Thinking About those who are Struggling, Especially Children!

For 29 years, I have been writing about holiday stress and offered strategies on coping. There now are many sources of learning how to deal with life, some in the newspaper, some on the radio, some on television, and tons on the internet. Be sure to check out our website at www.mhalc.org to Live Your Life Well using our 10 tools which will help you to cope better. Let me offer my advice and referrals if you need it by calling me at 740-522-1341 or send me an email at Paddykutz@alink.com

All year long, not just during the holidays, it is appropriate to stretch beyond your own problems and issues and think of those less fortunate, especially children and youth. One way is to consider the poem by Ina J. Hughs who is often quoted, but not given credit. As you give thanks remember to:

Give thanks for children who

sneak popsicles before supper,

erase holes in math workbooks,

never find their shoes.

And offer love and hope to those who

stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,

can’t bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,

are born in places we wouldn’t be caught dead,

never go to the circus,

live in an X-rated world.

Give thanks for children who

  bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,

  hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money.

And offer love and hope to those who

never get dessert,

have no safe blanket to drag behind them,

watch their parents watch them die,

can’t find any bread to steal,

don’t have any rooms to clean up,

whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser.

Give thanks for children who

spend all their allowance before Tuesday,

throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,

like ghost stories,

shove dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse out the tub,

get visits from the tooth fairy,

don’t like to get kissed in front of the carpool,

squirm in church or temple and scream in the phone,

whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose smiles can make us cry.

And offer love and hope to those who

will eat anything,

have never seen a dentist,

aren’t spoiled by anybody,

go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,

live and move, but have no being,

whose nightmares come in the daytime.

Give thanks for and love and hope to children who

want to be carried and for those who must,

we never give up on and for those who don’t get a second chance,

we smother….and for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer!

We are grateful for our volunteers, consumers, Board members and donors to help us keep on helping for 57 more years in Licking County. I also appreciate the author, Ina Hughs. Remember, there is no health without mental health so look after yours and when you need help let me know. I’ll be waiting for your calls and your checks. Thank you.

Mental Health America of Licking County is partially funded by United Way and the Community Mental Health & Recovery Board of Licking/Knox Co.

--by Paddy Kutz
Executive Director