Hallowish summit drive
Why I’m Doing Hallowish 🎃💜
I’ll start by admitting something — I don’t really know what a blog is. 😂
Apparently, I’m writing one anyway.
What I do know is that I love Halloween. I love dressing up, being ridiculous, having fun and, for a little while, escaping reality.
But I also know hospitals.
I’ve been a nurse for 21 years, and during that time I’ve seen families go through some of the hardest moments of their lives. I’ve watched parents sit beside sick and injured children, frightened and exhausted, trying to understand medical jargon and big words when the only thing they really want someone to tell them is:
“Is my child going to be okay?”
I understand that from more than just the nursing side.
I’ve been the family going through the struggle.
And once upon a time, I was the little person in the hospital bed.
I spent a lot of my childhood going to hospitals, surrounded by big doctors using even bigger words that I didn’t understand. Back then, there simply wasn’t the level of support and distraction available for children that there is today.
What I remember are the little things.
There was a hospital radio station, and occasionally the clown doctors would come around. We would get so excited when they appeared.
Why?
Because suddenly, for a little while, the hospital wasn’t quite so scary.
That is why Hallowish means something to me.
When a child is sick or injured, there is so much waiting. Waiting for tests. Waiting for doctors. Waiting for results. Waiting for procedures. Waiting to find out what happens next.
Sometimes it might only be a few hours.
But when it’s your child, those hours can feel like days.
And the child is waiting too.
Initiatives like Hallowish help bring some fun, imagination and distraction into that world. They give little people a chance to be little people — to laugh, play, dress up, escape and think about something other than what is happening medically around them.
And if there is one thing I understand, it is the importance of escaping reality occasionally.
Especially if costumes are involved. 🎃
This is only my second time hosting Halloween, and my very first Hallowish.
It may be small.
We may raise a lot, or the only donation might be mine.
And you know what?
That’s okay.
Because every little bit counts.
If someone can donate $50, wonderful.
If someone can donate $5, wonderful.
And if all someone has to give is 5 cents, then that 5 cents matters too.
It is 5 cents that wasn't there before.
It is 5 cents towards helping a child or supporting a family going through one of those frightening, exhausting periods when their normal world has suddenly been turned upside down.
I have seen those families.
I have been one of those families.
And I have been that kid.
So this Halloween, I’m going to do something I already love doing — dress up, have fun, probably make a complete fool of myself and enjoy everything spooky — but this time, I’m hoping we can make it mean something as well.
If you have a moment to support Hallowish, please do.
If you have a few dollars to spare, amazing.
If you have 5 cents, I'll take that too.
Because every little bit helps, and every little bit matters.
🎃👻 Let’s make Halloween a little less scary for some very brave little people. 💜
Come visitsummit drive this halloween