Helping Children After My Children Are Grown Up

Taking care of a child is no easy task, especially when you haven’t done it in decades! When my grandson moved in with my husband and me, I was worried. Would my parenting skills be too outdated to keep a ten year old boy in line? Would my husband be too busy working to do fatherly bonding activities? And would the young mothers at the PTA meetings look at me with pity?

All my worry was put the rest almost instantly! Brad was such an easy child to take care of: he was sweet, smart, patient and willing to learn how to live in our house. He thrived at school – his teacher loved him, and his fellow students were quick to make him their friend. Everything was great, and my husband and I loved being parents again.

This time around, I only worked part time, so I could spend my extra hours being the best parent possible. Because my husband worked early, I walked with Brad to school and picked him up. I got to meet other parents, and made new friends. All because a little miracle named Brad became my main duty.

But we all would need another miracle – nearly a year to the day after Brad entered our lives, we were threatened with losing him. Brad was diagnosed with bone cancer out of the blue and our family was plunged into crisis. Brad needed to be driven to a specialist multiple times a week, my husband still had to work (overtime to help pay for Brad’s treatment) and we were without an extra car.

Luckily, a kind nurse at the hospital helped put us in touch with an organization that help donate a car for kids across the nation in order to help families in our situation. Brad eventually went into remission, after months of battling his disease and we still use our extra car to take him to frequent check ups. It was another miracle that year in our lives.

Children Help Children Raise Money

When our son Jonathan moved to New York after his college graduation, it was bittersweet for us. Our son had survived cancer before he hit puberty, so it was hard to let him go now, nearly a dozen years after. Jon Jon had been an easy child to raise – he was a creative, fun boy with a ton of friends who endeared himself quickly to everyone he met. We figured he would be the same type of adult in New York City, so he wouldn’t be coming back to the burbs.

We had a lot of ideas for our near empty nest (we still had cats and dogs and a bird!). We could make that den my husband Paul had always wanted. Or we could make an extra office for me and my arts and crafts supplies. Either way, Jon wouldn’t be needing his room anymore – the couch had his name on it for his infrequent visits.

We had one more empty nest problem to deal with: Jonathan’s left behind Toyota Tercel. This car was old. Older than any car I’d ever kept – and almost never used. Jonathan didn’t come home too often during his undergrad studies, even though the plane ride was only one hour compared to the five that the west coast to New York City would be. His car literally sat for the majority of the year, until Jon decided to come drive it around to see his friends during the summer. The last summer he didn’t even stay for more than two weeks – we knew the Tercel had to go – garaging it wasn’t an option, we wanted to buy kayaks!

Finally we settled on an option, we decided we would donate a car for kids. It wasn’t hard to choose: our Jonathan had been a child cancer sufferer and survivor – we would donate the Tercel to a group that helped exactly the type of child we had. Hopefully we could help someone else’s family raise a boy like ours.

New Jersey Car Donation For Children

New Jersey may not be the friendliest state, I believe that distinction falls somewhere slightly west of here. But when our family really did need some helping hands, we got more than we ever thought possible.

Our twin boys, Spencer and Sammy, are inseparable. They literally do everything together – same sports teams, same friends, same after school tutoring (even though Sammy doesn’t actually need the extra help). So when Spencer was diagnosed with cancer, we had no idea what would happen.

School had just started for the boys, junior year of high school, when Spencer started getting sick with fevers. Before his diagnosis, we thought Spencer was just tired – he always seemed to be tired – but we took him to the doctor anyway. The doctor noticed things we never thought to ask about, swollen glands, easy bruising. With the results of a few tests, we learned Spencer had lymphoma, and were sent to an oncologist.

At first, Sammy never left Spencer’s side. Spencer now had a more booked schedule of doctor’s appointments and treatments, so he couldn’t do all the extra-curricular activities the twins once treasured. If it wasn’t mandatory (like school!), Sammy wouldn’t go. He’d much rather be with his two-minute older brother. During an especially hard week, Spencer put his foot down. He didn’t want Sammy to miss out on their important games (they were twins after all, so if Sammy was playing great, Spencer was too – in spirit).

There was only one problem – we were a one car family, always have been. My husband and I both work within blocks of each other, so we always carpooled. And since the boys did all the same things, we never had a problem of where to drive who and conflicting schedules. I told my neighbor Dianne about this recent development, and the next day, a car appeared out of thin air! It was just an old, little sedan, but it was all we needed. Dianne had contacted a group that supported families of childhood cancer sufferers, and had found out about their donate a car for kids program. Now, while Spencer battled at the doctor’s office, Sammy could battle the other soccer team.