This week's quote

"You always gain by giving love." — Reese Witherspoon

This week's blog post

This week's blog post suggests ways your teen or adult child can navigate the holiday season with divorced or separated parents/family members while also protecting their peace. This information is especially helpful if this is the first or second year your teen or adult child is navigating divorce, remarriage, or blended families. 

Applying these tips may initially be uncomfortable for everyone because it is new, but it’s worth it when we see the growth and healing achieved both individually and as a family.

This week's cause

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is only week away! While you're busy preparing for the holiday, we hope that you may consider joining us to donate a meal to a family served by SARC of Harford County

If you are interested, please visit the link and select one of the items requested by SARC to feed a family of four (good news: you don't have to create an account to sign up). 

If you're coming to happy hour at Pairings Bistro tomorrow (and we hope you are), we will collect your donation there. Alternatively, you can reach out to one of us directly via Facebook or Instagram to make arrangements for one of us to pick up your donation. Thank you for considering!

Sincerely, Divorced supports SARC because their mission to spread hope is so closely aligned with ours. SARC is a lifeline for victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, and stalking by providing safe haven, advocacy, and resources in Harford County.

This week's exercise

Did you know that acts of gratitude can positively alter the quality of our emotional health in addition to the quality of our interpersonal relationships? Numerous studies have shown this to be the case. Interestingly enough, research also suggests that more specific expressions of gratitude seem to be more impactful.

To assist people in becoming more intentional about their expressions, Dr. Joel Wong, a professor of counseling at Indiana University's School of Education, put together a list of 100 questions to inspire and generate gratitude. With Thanksgiving next week, now would be a great time to start reflecting!

This week's news

We are excited to begin rolling out our latest tool for connecting with community members: hope chats!

What is a hope chat? A hope chat is a time for us to listen to you and provide support, validation, and tips for reframing your experiences. It’s a 1.1 video chat conversation where you can share or ask us anything related to the divorce/separation experience.

Click here to learn more and schedule a hope chat today.

Thanks for reading and being an engaged member of this community. Have a great weekend friends! ♥

Hope Notes | No. 9