When I reflect on what
the term support means, I think of an act, motion, or gesture of
emotional, physical, mental, and/or financial encouragement from a family
member, friend and/or a caregiver motivated by love.
When, imagining myself with a
specific challenge, that I do not currently have; I think of being in an
accident or injury that might have caused me to have an injury that would impact
the use of my limbs. The challenge for
me would be having to learn how to walk again, not being able to independently
drive myself to the store, walk around my home, down the street, get in the
bathtub by myself, or simply stand in the shower, For a challenge such as this,
I would need lots of physical, emotional, mental, spiritual and/or financial
support. I would need the physical,
emotional, mental, spiritual and/or financial support from my family and
friends, and my son’s caregiver. I would need support from these individuals to
help me physically move around, run errands, cook, clean, take and pick my son
up from school, assistance to help me stay motivated to not get down up on
myself so that I may be able to focus on my recovery and physical therapy to
walk on my own again.
Without having a current
specific challenge, my support system within my daily environment is a great
help and part of my life. I speak to my
mom at least three times a day and she always reminds me that even though the
path to my journey might seem like a long one, it is worth it, and I can do
anything I out my mind too. She
remembers to give me spiritual encouragement daily and she is bold and strong enough
to tell me when I am wrong! My sister is
an excellent support to me emotionally and financially. Her and my brother-n-law (her husband) always
make sure they participate physically, emotionally, and financially in any and
all school activities. My sister is a
great babysitter to my son if I need some me time, have a business meeting or
etc… My son’s caregiver that has been
his daycare provider since birth, is also a great help. She will allow me to drop Jalen off if I am
going on a ladies night out or have an event and have no sitter for him. She doesn’t even charge me for these services
anymore. My first cousin also picks my
son up from school on occasions and takes him out for a play date, movie or
dinner so that I may have some time to myself while he gets to do big by stuff without
his mom. My mom and dad are also very financially supportive. If I have an emergency, they are always financially
supportive. I have a great support group
that I would not change for anything in the world. It is also said that, “Trust grows
out of sharing of knowledge by families and teachers, about childrearing”
(Lopez, 2010).
References:
Lopez, M.
(2010). Valuing families as partners. Retrieved from http://www.hfrp.org/publicationsresources/browse-our-publications/valuing-families-as-partners
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