There aren't too many things that choke me up nowadays, but our new location at 69 Kempster Avenue in Ottawa, Ontario is one of them. Here's why.
I am a woman who wears many hats. I'm a perpetual student, I'm an educator, I'm a facilitator and public speaker, I'm a counsellor, and I'm an entrepreneur. I am a daughter, a friend, a wife. For good or for worse, I guess you could say that there aren't too many hats that I don't wear. However, the most important hat (no, crown) that I wear is that of mother of three beautiful young children. Three amazing, smart, rambunctuous, confident, and capable children, ages seven, five, and three. It is this role that I am the most proud of.
Some of you may know that motherhood hasn't always been smooth sailing for me. When my son was born, I was faced with challenges and decisions that I wasn't prepared for. The birth of my daughters added fuel to what most would describe as a family on fire. It wasn't pretty. After months and years of searching for answers to a question that I wasn't sure that I could communicate through words, but that I knew I felt, my son was given the diagnosis of Autism, ADHD, and ODD. The alphabet soup, the doctor joked. I wasn't laughing.
As support wavered and my friendships crumbled, mostly due to a lack of energy on my part but also as a result of a fear of not being understood, I found myself standing alone. Alone with a disabled child. Alone with a diagnosis. Alone with my regret and my fears for today and for the future. I want to say that I sucked it up and pulled up my bootstraps but I didn't at first. It took too much energy to avoid melting down.
It took months, and years, to heal from what had become my destiny: a mother of a child with special needs, special rights, special everything. But I managed. Through continuing education, community group involvement, and therapy of my own, I found myself getting stronger and advocacy became my fuel to move forward. I discovered strengths that I didn't know I had and energy that I wasn't sure that I could muster. For my children, I became exactly what they needed: an educator and counsellor; a strong woman who could fight for them and other families like ours. I started waking up at 5:00 am and worked to the bone. My family fueled me as I fought for a space where we could just be. I started by offering services online for free, and saw first-hand that there were other families out there like mine that needed help. That were standing alone alongside me. And I had no idea that they were there. Second Nature was born.
Second Nature is a space for children, youth, and individuals to access attachment-based, holistic and nature-centred, health and wellness services that work to strengthen the bonds that hold families together. Second Nature is led by a mother who survived, who has meticulously collected like-minded professionals who understand who you are even before your family walks in the door. We are a home away from home. We are a safe space where all people regardless of identity, are welcome to be themselves and where we work together, as a supportive community. You're not alone, come and stand with us.
Welcome to Second Nature.