We welcome our newest inspirational guest author, Kathy O’Leary! Thank you, Kathy, for your submission to your blog.
Kathy was born and raised in Chicago and considers herself to be the “ultimate city girl”. She received her education at DePaul University and The Institute of Broadcast Arts. Kathy began her career in broadcasting and moved into event planning and production. She then tweaked her career path a bit and moved to the “hotel” side of the hospitality business. She is a new author with a book due out very soon. Kathy’s life-mantra is to squeeze the joy of every second of each and every day, treat everyone kindly and smile.
This recession, and all it implies, has taken our already overstressed population and added new layers of concern, fright and even panic. I’ve had many restless nights and interrupted sleep thinking about all of the “what if’s.”
It’s during these times I remember I have come from a family of very emotionally strong women. My maternal grandparents ran a farm in Wisconsin. My grandmother gave birth to 16 children. Two of them died within their first year but she still had 14 children to raise. Shortly after Granny gave birth to her last child, my Grandfather took ill and died. There she was with all of those children (some of them just babies) to raise and a very big farm to run. Talk about pressure and stress. Granny displayed lovely courage throughout it all.
My mother, as one of those 14 children, did not have a “cushy” life. She and her siblings had their chores to do before school and after school and there was no negotiation about this. Granny had to be extremely strict to keep things running, to keep their livelihood going. However, mom had a wonderful life with my dad and after his passing, we made certain we included her in everything. We had a lot of fun with my mom until one day 8 years ago, things changed. Mom began a long battle with heart problems, kidney problems and heartbreaking lung problems. She fought her battle with dignity while always remaining a lady. Being with her every day, I witnessed first hand how she struggled to breathe and how very difficult those last months were. I realized that I was not only watching my mother die but watching her displaying lovely courage.
Now as I struggle to maintain and keep abreast during these most difficult times I am reminded of these two beautiful steel magnolias and how they displayed lovely courage. Remembering this gives me the strength that I need. When you have those frightening recession feelings, think back on those family members of yours that displayed beautiful courage and find your strength. Take your family’s courage to the next generation.
I hope you liked this article and found inspiration in Kathy’s words. Think about your own family’s story… what values were passed down to you? What values will you pass to your children?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Values I hope my family will learn from my being raised by christian parents, with 6 siblings, poor in many things but rich in love and laughter which I still enjoy today. We may not see the reasons of things that happen but we do know God is in control, saying that we must not just say that and do nothing, he gave us will power,knowledge,choices to trust in him or not.
I know what I am talking about because with trust, beleiving He will give me what I need, my life shows it. Death, lack of money, divorce,jobless, single raising 5 children etc; now at 70 I have some married children grand children and great grands.
So I hope people, mostly family members will remember through it all, “she laughed, Trusted God, when things happened, she got up and kept going.
Great article! I came from a fram of ‘only’ 7 but just the same the lessons from my growing up are invaluable to me. And have served me well in preparing me to live. God bless you!
Kathy – your story is so similar to mine. My mother was diagnosed with Breast Cancer 40 years ago. She was given 18 months to live at that time. Coming from a family of 8, we all were assigned “chores” to do also. I learned from her the value of get up, dress up and show up. Although I later learned how hard her days were, as a child, I really never knew it. She lived for 22 years beyond her diaganosis date.
Our oldest son was killed 5 years ago in a terrible accident while out of state at college. Two years later son #2 tells me he is going to go to the very same school. As much as I protested, I knew this was something he had to do, knowing he was going to come out of the very same driveway that claimed his brothers life. Although my marriage was anything but perfect, my husband really struggled with the death of our son. He turned heavily to gambling and womenizing….claiming those things made him forget about “Sam”. I finally got the courage to end my “downward tailspin” and filed for divorce. Six weeks later hubby is diagnosed with stage IV non hodgkins lymphoma. I knew I could contine with the divorce, or take him back. The words from St. Francis kept coming back to me…when I was hungry, you gave me food, when I was homeless you sheltered me. I thought if I don’t help this guy, son #2 and our daughter will have to help him die. That’s quite an undertaking for a 18 and 15 year old who had already seen too much death. All to often I heard the words “how do you do it?” I too found the strength the women in my blood line. These amazing ladies blazed the open prairies in blizzards way back when. I knew their lives couldn’t be easy, and I found myself asking for them all to help me. Today, I have sold our home due to being upside down in my mortgage, and have bought a smaller home. Is life hard, yes…I continue to work 5 jobs, 1 full time and 4 parttime so I’m just constantly working but I’m making it..and that makes me ( and my other two kids) very proud.
Betty, James, and “Just Me”,
I love the comments you shared! In fact, I have one of my own. My grandparents left China during a time of great civil unrest in the 1920’s amidst the civil war between the Nationalists and Communists. They were poor and not very well educated. At the time when they left, they wanted to emigrate to America, but due to the Chinese Exclusion Act they were not allowed in the country. They ended up in Jamaica and started a family in a completely different place where they didn’t speak the language, were even poorer than before (they had to use stretched out oil drums as roofing, for example), and faced discrimination. Despite that, they raised the next generation to become successful businesspeople and entrapraneurs. My father even paid his way through medical school to own his own practice today. I know I would not be the person I am without their persistence throughout those hard times!