The Community Education & Outreach program, which provides free parenting classes to parents, caregivers and child welfare professionals in our community received this letter from one of our fathers who attended some of our parenting classes!
To whom this may concern,
Please allow me to introduce myself, my name is Matthew and I am the father of the most perfect little three year old girl in the world, Brady. Brady is the future anything her heart desires to be and anything she puts her mind and heart into. I may be just a tab bit bias, however I have waited what seems to be a lifetime to start a family and Brady is my absolute everything and just perfect. Before Brady came into my life I admittedly didn’t think too much outside of my own little box. Of course I realized that the world was not always a rosy, perfect place. I knew that there were painful, harsh realities out there and sometimes people and sadly children found themselves in tough situations. As a guy that skated fairly easy though life it was easy to turn a blind eye and not think much of hardships that some people have. I always try to be empathetic and do my share of volunteering and donating when I can, but I tell you when I had Brady a little over three years ago things in my life changed. I’m sure that I am no different than most first time parents when they feel the love of their own child. My view of the world and everything around me opened up dramatically. I realized on a personal level that turning a blind eye to things that may seem to be too tough (hardships of some children) to think about was no way to live after holding my daughter in my arms. A tough time with my own daughter has brought me to Casa de los Ninos and in particular Carol Bolger. What a blessing in disguise this situation has become.
I have to tell you, the work that Miss Bolger and the staff at Casa de los Niños does is inspiring. I do not use that term lightly, remember just a few short years ago I was a regular single guy thinking nothing more than of himself. Today, because of my daughter and Miss Bolger I have a much more defined sense of purpose. The Nurturing Parenting and Triple P classes that I attend at Casa de los Niños are nothing less than inspiring. They are helpful, insightful and most importantly to me inspiring. The fact that there have always been places like Casa de los Niños and people like Miss Bolger who truly cares about the betterment of children and their families is an inspiration. They are life altering. I hope that Miss Bolger and the staff at Casa de los Niños realize the difference they make on a daily basis to people who need a little bit of help – and inspiration. I can’t think of many endeavors more important and more impactful than inspiring people to be better for themselves and for their children. The classes and tools learned in these classes in my opinion should be mandatory for every parent because we can never have enough tools and resources to be better for ourselves and especially for our children. Miss Bolger has opened my eyes to services and resources that I think are an amazing building block to a better future for so many people. It is because of her that I want to not only do even better for myself and for Brady but I also want to pay it forward and learn more about what I can do to help as well. In the meantime, I will continue to spread the word about how wonderful, how helpful, and ultimately how beneficial the classes, programs, Miss Bolger, and Casa de los Niños is to society as a whole.
Thank you for your time,
Matthew
