ANA & KERRI- "OUR STORY"

"One of the tasks of true friendship is to listen compassionately and creatively to the hidden silences. Often secrets are not revealed in words, they lie concealed in the silence between the words or in the depth of what is unsayable between two people" 

-John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: The Book of Celtic Wisdom

We are both works in progress, each moms of three and partners to one. We are both oldest daughters and sisters to brothers. We are recovering perfectionists and people pleasers. We are lovers of food, family and conversation, seekers of knowledge, and researchers of life. We both strive for balance, crave adventure, run on love, and share a passion for helping others make the world a better place. We’ve each taken a different path: One of us married while in college, the other after working and obtaining a PhD in Educational Psychology. One of us started a family right after college, and continued the learn by doing philosophy, applying her developmental psychology as the CEO/CFO of her family. One of us was juggling being a full-time professor and working parent for fifteen years.  Our friendship began as two people whose lives intersected raising our children. One day our friendship experienced the "unsayable between two people" as an unimaginable tragedy occurred. 

In 2016, Ana’s 16-year-old son died by suicide. Kerri was there when she found him and she knew at that devastating, life-altering, and most tragic moment, that she would not let Ana go through this alone. Kerri has chosen to walk side-by-side with Ana, humbled to learn, grow, and find meaning from the unthinkable. Ana's depth of love, courage and bravery is a gift to all of us trying to find hope and searching for meaning.  

Great loss propelled our research to better understand the source of Ana's son's pain. Grief has given us an opportunity to love, reflect, learn, grow, and connect with others. We strive to move forward with compassion. Compassion for our children and for other children and families who are struggling. 

Our journey has connected us with people from all over the world. We've been listening and gaining new understanding. We have identified needs and gaps and are working to figure out how we can fill them with creative solutions- bringing information to others and beginning important conversations. Our Triad of Support is an organically grown system of programs to meet the social and emotional needs of students, parents & community members.

Everyone has a story. We all struggle and experience hardship and loss, but many do so alone. Sometimes we choose to be private about our struggles and other times we reach out to others- it’s a choice we make. It is always validating to realize that we are not alone in our challenges.

We’ve been learning to navigate the waves of life and tides of parenthood with transparency and vulnerability. We’ve realized that the best we can do is accept and love our imperfect selves and support each other in the process. We are choosing to celebrate being perfectly imperfect and to celebrate raising perfectly imperfect children.

We’ve learned that the stresses many of us feel are universal and come with the times. We want to collaborate and create new ways to meet the needs of students, parents and communities. We are dedicated to providing trust, hope and inspiration. 

Connect, be well, and know that you are not alone.

mindfulslo@gmail.com