From a Dragonfly Mom:
“Your blue gift bag is the reason I got to eat some days. Like a godsend, I got your bag a week when things were really tight. Your foundation should of won all the contests, because there is no contest. you guys are there for us in our darkest hour, a beacon of hope when there is no light left to see. I told my husband your logo should be a light house, and I meant it. I love how encouraging all the parents on the page are, and how no one is afraid to vent there. It is a blessing.”
___________________________________
From a Dragonfly Mom:
“I had a thought today. Cancer has it stages and grief has it stages. I think there are stages of being a Dragonfly…at least for me.
STAGE ONE: Social worker mentions Dragonfly and your answer is “what…I can’t have fun….my kid has cancer”
STAGE TWO: “Wow…..this is really fun, I’m glad I signed up for this….I can help my kid fight cancer AND have fun…what a surprise”
STAGE THREE: “I’ve found a support group of wonderful people who really do care about my child and about me. I need the support from Dragonfly”
STAGE FOUR: “I have received so much from Dragonfly and the people here….my kid is stable and I want to give back. Let God use me to help others the way that the Dragonfly staff and volunteers have touched me and my children”.
___________________________________
From a Supporter:
“Met a woman at boot camp today at the Y wearing your shirt. Told her I am going to try and collect gift cards for your organization since you were so great to a friend who lost her daughter this year and she said how wonderful you have been to her family! Her son has leukemia and her daughter provided the bone marrow transplant. Dragonfly is everywhere and I am seeing it first hand. Thank you and I hope to collect a good amount of gift cards to donate!!”
___________________________________
From a Dragonfly Mom:
“I have never received so much, not just “stuff” and not just free tickets to venues, but support, encouragement and unconditional love. Each volunteer, staff member, patron and contributor is a link that has thrown out a lifeline when I needed it most. I am so grateful to each and every one of you for being my lifeline.”
__________________________________________
This note was posted on our public Facebook Page by a Dragonfly Mom:
“I really think the team at Dragonfly could run the country! What an amazing bunch!”
___________________________________________
From a Dragonfly Mom:
“I would like to thank the sponsors and volunteers for the most amazing time my family’s had in a long time! Dragonfly throws one amazing party! I know it takes everyone…the sponsors, the volunteers, the staff etc. to make an event… and I just want to thank each and every one of you.”
___________________________________________
From a Dragonfly Mom:
“5 am and I’m literally packing my steroid pumped 60 pound baby back to bed. She screams, but the cops stopped responding to those calls of abuse in middle of the night. I give her morphine i take my klonipin and I wonder what my other two think. C just screams over and over “what did I do?! I sorry!” Her head filled with anguished pain and a tumor. I reach back for more klonipins. What did any of us do?”
___________________________________
From a Dragonfly Mom:
“Oh, Christine Neitzke what you guys do has a big impact in my life and I thank you and Ria Davidson for that. You both are such an inspiration to all. That Devil I talk about keeps lurking around the corner and it’s time to show it wear to go because I only have positive people family and friends in my life. One day on the Oncology floor and not just a visit either and a day with the little dragonflies just might wake some people up and make them think twice.”
____________________________________
From a Dragonfly Mom:
“I don’t care how far out M gets from end of treatment….my stomach still turns and I have a mini heart attack anytime my phone rings and it’s the hospital calling. I’m still shaking and all they wanted was to change her appt time.”
__________________________
The following 2 posts are about our Monthly Movie Morning Patient/Family Event that we hold at Danbarry Cinemas.
From a Dragonfly Mom:
“R gets to go see her first movie in a theatre on Saturday!!! Thanks to Danberry Cinemas for closing a theatre and inviting The Dragonfly Foundation kids to have a normal kid experience!!! We are excited to see monsters u!!!”
From another Dragonfly Mom:
“We have never taken L to the movies because if the germs. We would love to go!!”
__________________________
From a Dragonfly Mom:
“Last week I was at school giving B a g-tube feed and the school nurse asked (in front of all 3 of my kids), “What will you do if he relapses in the next 2 years?” What I wanted to say was, “We have just spent 2 1/2 years walking out of hell–in 30 seconds you just sent us back there!”
__________________________
From a Dragonfly Mom:
“You guys are truly amazing. Just amazing. Wow…wasn’t expecting that n the mail. Just a card now and then and maybe a bumper sticker or two. One excited kiddo when she opened her box and it was a backpack full of stuff. You know u made me cry. I’ve been a ball of tears for two weeks now over O going to school. Its good she gets to go. But I’m a nervous wreck. I’m scared for her. Hoping the teachers will work with me. Wow just wow..its hard to think of her going and being exposed to everything. I’ve done a very good job protecting her this whole year. Maybe u guys could whisper a prayer for me. Thank you for what you do and what you represent.”
__________________________
From a Dragonfly Mom:
“My dad asked me last Night, why I never curl my hair and do my makeup anymore. I asked him why dont you take Jimmy to childrens hospital today for chemo, then take Matt to see another surgen today, then go talk to repair shop about my car then go work my 8 hour shift and ill stay home and fix myself up. Lol he said no.”
__________________________
A Dragonfly mom replied to another Dragonfly mom about that evening’s Cyclones game they attended in our suite…
“We had a blast too. L LOVED playing with the light sabers with the other boys. We went downstairs and J kept saying, “I have to go back up to my friends!” We absolutely LOVE hockey so our family was in heaven. Hopefully we’ll be there again with your crew soon. Thanks TDF!!”