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  • Carol Pypker, Ontario

    I write birthday cards and a small gift for each lady (most of us young moms) in our Thursday morning ladies Bible study group. It may seem like such a small thing (I give out 40-60), but it makes a difference. This year I make each lady a fridge magnet: simple wooden shape painted and with her name and its meaning written on it. Then in her card I explain how her personality matches her name. Today I gave one to Sandra whose name means "helper and defender". I see her as someone who quietly stands alongside someone to give encouragement or help, and doesn't seek a reward for doing so....(And I admit it, if their name doesn't have a really meaningful meaning, I write "precious in His sight" because every woman needs to know we are valued and treasured by someone significant....)
    It is a small thing, but having their birthday remembered and celebrated is greatly appreciated by the ladies... And somehow thinking about the positive in each one of them makes me value and treasure their friendship even more.

  • Jacqueline Charbonneau, Ontario

    I love my family very much and now that my children are grown-up I still bring some extra sunshine into their lives by giving them the warm all over feeling that home baking can give even adults. Their favorite is my chocolate chip cookies, but they like all my home baking. My granddaughter, who is 6, gets extra sunshine from grandma in a lot of ways, but one is that she loves to bake with me and our own real tea parties with a special little teapot that her great-grandma had given me before she passed away. My granddaughter Jessie loves hearing stories of her great-grandma who passed on when she was a baby and stories of all the special activities I did with her Mom, my daughter, when she was young. I do all the same things with my granddaughter that I did with her Mom, minus sliding my arthritis won't allow that, and she loves the idea that we do so much together, crafts, baking, reading, singing, dancing, going to the park and beach and I play in the sand with her which just makes her so happy. We do so very many activities together there are too many to name here. This is only some things that I do to bring some extra sunshine into my loved ones lives!

  • ASHWINI PARHAR, British Columbia

    A couple of my girlfriends have been trying to get pregnant for over 5 years now & are really depressed. They love kids, and moreover they LOVE my daughter! I see the happiness her little face brings them, & I feel them having all the interaction they want with my little princess may bring some children to their lives. As well, my parents & in-laws are both retired with not much to do.. but they dote on their granddaughter. So we constantly spend time w/grandparents & aunties! Just to see the smile she brings to their faces brings a smile to my heart!!

  • C Shoemaker, British Columbia

    My mom uses the magic bag to help with continual pain that she has from lupus. As her daughter, I know the important of contact with those you love. Loving words and physical hugs brings the same warmth to the heart as the magic bag brings to the body. Thus, to bring sunshine into my mom's life I call her regularly to see how she is doing. Even though I live at home, as a university student I am continually on campus doing research. So, I call her and leave little messages on our answering machine telling her how I love her, asking how her day went and hinting that I'm bringing home a surprise. Sometime I bring home freshia, her favorite flower, or sometime I rent a favorite movie (usually an Agatha Christie mystery) and we have a movie night. I try to use little ways to brighten her day, warm her spirit, and remind her she is loved. I suppose it's fitting then, that she has called me her "little sunshine" since I was a little child :).

  • Lucy Michalak, Ontario

    I am very empathetic to how my husband and my two sons (21 and 26) are feeling on any particular day. If my husband is worried about anything in particular, I can (after 29 years of marriage) find a way to make him laugh. We are a team, and I've worked by his side, paying off our home, raising our boys and now, looking after our aging mothers, together. If my 26 year old is working out to compete in one of his kick boxing tournaments, I watch what he eats, make sure he gets more protein and less carbs than usual, and give him massages or run baths when his muscles are aching. When my 21 year old is worried about something at university, I know it immediately and drop whatever I'm doing, bring him a cup of his favourite tea, and see if he feels like talking. Sometimes he'll open up and ask me for advice. Sometimes, he thanks me for the tea, but wants to be left to his own devices. I never push the issue. My family knows I would do anything for them, and that I will always be there for them. They are my life, I think each of them is wonderful, and last weekend, I made 300 pierogis for over Christmas, and this definitely brings sunshine into their lives!

  • Barb Stachow, Alberta

    I have learned to accept my loved ones simply as he or she is. It is the only way to have a real alive, spicy and long lasting relationship. Remember nobody in this world is 'perfect'. I value their realities and put away any of my own fantasies.

    When I stopped judging my loved ones and instead experience them I have no inner conflict within myself. This stillness of energy is 'joy' and happiness. I help my loved ones see that happiness comes when things are accepted as they are. One of my best tools for happy loved ones is to remember that being happy with what you have is more important than being miserable about the things which you don't have.

    I find time to have "quality" time with my loved ones. It can be as simple as having a meal together or watching a movie together. Any spontanious moment to make a positive comment when they least expect it. Communication is something I do work with. I try to say 'I Love you' as many times a day as possible. My hugs help to make relationship warm and cosy.

    I am always on my guard seeking for any way to connect with my loved ones in a way that only can be described as adding my own special "sunshine" into my loved ones life.

  • Molly Papineau, Ontario

    I am a single mother and a breast cancer survivor. I have three of my four children still living at home with me and a special fourth child moved in last year. I also have aproximately 188 children at the school that I volunteer at. WOW that's alot of kids...and I love them all. I resolve sibling conflicts, tie up many pairs of sneekers, bandage up countless boo boos, police defiant teenagers and in my spare time I also work full time outside of the home. Of course I cannot spend to much alone time with each one of them but I can give them a loving smile and a warm hug if they all stand in a line. And with each smile and hug I recieve a new charge of energy that carries me through to the next day. Now if only I can figure out a way to keep the cat out of the Christmas tree, my life would be near perfect.

  • Colleen Warnock, Ontario

    Our just lost our dear father to cancer in September 2008.
    My mother and my father had a wonderful marriage for 56 years.
    My mother is 78 and lives alone now. I call her everyday to talk and just sometimes to tell her I love her.
    At times, I go and surprise her at her home and bring my overnight bag. (as we live in different towns). I am a hairstylist and I often do her hair when I come that really boosts her spirits for her.
    We have coffee together, go shopping, a walk or take a drive during the day. After the day, we will have our dinner out chatting and laughing which brings her spirits up. At night we will have a nice bubble bath and put on a good movie or a TV show she enjoys and sit and watch together. Since my father died, my mother needs company and we (our family) have organized it so our mother is never alone. Each one of us spends time with her, to ensure she is not lonely and feels safe. We love her very much and she says that "I am so blessed to have a family that takes care of me."
    I always leave with a hug and an "I love you" until I see her again for my next visit -- to bring some "sunshine" into her life.

  • Brenda Moore, Ontario

    My loved ones' are my two children; a 24 year old gorgeous blond daughter, and handsome-as-hell, dark haired, 6"4", 21 year old son.
    Growing-up terms of endearment and "I love you" weren't handed out on a daily or regular basis. BUT, they are for my kids. When raising two children on your own as a single parent, there are times when the only affordable gift you can give is a kind word mixed with love.
    If I want to see a beautiful face shine...all I have to do is say "I love you son, I love you chicklet, Well good-looking...how was your day?, I adore you sweety or sweetness, I love you to bits boy of mine" and so on and so on. I mean every word I say and can truly feel my heart swell when the words naturally tumble out. If I have given some sunshine to my childrens' lives, than; I am doing my job as a Mom...just about right.
    By the way, the sunshine only beams back to me and brightens my day too. Call it "Energy Conservation"!
    Cheers to you all,
    Brenda J.Moore

  • Nancy McCormick, New Brunswick

    I do want I can to share my love to them. I live my day with them as though it is the only day we have because in reality "this is the day". There is no guarantee of tomorrow. "This is the day the Lord hath made I will be glad and rejoice in it"
    For example- Just 2 months ago , I got word a friend had breast cancer. I packed my bags and stayed with them. I was "chief cook and bottle washer" so when their husband came home from work they did not need to do that and could concentrate on Bonnie. I was there to encourage and bless them in any way possible. When her hair started to come out , I cried with her and went with her to help pick out a wig. I was there with her in the daytime and could be a listening ear and friend.
    I lost my husband to cancer and I have had cancer twice , 2 of my 4 children have battled cancer.
    It is not hard to love someone just open your eyes and ears to their needs.