margie

Coping as a single parent with a child with uncontrolled and severe forms of epilepsy is challenging. I realised early on, besides courage, unconditional love, stamina and a great sense of humour, I needed a few other things, for those times when things were really bad, and I didn’t have any friends or relatives with me, to share a good cry, a glass of wine, or a cup of coffee with.

So I put together my survivors box. This is to be taken out when needed, and added to whenever something appropriate comes along. In the beginning, I started with a shoe box, in which I put in anything which made me laugh, cheered me up, calmed me down, or inspired me. This included pictures, poems, loving letters, pictures, or notes from my children, quotes, stories, wise words or sayings, prayers, words of hope and courage- anything that made me feel better. Later, when the box was bulging, I took scissors and glue, and put them into a scrapbook. I guess creative people could use a beautifully decorated box, and I note there are lots of beautiful boxes on sale now, at very reasonable prices. Or if you are really creative, you could “scrapbook” them beautifully, in whatever way you find helpful, or logical.

In fact, looking at my survivors book now, it tells a story all of its own…I must admit there were days when I grabbed my book and a cuppa, and went down to the back fence, and sat and cried, read my book, and came back to the house feeling so much better. I always found a little message in there and some warmth and encouragement, or inspiration. The nice thing is it is YOUR book, and who knows, it may become an “heirloom” one day.