Our Organize 365® Dream Team has experienced way more than its fair share of unexpected events this year. Like...A LOT. Nearly every single one of them has dealt with or is dealing with really big life events. I asked a few of them who were willing to share about those unexpected events and how they navigated them.

This is part 2 of Monique's story. I have a feeling this part of her story will resonate with many of you, and my hope is that someone out there listening might be able to help Monique with this unique situation, or possibly give her answers. Please reach out if you have any similar experiences you could share, resources she may find useful, or anything that might point her in the right direction. 

Monique's 21 year old daughter fell and hit her head on a Friday evening back in March. She has a history of migraines, so by Sunday when she still wasn't acting like herself they went to the ER to have her checked for a concussion. Monique has dealt with concussions before, when her son (who was 13 at the time) got hit with a baseball in the head and suffered a concussion along with cavernous hemangiomas that had to be surgically removed. If they hadn't sought help right away, he could have died from the hemangiomas. That was a year-long battle, resulting in 2 surgeries for him. The last thing she wanted was for history to repeat itself with her daughter. 

Alina was living her best life. She's 21 years old, had a full time job at Ulta, was a nanny, and was involved in the YA Group at church. Suddenly she couldn't even take 10 steps to the bathroom without help. The doctors gave them 3 options - take her home and hire a home therapist, start taking her to physical therapy, or get her into a rehabilitation facility. Monique chose the rehab. She knew she couldn't take care of her the way she needed to, she's not a physical therapist or a nurse! 

As part of Monique's story, she wanted to give advice to anyone out there who ever finds themselves in a place to help someone else who is dealing with a traumatic life event. Here are some tips on things to do that are helpful. 

• Give them a place to stay, gas money, or food money if they have to travel.
• Help with meals/snacks for any other people at home. Mealtrain.com is great for this! 
• Hire or ask someone to come clean the house, do laundry, or grocery shop for them and their family.
• Ask the person in need "when would you like my help?" instead of "what do you need?" It takes the pressure off of the person who's already dealing with a lot to have to ask for help or make more decisions. 
• Just send money if you don't know what else to do. Cash, gift cards, Venmo, Paypal.
• Write a nice handwritten note or card to let them know you're thinking of them.
• Sending a text to let them know you're thinking of them, without expecting a response right away.

Zenon finally came home from Ukraine, and Monique was able to travel for work and attend the Missouri Paper Organizing Retreat. She needed to laugh and have some fun, and let her brain and her body be "somewhere else" since she was so weighed down from the stress of the entire situation. She also went to host the Certification in South Carolina 2 weeks later. Other Organize 365® Dream Team members were asked to help fill in for Monique at the event, then one of them had their own unexpected event arise at the last minute. 

Listen in next week to hear the reason why Stef, another Dream Team member, couldn't attend the South Carolina event like she planned to. 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

The Sunday Basket®

The Friday Workbox®

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