As I blogged about in September (“What does expanding the Springfield family mean to you?”), my Family Relations co-chair for Springfield and I decided to apply to be paired with a fourth Four Diamonds Family this year. On Tuesday we got the email we have been anxiously waiting for…we were paired! The past five days have been a whirlwind of learning about this family, talking to them for the first time, and finding the best way to tell everybody our exciting news. Since Tuesday afternoon I have been tasked (by myself) with keeping incredibly uplifting news from my some of my best friends, many of whom truly needed to hear it this week. While I typically consider myself pretty good at keeping secrets, this week was harder than I ever could have imagined. I wanted my friends to be happy, and knew that I had a way to do it. I also have to admit: I was very proud of myself, and wanted to be able to express that pride. However, I held myself together and told almost nobody until our general meeting tonight.

While we’ve only had the Schopfs for five days and our members just found out a few hours ago, I can tell you that Rachel and I have already learned a lot through this experience. We immediately mobilized on Tuesday evening after we both got out of class, created a to-do list, and separated this to-do list into “immediate”, “short-term”, and “long-term.” Since Tuesday, we have checked almost everything off our immediate to-do list and are making headway on the short-term. Nobody told us how to welcome a new family or incorporate them into Springfield, but we quickly figured out what to do and we did it.

Perhaps what we’ve really learned, though, is the power of these relationships between members and families. From our very first email interactions with them on Wednesday, they were excited and thankful about Springfield. When we Skyped them on Thursday, we couldn’t believe how lucky we had been. Our new THON child Taiven is still getting used to what having our org as part of his “family” means, but he was so happy to tell us about his Transformers and Halloween costume, and to tell us “Happy Thanksgiving.” And the excitement of Taiven’s parents, Tammy and Dean, was apparent through the computer screen. Their faces lit up when we told them about our org’s history and personality, traditions with our other three Four Diamonds Families, and reasons that we decided to apply for a new family. They told us that what they really want out of Springfield is more family visits and opportunities for Taiven to have big brothers and sisters…so that is exactly what they will get. They expressed so much appreciation for what we do, but I know that they do so much more for us. I was so happy on Thursday night after our Skype call that I cried (it was my third time crying about our news this week). Tonight when we announced the news to our members, we had a few people who did start crying. There were screams of joy, so many hugs, and 200 uplifted hearts. We have had people personally text us saying “Thank you. This means more than you will ever know.” So to me, that right there exemplifies why we do what we do. We create relationships that get people through the hardest of times. We remind people that there is hope, and there are people who care and will always go the extra mile. This week has been a whirlwind of emotions, and now that our big secret is out I have even more reasons to feel proud, excited, and so so loved.

Note: if this blog isn’t entirely coherent, blame my excitement that still hasn’t worn off from the time this video was recorded