The Beauty of Spring

Normal Moments and our families have been honored by the support of so many individuals and companies who look out for the day to day needs of parents dealing with the long-term battles of critical illness and/or medically complex children.  Sometimes, however, our families need more than basic maintenance.  Over the past few weeks, the beauty of newly blooming trees and flowers was eclipsed by the beauty of a few groups of people who stepped up to help do yard clean-up and improvement for our families.

Teams formed by the American Subcontractor’s Association of Chicago were the first to head out.  They met with each of the families they assisted in advance to determine the exact needs of each household.  Team members not only donated their time, but also gave a financial donation to purchase plants, mulch, bricks, and more to complete the desired tasks. Each team spent most of a day with their family and some developed a plan for return trips to add more plants or continue assisting.

We have a church group team who have not only volunteered as “Davids”, but also chose to go out and help with a spring clean up.  They had a big job and did great.  They worked with their own contacts to get materials donated or offered at reduced rate.  They had their families involved and I believe everyone felt fulfilled at the end of the day.

Our families are so grateful when people step up to help with projects like this and it is a great way for families to work together.  If your family, your neighborhood group, your company, your religious sub-group, your friends, etc. want to spend a day or two helping Normal Moments, just let us know.  We’ll find a project for you!

Here’s some direct quotes from both volunteers and recipients from the Spring Clean Up project so far:

“I also wanted to add our appreciation! I think Chuck and I were caught a little off guard as to what they could all accomplish. So we were probably a little disorganized for them! LOL! But they did some great work for us. It was those little things that we wanted to get down, and might eventually, but it wasn't high on our list. So now we have some really nice work done outside our house!

And thank you again for the cleaning crew that came earlier in the month. It was so nice to have the house cleaned like that. Again, those are the things that we "CAN" do, but sometimes we just don't "WANT" to do! We get so mentally exhausted every day. So thank you again for all of that!!”              ~Cindy

“All the participants met the families and the children and found it a very

rewarding experience. All agreed to recommend doing it again next year.”

 ~ASA-Chicago Meeting Minutes

“Hi, Kim and her family and some friends came out and did the yard today. It is beautiful. They planted some bushes ,flowering grass and a tree. and then new mulch. It is so much more then I expected. and just beautiful. Kim said she went to buy all the bushes and other things and told the man at the landscaping place what she was doing and he donated all the plants and grass . Also the man that cuts are grass knocked on the door today. he thanked me for letting him cut my grass. He said it is a blessing for him and his wife to be able to help the normal moments families. I told him how much it meant to us and how much it helped and that it allowed me to have the weekends with the kids and to not have to worry about getting it cut. He said he never thought about it that way or thought it was that important. He is very nice. Thank you for all your help.”

                      Allison