for a Purpose founder, Rebecca Rothney, asked us to write a short piece about our experience, which we happily did. Now we feel that linking to the story (it is the second on the page) is a great reminder of a wonderful cause, as well as giving us all another opportunity to talk about efforts like this and how we can best share our resources with people around the world. If you have any thoughts or ideas, we’d love to hear them.

Read our story here! And read our original story here!

The Human Spirit

Deb: I had a good juicy rant about rudeness all prepped for today’s blog … and then something happened to me. I was all at once enveloped in the human spirit at its best. I participated in a walk that I have done for a few years now called Meagan’s Walk, which ends with the world’s largest hug as we gather around Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto and hug it. Families and sick kids stare out the windows to watch and let the big hug of love wash over them.

Each year, I am moved beyond words. I walk in gratitude for my healthy child, but there are too many walking for the memory of their lost babies, and others walking with hope for their children who are fighting for their lives. Mother’s Day was the ninth annual walk, but this one had extra poignancy as it was the tenth anniversary of wee Meagan’s passing.

It always moves me to see the ambulance driver who took Meagan to the hospital that one last time. He shows up for the walk every single year, smiling and handing out candy from his ambulance. And then there’s Meagan’s mom, Denise, pushing through her grief to help and comfort others with her huge can-do spirit.   

Human beings at their best kill me. Their capacity for compassion and empathy is bigger than air. And when we are lucky enough to witness it or be a part of it, we are filled to bursting. I was giving Swarovski crystal butterflies to the mom’s of the kids in the hospital, and one lovely young mom told me that her child was losing his eight-year battle and would die that day at ten years of age. Mother’s Day. With tears streaming down our faces, we stood there hugging and weeping. Two strangers bonded by humanness. God bless her and God rest his little soul.