PSA: Sunshine Missions (Everyone Read Please)

PinkCamino · November 2014

Morning Ladies!

Can we talk about Sunshine Missions today? There hasn't been one on the board in quite some time so I thought it might be useful to explain what it is and under what circumstances it happens.

As per the blog, a sunshine mission:

Sunshine Missions were originated to bring a ray of sunshine to someone in their darkest days. We all go through very difficult times in our journey through the “After A Loss” groups. Every once in a while, one of our members goes through something very devastating. Without going into the pain Olympics, because nobody else’s pain is any less, there are some tragedies that rock our “After A Loss” community. When things like this happen, someone might organize a SM to help out the person in need. Whether it be flowers, cards, VISA gift cards to help out with funeral/hospital expenses, etc. This is usually done through PMs so it is a surprise to the person in need and so that as much personal information about everyone involved is kept as private as possible. Contributions are completely optional and no one should feel like they need to donate.

In the 2+ years I've been here I've only seen 3. Generally, they have been reserved for end of road situations and late term infant loss or other very difficult circumstances.

Although it would be wonderful if we could rally together and send one to every one of our members who are forced to return here after a short stay on PGAL, this is just not feasible. As a result, we don't generally put together sunshine missions for our returning ladies although we'd love to. It's just not financially an option for many of the ladies here.

Making friendships on TTCAL is a given. This place is filled with beautiful women and close friendships are bound to happen. Clearly, when those types of friendships occur it's natural to want to support your friend during their darkest times. Unfortunately, when evidence of those friendships is brought back to the board hurt feelings might occur. Some ladies might feel excluded from the planning and those who have come back and not received the same treatment may feel saddened that they were not thought of in the same way.

Clearly, this is in no way a prohibition from making friendships and choosing to do what you want to do off board. Instead, it's a gentle reminder to consider the very unique environment of TTCAL and to prevent the potential of hurt feelings. If you are close to someone and feel like you need to send them something collectively as a group please keep in mind that there are other ladies who have returned multiple times as well and have not received anything.
Please understand that although this may be happening off board, TTCAL is generally not made aware of it to prevent feelings of exclusion and feelings of sadness from other members who've been in similar situations have not received a similar package.