Cause For Thanksgiving: A Place Where I Can Be Who I Am! 

By Midori M. – Friend

After working for many years in a professional field in NYC, I spent over a year in the Ukraine doing work for a  humanitarian NGO. Having returned from a conflicted country, I was feeling out of place and having difficulty adjusting back to our affluent society.

Soon after I came back, we were invited for a Thanksgiving gathering, as we used to participate in many other cultural gatherings with Con-solatio before. I do not come from a big family, and my native family is mostly overseas. But it was like going home to a new kind of big family with many familiar and new faces from various backgrounds. I was able to share my experience with others who had similar views on life and had a great time at the dinner over warm exchange of conversations.  

I was moved and inspired by listening to other people’s life stories and struggles and hearing about God’s guidance for them. I appreciate the opportunity to connect with people I would never meet without Con-solatio. This is a unique organization which attracts many diverse people from all ages, cultural and professional backgrounds; people who have the same basic values of love of God and compassion, expressed by sharing their talents and skills with those in need. This is a place I feel comfortable being as I am and feel the presence of God in the air.