The Smith Family Story
Our world is full of stories - fictional, fancy land stories of princes and pirates. Inspirational, encouraging stories that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. And even real life, really hard stories where it’s up to us to find the silver linings. At Pause, we have the honor of hearing family stories, getting to know their family as a whole and, if we’re lucky, truly being a part of their larger story moving forward.
One family's story we are blessed to be a part of, is Jennifer Smith’s family. Jennifer has been married to her husband, Chris for 20 years and they have 4 kiddos and a Goldendoodle, Max! Their 8 year old, Cameron was actually born at home! It was a spontaneous delivery and they were very lucky to have the ambulance arrive just in time to deliver him in the hallway of their home. Chris was ready to go! Gloves and all!
For the past 12 years, Jennifer has worked in the Heart Institute at Cincinnati Children’s and enjoys hiking, hanging with family, volunteering and donating what she can to the community. Jennifer is a dedicated Pause family and volunteer! She has adopted the Pause Nursery room and comes in weekly and cleans surfaces/toys, rotates toys and even takes home harder to clean fabrics to deep clean!
Jennifer shared, “When I was younger, my family struggled a lot, and I think the struggles made me who I am today. I was so grateful for the community support at a young age and giving back is something that I promised myself I would do. This is another reason why I offered to help Pause by cleaning the nursery and helping with donations.”
Jennifer first found out about Pause when a close friend shared that her church, Center Pointe, was partnering with Pause to create a Sunday morning ministry for families with special needs. Jennifer’s friend knew the Smith family was looking into finding a home church that offered a space for kids with disabilities to learn on Sunday mornings. However, at that time, the Smith family was also learning about autism and the struggles their son, Cameron was going to face.
Jennifer shared with us, “I worried about his future and about our other children. I shed some tears. I worried about how things would affect my marriage. How will family outings be? I worried about my sanity. Cameron was not talking (he regressed) and trying to find ways for him to communicate was not only frustrating for him but heartbreaking for us. We talked to our kids and extended family about his diagnoses. Explaining to them was hard since there was misinformation. Some had a stereotype of what autism is that didn’t fit Cameron. The problem he was having was not visible to everyone in our family. It was a conversation that was very difficult and emotional.
We eventually realized that continuing to worry about this just added another layer of stress in our lives. I eventually found resources to help us make sense of all this. My family adopted the attitude that it just doesn’t matter to us what people think. We are doing the best we can and doing what’s best for him, and if other people don’t understand, well, it’s their problem and not ours. We are raising and loving Cameron who sees the world differently, who feels everything so intensely, and he can teach us a thing or two if we are willing to see the lessons. While parenting children on the spectrum can come with some challenges, it also comes with some amazing perks. We are getting a very special look on life that not everyone else gets to see, and it's beautiful. This has probably been one of the most valuable and one of the hardest things I have learned. I still struggle with it daily.”
Moving forward a few years, Jennifer bumped into a mom whose son went to pre-K with Cameron and she had mentioned Pause. After researching, Jennifer felt excited and hopeful. Things felt like they were actually falling into place.
“It has been about a year for our family here at Center Pointe church and with Pause. Our family is so blessed and forever grateful. I have met some of the most wonderful, caring individuals that have not only touched my life but Cameron’s too. We are so lucky to be part of this group of volunteers and staff, we appreciate them more than they will ever know. I can literally repeat this all the time!
I wanted to help give back, so I heard there was a need for someone to help with cleaning rooms. It gives me a peace of mind knowing, not only my child, but other kids are playing in a clean/sanitized room. I have fun rotating toys, giving them other choices that may be hidden in other bins. It is very rewarding knowing everyone is so appreciative of me cleaning the room(s) but what they don’t realize is that it's a small contribution to what support they have given to our family.”
Jennifer, thank you for allowing Pause to be a part of your family’s story. Thank you for adopting the nursery as your own and dedicating your time to Pause. We are so glad you are part of the Pause fam.
Interested in adopting a Pause room to clean? Choose one room, once a week for about an hour. Wipe down toys, organize the rooms and come give the space some love! All supplies provided, all we need is some muscle and love to go with them.
This is CAN DO. This is COMMUNITY. This is YOUR SUPPORT.
