Our struggle built the story
Sharon and Moody Cecil
by Sharon Cecil
We met, became best friends, and eventually married. Our life’s struggles became our story, filled with passion and compassion to help. We created so many programs that helped others as well as helping us heal. Our love grew through our struggles. Our careers gave us the ability to promote Heath and Wellness. We Survive will celebrate 25 years at LIGHTFEST Re-Ignited on Nov. 2 sharing a Light of HOPE.
You + Me = We Survive –25th Anniversary.
Everyone has dreams. Some dreams are forgotten. Others are never forgotten but never see a follow through.
Moody Cecil had a dream that led to the creation of We Survive in 1994. Blending our talents, Moody focused on nature and Sharon Cecil created Women Offering Wisdom in 1996.
January 2019– Life brought us to it “Nurturance in nature brought us through it”
Moody Cecil has provided a guiding light since he passed away in December, 2016, while I have taken several years to reflect, restore and renew. Knowing I wanted to keep the legacy alive, I wasn’t sure what that would look like although LIGHTFEST continued to be the mainstay for We Survive through the transition.
In July, 2019, Olivia Bohler sent me an email stating, “You may remember my mom, we used to help out with the Day of Hope on the farm and LIGHTFEST at the church in downtown Louisville… I am looking for an organization to partner with for my National Honor Society (NHS) Project as well as my Girl Scout Gold Award.” In that moment, as I read her email, I could feel the passion for working with youth filling the empty void that once was the “fire in my belly.”
Olivia and I worked together on her learning how to arm knit for her NHS project. She acquired the necessary amount of hours to meet her NHS requirement. As we moved forward towards her Girl Scout Award, Olivia wanted to put together Hope Bags for the homeless that include various necessary supplies such as toiletries (soap, tooth brush, tooth paste, deodorant) and items to keep them warm (gloves hats and socks). Also, Olivia decided to include arm knitted scarves, which are warm, useful and not to large for her first Hope Bags. Making arm knitted scarves was something that she could make and also teach the recipients to make one which they could either keep for themselves or give to someone else.
By We Survive partnering with Olivia with her NHS project and Girl Scout Gold Award, it was a reminder of what a young woman wrote years ago. “We Survive’s WOW programming provided tools that helped us create transformational and inspirational societal changes with our health and wellness educational programs. Writing, art, publishing, radio interviewing/moderating and creating media pieces (magazines, books, pamphlets, press releases, etc.) was a wonderful learning opportunity. We learned the importance of gathering creditable information from various sources through interviews and research allowing us to develop our own educational opinions on various topics while enabling us to share valuable information with our community. These experiential activities helped me become a more effective communicator and leader.” ~~ Sharon McKean
We Survive is looking forward to Olivia’s plan to sustain her project by offering others the opportunity to help her. They will be creative while meeting new people. Classes will encourage women to make arm knitted scarves or other artistic items so that they can “Learn to Earn.”
Happy 25th Anniversary We Survive. Celebrating LIGHTFEST 2019
Follow Us!