Jan. 27, 2025

We Are The Hansons Family Providing Emotional Support During Difficult Times

We Are The Hansons Family Providing Emotional Support During Difficult Times

In this episode of We Are The Hansons, we open up about the importance of leaning on family during life's most challenging moments. From navigating personal struggles to supporting each other through shared hardships, we discuss how our family comes together to provide strength, encuragement, and love when it matters most. We'll share personal stories of reilience, talk about how we foster an environment of trust and understanding, and offer insights into how families can create a strong foundation of support. Whether you're part of a large family like ours or building your own support system, this episode is a heartfelt reminder that no one has to face alone.

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Welcome to We are the Hansens, the podcast where we

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share the joys, challenges, and adventures of life in a

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big family. I'm buy A Hansen, and today we're diving

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into the topic that's close to my heart, the role

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of extended family in providing emotional support during difficult times.

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Life isn't always easy, and as parents, partners, and family members,

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we all face moments that test us. But one of

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the most beautiful things about family, especially a big one

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like ours, is how everyone rallies together when times get taught.

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I want to start off by reflecting on the importance

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of family in our family. We've been through our share

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of challenges, unexpected health situations, financial stress, and the day

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to day chaos that comes with raising kids. What's gotten

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us through so many of these moments isn't just our

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immediate household, but also the support of our extended family.

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We've leaned on grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and even close

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family friends who feel like family to us. Their presence

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has been a lifeline in times of need for our family.

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I never have to question myself who to call when

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we need help, and when I mean by needing help,

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I mean in an emergency situation. If we need to

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call somebody, I know exactly who I'm picking up the

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phone to call for help, and those people I will

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always hold dear to my heart. I'm gonna give you

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a little bit first, you know, just a story to start.

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When I went into labor with my last baby, Anna,

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nobody knew I was pregnant, and we didn't tell anybody

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until I was in the ambulance being transferred from one

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hospital to another. I didn't want to tell anybody because

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of the situation. We didn't know our baby he was

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going to make it. So when I knew I was

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going into the hospital and I wasn't getting out, my

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family that I reached out to were my mother, my

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mother in law, my sister in laws, and my sisters.

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I did reach out to some friends for prayer because

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at that point, everybody knew what was happening. Everybody knew

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I was having a baby, and I was having a

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baby very early, so at that point it was a

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little easier for me to reach out and ask for help.

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I didn't want to reach out and ask for help,

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but I did because I needed Jeremy to be there

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at the hospital with me. But I also needed somebody

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for my children. Needless to say, after we found out,

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you know that I was going to be stuck in

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the hospital for a while before I was coming home.

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Jeremy went home and was with the kids. Thank God

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for our older kids, because they really helped during that time.

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They did a lot, and I am so grateful for them,

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and I don't know how much more I can tell

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them how much I appreciate them for what they did

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when I was in the hospital. It's just a tremendous

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overfalling of love because they were there, they helped, they

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did a lot, and I'm grateful for that. I'm so grateful.

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But when the times really came down to it, when

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I needed my mom because I didn't know if Jeremy

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was going to make it to the hospital for my

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C section, my mom was there. After my Anna was born,

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my mother in law flew in, my sister in laws came.

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They helped tremendously, They brought food, they helped with the kids.

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Then when I got out, they were still there helping.

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And you never know who's going to be there for you,

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but the ones that do show up, it was much

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of a relief on me and Jeremy that we actually

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had people that cared enough to show up. I know

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my family lives very far from me eight hours, and

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I know that they can't always be here. Not everybody

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has the money to be here, so I understand, but

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sometimes in moments like that, you do wish you had

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family that would be there. My family was more there

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on the phone video. You know. If I needed to

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call him, i could, which I'm thankful for. Sometimes in

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those situations, you just want to hug your family. Needless

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to say, I couldn't do that. My mom and dad

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did come and visit me when I was in the hospital.

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My mom came and seeing my little Anna when she

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was in the nic You but I just wish I

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had them there all the time. During times like that,

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you just want to lean on your family. Pastor Jeff

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and his wife Tracy came, which was a big relief

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because just them praying for Anna and us was like

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a big lift of heavy weights off of our shoulders.

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After we knew that Anna was getting a little bit better,

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then we'd jump two steps forward and then we were

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knocked down two steps back. So it was like a

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revolving door. Like things were different every day. Sometimes she

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was getting better, sometimes she wasn't. Sometimes there was improvement,

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sometimes there wasn't. Sometimes things were getting worse. We did

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have family come in, you know, just because I wanted

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Anna to know that she had family there in case

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anything happened. I was hopeful that she would know that

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her family loved her and they were there. You know,

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I wish I could have had all of my family there,

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but it was just too hard to get everybody to

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come down here. Most of my family is in Wisconsin.

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We got Arizona, we got California and Illinois, so family

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was just spread all over the place, so it was

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really difficult. But to us, we learned that we could

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lean on grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, even close family friends

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who we felt like family. Their presence has been a

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lifeline in times of need for us. You know, there's

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only so much you can do when you're in a

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situation like that. Then when things started to get really

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rough for us is when we were having to travel

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back and forth to the hospital, plus work, plus take

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care of the kids at home. We were running out

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of money because we couldn't be at the hospital twenty

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four to seven like we wanted to be because we

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had other children at home that had to go to

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school and I didn't want to miss out on their

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school stuff either. And I knew my Aunta was safe

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at the hospital with the nurses she had and the doctors,

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so I felt a lot of relief from that, but

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the fuel just getting back and forth to the hospital

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was just so much. So I had to swallow my

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pride and reach out to Children's Miracle Network and ask

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for help. And that is what they are there for.

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And you know, had I not been able to reach

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out to them and get the help we did for Gas,

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I don't know where we'd be today. So I am

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an advocate. I try and tell everybody you know, if

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you ever need help, or if you're gonna e or donate,

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donate to Children's Miracle Network because they will help you,

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especially when you have a child in the hospital. They

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will do whatever they can to help you. So that

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was kind of our support during that difficult time. And

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there's been, you know, many other times that we've had struggles,

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and I always can reach out. Sometimes you don't want

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to reach out because there are family that won't help.

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To be honest, we are pretty blessed with most of

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the family we have, it's really hard to see them

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all the time. I know my kids would love to

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see their extended family a lot more, but it's just

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really hard to get everyone together. And so there are

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emotional struggles during all of this. After you know, difficult

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conversations or setbacks. I've had siblings and you know stuff

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text me just to check in. They didn't have all

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the answers that I was wondering, you know, or wanted

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to know, but they listened, and sometimes that's all I needed.

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Sometimes that's all Jeremy needed. You know. We celebrated the milestones,

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aimed the hardships, and still to this day we are

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going through hardships because of our little Anna is still

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having some medical issues and just trying to figure out

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why and what is going on. She is seven years

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old and doesn't have a voice of her own to

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be telling these doctors how she's feeling. She can tell

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me her parent, you know, she feels comfortable telling me.

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You know, I know she won't tell the doctors how

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she's feeling, or at least what she wants to tell them.

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She doesn't like taking all the meds she takes, and

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so I vent a lot to my family because it

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really makes me angry that you know, I'm her advocate.

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I fight for her every single day just to get

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answers to get some relief for her. Sometimes my family

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probably thinks I'm crazy or I'm very blunt and honest,

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and I don't hold back on anything. So when I

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talk to a doctor, if they don't listen to me,

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they are gonna know how I feel about that. Even

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during tough times, our extended family has reminded us to

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find joy, whether it's taking a trip somewhere where or

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when life feels overwhelming, just start creating traditions that bring

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us together. You know, it's helped us focus on good things.

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Some of the lessons that we've learned about relying on family.

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One of the biggest lessons I've learned is that it's

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okay to ask for help. You know, we often think

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we have to do everything on our own, but family

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exists to share the load. You know they will be there.

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Sometimes you can't reach them, so you jump from one

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family member to another just to get the craziness off

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your chest, and it works. Another lesson is the importance

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of maintaining those relationships when times are good. It's easier

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to lean on someone during hard times if you've already

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nurtured that bond during good times. So not all the

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time is your family going to have the answers you

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want to hear. But they're going to help guide you

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in the right direction. You know. I always talk about

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building a support of family culture because in our family,

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we've worked to create that culture of support. We encourage

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our kids to be there for one another, and we

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also model what it looks like to show up for

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the people that we care about. We want our kids

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to know that we want them to do the same.

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It's also about being intentional, and what I mean by

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that is we make a point to stay connected with

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our extended family through phone calls. We try to visit

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as much as possible, but it is really hard for

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us to visit because we have a big fan family,

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so our funds are limited. When we do visit, we

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try and make the best of it. These small efforts

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build the foundation for when life gets tough. I want

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to encourage my listeners that if you are going through

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tough times, I want to encourage you to lean into

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your family. It's not always easy. Sometimes relationships are very complicated,

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but you might be surprised by the love and support

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that you find when you open up to your family.

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It was not easy for us to open up to

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our family when our animal was in the hospital, but

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at that point we needed it. I have a Facebook

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family that has been since Anna was born and they

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still mind you. She is seven years old. They still

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to this day reach out to me to see and

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sometimes I feel like I'm closer with them people because

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they actually reach out to us and see how things

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are going. They check on Anna, they see how we're doing.

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It almost feels like they're part of our family. So

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if you are on the other side, if you see

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someone in your family struggling, reach out to them, even

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the smallest gesture, it can mean the world to someone

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who's struggling. I'm going to finish up here by some

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of my closing thoughts, and I want to say family

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is a gift, and it's during life's storms that we

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truly see the value. Whether it's through kind words, a

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helping hand, or just being present. Our extended family can

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provide the strength we need to get through anything. Your

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friends that have been there for you can be the

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strength to get you through anything. I want to thank

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you all for listening to We Are the Hansens. If

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this episode resonated with you, we'd love to hear your thoughts,

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share your own stories of how your family has supported you,

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or let us know how we've been able to be

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there for others. You can send us a message on

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our Facebook We Are the Hansens. You can send us

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an eat email at We Are THEE. Hansen's Show at

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gmail dot com, and please go subscribe to our We

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Are the Hansen's YouTube channel. Thank you