Friday, March 30, 2012

About my Blog - how to

In my blog I will be sharing my journey over this next year.

Asking fellow Canadian's to help set a Guinness World Record for the longest banner in the world.

I will also share my personal experiences that brought me to this point in my life.

During this time, I will also speak of those that have helped me on my journey and the profound effect that they've had in my life.


For those who are new to reading blogs

When you follow this blog you will see that on the right side of the blog that there is a menu.

You can go to the title Chapters & left click on your mouse,

In the window you will see, titles such as, banner instructions, my journey and Tasha's legacy.

When you left click on one of these titles, (everything that I have written about that subject will come up for you to see. 

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Another way to see all the post on a subject is -

When you are reading a post and you would like to see everything on that subject,

You can go down to the bottom of that post and it will show what Chapter it's in

When you left click on that subject, ie. Tasha's legacy my banners etc.

[All the posts for that chapter will then been shown.]

ie. this post is under the chapter - instructions .

As I share my story and journey with you I will be adding more chapters and I will try my best to make this blog as user friendly as possible.

I have a link for My blog on twitter - longestbanner20

And I have also started a face book page - for Worlds Longest Banner 2011 - 2013 for organ and tissue donation.

Feel free to leave me a message and I will try to answer any questions that you may have.

Take care and God bless.

Maria

More Prep - work for April 22 & what's to come on blog

I have a lot of prep work to do before April 22.

Due to all this prep work,

I won't have as much time to write or post blogs..

Prep work before April 22 -

Pre-cut and number the remaining material  [for the first 1,000 banners]

Work with students that will be making an instructional video for the banners.

Collect the banners that have been done to date, so that I can start adding banners to mine.

Complete the banners that I'm doing in memory of loved ones. -

Banners - In memory

Friend Milly, [Wanted to be a donor]

My 2 year old brother Paul - [he died from burns] Because of this incident, Tasha became a tissue donor 

My nephew Trevor Elter - [died when the crane he was in went over the side of a mountain] Trevor wanted to be a donor.

In memory of those that gave me guidance and support -

Transplant recipient - Reverend Father Donald Kroetch [passed away June 25, 2000 - due to cancer]

Transplant recipient - Ann Lavoie - [passed away April 23, 2001]
In future blogs I will speak of these individuals and I will share our stories and much more.

More quilts need to be made with the reminants of that material.

What are the quilts for?

Some will be given away in free draws  at special events, over the next year. [ such as this first event on April 22]

Some will be raffled off or auctioned off and used to help raise money for our hospital

Others will be given to those in need, ie, Men's and Women's Shelters, palliative care, homeless shelters etc.
After the 22, 

My intent is to continue to share this story with you, until

National Organ & Tissue Donation Awareness Week 2013 and the unavailing of our Canadian banner in support and for the cause.

Take care & God bless.

Maria

Thursday, March 29, 2012

We begin - Launching of Banner - Sunday April 22

Invitation for one and all:  

Please come and help us launch our campaign, to set a Guinness world Record, for the Longest Banner in the World.

 

When? - Sunday April 22, 2012 @ 3:00 p.m.

Where? @ River Front Park in Peace River AB

Why?
To ask fellow Canadian's to send us banners, so that Canada can set a World Record in April of 2013.

DARE TO DREAM 2013

Canadians promote family discussions on Organ & Tissue Donation

 

What will we do on that day?

We ask those in attendance, to help us display the banners, that have been completed and sewn together to date.

We will ask fellow Canadians to help us reach our goal by, sending banners so that we can add them to ours.

Come early,
You can bring a lunch and have an old fashioned picnic in the park.
Get together and have fun day with family and friends.
There is no cost and there will be a free draw for those in attendance.
In this draw, we will be giving away one of our spirit quilts.

(Quilt # 3) Free Draw.

 

Our Goal for 2013

For the 20th anniversary of Tasha being a donor, we are aiming to set a record of 20,000 banners to be sewn together and displayed in Peace River during National Awareness Week in 2013.



Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Spirit Quilts from fabric remnants

These quilts are being made with remnants of the fabric I purchased for this event.

Why call them spirit quilts?
Because, the true spirit of an organ and tissue donor and a volunteer, is to give without expecting anything in return.
These quilts are also being made and donated to help lift the spirits of those in need.
The idea for the quilt came about due to a cutting error made by the factory.





This Quilt 

Is hand painted by me. 

Take care and God bless and have a great day.
Maria.

In Memory of Millie Sprowl- Banner

This banner done in memory of my dear friend Millie.

When the banner is done in this manner -

It can be used for quilts as well as be framed for pictures.




Millie was born in Little Rock Arkansas and moved to Peace River AB as a young women.


 She was a wonderful person that loved to spend time with her family and friends. Millie also loved kittens and had the heart and gentle nature of one.


 I recall Tasha speaking of Millie with fondness, but I didn't get to know her personally until years later.


 She came into our lives and she made a huge impact on me as well as many others in our community.


Millie was a true friend, loved by many and is greatly missed by all.


 Millie wanted to be an organ & tissue donor but due to health issues her wish could not come true.


 Millie passed away on February 20, 2005


Sewing my banners together & instructions & message.

GETTING STARTED

I've started to sew some of my banners together,

The first banner is DARE TO DREAM 

I then decided to put some space between the art filled banners, with banners that have less on them.

My way of thinking is, that by doing this, it will help to make the art work pop out more.

These kind of banners, can also be recycled as artwork, making clothing, or used in making quilts.


My Message

I wrote this message because, from about the ages of 15 to 30 (for 15 years of my life)

I was suicidal and during this time, truly believed that my life wasn't worth living

Then one day, I made this decision, if I couldn’t live for myself or for my family,

Then I would just have to live for God.



After I made this decision, my mental anguish stopped and

all thoughts of suicide left and they have never returned.

Take care and God bless.

Maria

#3 banner - signed banner - True Faith


This is my, 3rd hand painted banner, that I'm asking people to sign.


I did this banner because -I was told that this project was impossible.


But when I think of it, I was also told that it would be impossible for Tasha to be an organ & tissue donor.

To believe in the impossible takes Faith

True faith is pure gold.




Essay Tasha - What I would like to be known for?


On that last Monday - Our last conversation.

 3 days before Tasha was involved in the collision that took her life.

That night, Tasha and I spoke of many things, about life, death, God and family.


She had many questions for me and I had so many things that I had to convey to her.

But there was something unspoken between us. 

  • On my part it was that,  
  • I didn't tell Tasha that during our last phone conversation that, 
    • a thought had struck me while we were talking and it shook me to my very core!
    • This thought was that, she would have massive head injuries and that she would suffer from brain death.
  • On Tasha's part it was that, she had been having dreams that she was going to die.
It was because of these thoughts that our conversation was so intense on that day.
( I will speak further of this incident at a later time)


This is an essay that Tasha wrote was a result of our conversation.

Tasha wrote this essay while attending Port Moody Senior Secondary School BC
and it was put in the 1993 school yearbook


After our conversation, Tasha wrote 2 essays, I will be including a copy of both of these, along with others, that have been written in her own hand.

God bless and take care.

Maria.

Gift of Life Arboretum - for Peace River


A composite sketch 

Gift Of Life Arboretum


This arboretum will be a tribute for -  
Organ and tissue donors, as well as those individuals that make donation come to fruition.


My personal experience attests to the fact that,

Organ and tissue donation is made possible due to the hard work and combined efforts of emergency response teams as well as the transplant teams:

These the emergency response teams are, the first line of defense, helping to make donation possible.
  • RCMP
  • volunteer fire departments
  • land and air ambulance crews
  •  victim services
  • Along with all the hospital medical staff
Thanks to all their hard work -

Tasha's wish to be an organ & tissue donor was fulfilled

Take care, God bless and have a great day.

Maria

Monday, March 26, 2012

Banner # 1 & 2 - Dare To Dream 2013

Starting the banners -

This is a picture of the first banner that I did.

It is hand painted using fabric and acrylic paints.


Banner #2 is a banner that I've used to collect signatures.

Maria

Link for Face book Page

You can also view our Face Book page through this link.

Face book - World's Longest Banner for Organ & Tissue Donation

What is it like to lose a child ?



Note: On March 8th, 1993 our eldest daughter Tasha turned 18 years old. 

Two months later on May 7th she was suddenly torn from our lives.

The pain, the disbelief was overwhelming. 

While trying to cope with this loss I was asked - 

“ What is it like to lose a child? “ -


“ How does someone survive such a tragedy? “

For two years I struggled to find a way of answering this question.

One day in 1995 -
I put my thoughts and feelings on paper and wrote Dreadful Words and River of Tears

Dreadful Words

By Maria Stranaghan - 1995

Those words, those dreadful words!
Words I prayed, I would never hear one day.

"I can’t imagine how that would feel."  I used to say.
“I hope I never have to face that loss, some day !"

That day came, in the middle of the night,
First a banging on the window - then desperate knocks on our door.

“ I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! “ my sister said.
They came to tell me, my child was dead!

That awful pain, it comes with such force that I die, over and over I die.

Why do I breath, why does my heart beat when I am dead?
My cursed heart that will not quit and leave me to die in peace, it beats on and on.

Days and nights of pain, living in a haze.

“ If it was me,” people say “ I would be dead.”
I look,
inside I cry out, “ I AM DEAD!”

But they are blind, they cannot see that I am the living dead.
I walk, I talk, I breath - but I am dead.

“ You have to go on,"  they say
“ you have others to care for, life goes on. “

“ Put it behind you, try to forget, you will learn to live with it,
 things will get better,  time heals all wounds. “

No! No!
This is not what I want to hear.
Over and over, on and on they go.
What do they know, my child is dead -  I am dead!

I hear what they say,
my heart beats,but I am dead, I am one of the living dead.

Hours - days - weeks - months go by - first year, then the next.

Fear is with me now, always in the shadows.
It could happen again, I am a mother to others, I am a wife, daughter, sister, friend.
Others need me, I have to live on.
But the mother, I was to this one child is dead.
My child, my friend, my companion is gone.

There is a death of this relationship, this is not an easy death,
it is a slow and agonizing death.

I die a little at a time, sharp pains, dull pains, screams of agony, anger, they all come.
It haunts me, drives me to near madness.

How do I, how do we survive, how do we live on?

My child is gone,  but her spirit lives on,  in me, in all of those who loved her.
Her love of life,  her love of others, lives on.

The milk of human kindness given time and time again, comforts us and heals our wounds.

Scars are left behind, big jagged scars, of a loss that can never be replaced.

In its place we have a knowledge that others care family, friends, yes even strangers care.
They all care because of human kindness.

Without this kindness that is given so freely the pain would be so much greater.

I cannot imagine what the world would be like without it, I know I would not want to be here.

It’s worth going on, to be with those you love, with all of those left behind.

To try to give back all that was given so freely.

LOVE -
SUPPORT -
and FRIENDSHIPS,
without which there is no life -
 only existence and then death.


zzzzzzzzz



River of Tears
By Maria Stranaghan - 1995

My child is gone and I have cried a river of tears.

Who knows where this road of pain and grief will take me.

I know others care - but this is a road that I have to walk alone -
but not alone.

No one can take this pain away from me.
They can only be there to comfort me.

At times, I feel like I am walking a tight rope, over a river of tears.

On their own ropes are my husband, my children and others that loved this child.

We call out to each other.
We do not want to lose one to the jagged rocks below - that are in the river of tears.

At times I double over in pain - I am lost in sorrow.
A fog of despair falls over me and I cannot see a way to go on.

Others call out to me - they blow the fog away with words and acts of kindness.
They bring sunshine to my darkness and help to dry my tears.

Then there are those that say and do things that hurt me, while I I try to walk this rope.
Cruel words and actions that make me lose my balance .

Then I hang on only by a thread and I cry out in pain.

Those that love me, talk me back onto my rope, over the river of tears.
They know that they cannot walk for me, but they leave me not alone.

I walk on - with time there is less darkness.
I see the sunshine, I hear the birds  and see the flowers.

I have been lost for so long and now I go on.

On this journey of life - by the river of tears.


I hope that these words answer the questions I was asked.


I also hope it will help to bring some comfort to those that struggle with loss. 


Know that you are not alone and that one day, you will also see the sunshine.
There are many stages of grief -


For me I knew that, I had to make the decision to survive and at times it was only for that one moment at a time.

While I was going through these stages, I also had to make a decision to not be bitter.


I had to try to make life better, for myself, my family, as well as others.


In memory of Tasha Ann Stranaghan –
March 8, 1975 - May 7, 1993

No one truly gets used to the loss of a loved one but they find a way to go on. 

Our family was truly fortunate and thankful that her wish to be an organ & tissue donor was  fulfilled.
Take care and God bless.

Maria