A couple of years ago I received a wonderful package from Russia
from a wonderful woman named Tatyana Grigoreva . She was someone who
came across the Howell family when Dara Howell she was competing at Sochi Olympics in 2014, and came home with a gold medal for slope style skiing.

She was so taken with the Canadians and somehow she stumbled across me
and the work that I do with Love Your Life to Death and she so kindly sent me a package  a few years ago with all kinds of gifts from Russia. This reminds me
that friendship knows no borders. We should never judge people for where they live, the color of their skin or the language they speak. Love is love.
You can love people and have friendships from all over the world.

I have just recently received another package from Tatyana. Christmas presents!
Handmade gifts! Colorful doilies and pillows and gorgeous socks, there’s
cards and pictures and a letter written in Russian and translated into English.

I just so appreciate this Tatyana, thank you. I love having a friend in Russia and
I think that someday we should meet in person! Thank you for reaching out all
the way to Canada and for opening your heart. All of these gifts mean so much,
and this is a great reminder to everyone else that love and friendship knows
no borders. Something to always remember.

​
​Thank you for being part of our community!
   Purchase your copy of Love Your Life to Death here,
    our Audio, From Avoidance to Resilience or your
          #IJustShowedUp bracelet. 

     Stay tuned for Yvonne's TEDx talk in 2019!

In any given year, 1 in 5 people in Canada
will personally experience a mental health problem or illness.

An estimated 70 percent of adults in the United States have experienced
a traumatic event at least once in their lives and up to 20 percent of these
people go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

PTSD can develop after a person has experienced or witnessed a traumatic
or terrifying event. PTSD is a lasting consequence of traumatic ordeals that
cause intense fear, helplessness or horror.

The hard truth is that this can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime.
The good news is that there is hope for finding joy again, new purpose and
post-traumatic growth.

As we learn to Just Show Up for ourselves and others, without judgement
and trying to fix it, we can create change. We can live in a society that lets
us know we are not alone, that listens and hears our story. Because it is in that support, validation and sharing our stories that we heal ourselves and others.

Natalie Harris, unapologetically shares her story of PTSD, addiction, recovery
and creating a new life she loves. She is passionately helping others through
her books, speaking and changing the world.

“Thank you, Natalie, for being a light for those who are in darkness and
cannot see. Thank you for helping them to see that life can be good again.”

​
​Thank you for being part of our community!
   Purchase your copy of Love Your Life to Death here,
    our Audio, From Avoidance to Resilience or your
          #IJustShowedUp bracelet. 

     Stay tuned for Yvonne's TEDx talk in 2019!

It’s not hard to do.
Random acts of kindness can happen anywhere, anytime, anyplace…to anyone.
When you give a compliment or help someone in need,
no matter how big or small it is, they feel better and so do you.

This video is a great example of how one random act of kindness
changed so many lives. I challenge all of you, to reach out and do one small
thing. The ripple effect of your actions will change more than you will ever know. It’s OK to help. Everyone wins!

Share your random act of kindness below.
Did you give or receive?
​
#ijustshowedup


​Thank you for being part of our community!
   Purchase your copy of Love Your Life to Death here,
    our Audio, From Avoidance to Resilience or your
          #IJustShowedUp bracelet. 

     Stay tuned for Yvonne's TEDx talk in 2019!

 I am in the Hunters Bay studio with my good
friend Deb Knobelsdorf. We just had a wonderful conversation that could have been so much longer. Deb is one of the first people I interviewed for my book.
I wanted to learn more about her story after her son Kyle was killed in a plane crash in May 2007. Our show will air on Feb 9th at 8 am and then be available
on the podcast (here).

"Deb, tell everyone what else you are up to?"

Last year I did the Muskoka Novel Marathon (link) and I just wanted to get
Kyle’s story out there, so wrote a book and I called it Finding Life after Death.
It’s still in draft form, it has received good reviews, but did not win because it
is nonfiction, but I wanted to write it. (And everyone has told me too also!)
It needs to be four times as long to be a REAL book but I needed to write it.

This year I am participating in the Muskoka Novel Marathon again but I will be writing a fiction book, I will make up a story but still dealing around grief.

"After Kyle died, not only did you take the grief course at hospice in Huntsville you have also been a grief facilitator for over 10 years." Deb has helped more people then she knows and she is happy to have people reach out to her
if  they are struggling.
 
People know where to find me (Down at West Side Fish and Chips) You can always call West Side and ask to speak to Deb and I am happy to have a coffee with you-

"Be careful… you might be flooded with calls!"

You humble me, I don’t think I am that popular.
I am happy to sit and chat with anyone if they feel they need to.

That's wonderful, in our conversation we also shared that just recently in our community a lovely young man named Drew Jones,
who went to high school here, died out west.

I know that you "Cheers to Kyle" every year with Jägermeister, but this is
Elderberry juice. Lets have a toast to Peter’s son Jamie, to Drew and Kyle and to everyone who has had a loss. Here is to all of them and to
​Being the Evidence that their lives made a Difference!

Elderberry! So much better than Jägermeister!
Bye for Now!

​Thank you for being part of our community!
   Purchase your copy of Love Your Life to Death here,
    our Audio, From Avoidance to Resilience or your
          #IJustShowedUp bracelet. 

     Stay tuned for Yvonne's TEDx talk in 2019!