GRATITUDE MONTH--DAY #6: The Dragonfly Project

GRATITUDE MONTH/THANKGIVING--DAY #6: The Dragonfly Project

I'm in the middle of working on the Fall issue of The Dragonfly Buzzette, the bi-annual newsletter for The Dragonfly Project. It's my/our 24th issue. You'd think by now, I'd be tired of this work but the moment I dive in and start reading the articles, I am instantly reminded of why I've been doing this work for the last 13+ years. Hope. It's so full of hope. And the world needs hope, yesterday, today, everyday.

The Dragonfly Project is a small non-profit organization started in 2002 by an 11-year-old girl (Anne Brooker) with the goal of sending condolence cards, dragonfly key chains and the dragonfly story to people who are grieving. Fifteen years later, we've sent out 93,000 of these cards to people all over the country and even a few outside the United States. It's truly a community project, run completely by volunteers, with approximately 20 people behind every card. It's people offering hope to each other in the midst of something everyone has to deal with, the loss of loved ones. It's people finding hope in the symbol of the real life-cycle of a dragonfly, hope for life after this one and even a connection to those who have moved on through the process of death. It's finding hope in death. It's finding hope in nature. It's finding hope in each other. 

The more I'm involved (I also lead volunteer events), the more I work with the many volunteers who do this work, the more I read the stories of dragonflies arriving just at the right time, the more I believe in this miracle of hope. Hope for life, hope for love and community, hope coming through the death of a loved one, hope coming through compassion.

And beyond that, I am personally grateful for the opportunity to work for this amazing project. Over the last 13 years I have learned so much more about myself than I ever thought possible. I feel stronger, more peaceful and more hopeful about my life as well about the communities of people I encounter through this work. That includes even the lovely printing company in my neighborhood (Tracy Printing) who prints our newsletter. They are efficient and kind and loving and do great work as well.


And all of this started when our son Hans died 17 years ago and our family met Anne's family. Then Anne's family shared a story of a dragonfly's transformation and from there Anne decided to help more people. And dragonflies and The Dragonfly Project have been offering hope a chance to grow ever since.

Today, I am grateful for The Dragonfly Project. I am grateful for the hope that grows when we share our compassion with each other in times of grief. Today's gratitude: The Dragonfly Project!

You can learn more at www.dragonflyproject.org and some day maybe you'll even get a chance to hear my whole dragonfly story, The Miracle that Came in the Mail.