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My Mama’s Gratitude Bell

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Of course my mother was one of the very first people who ordered and received a bell!! She’s one of my best encouragers, role models and friends! Here’s the sweet comment she sent to me. I love how my dad made a wooden letter “T” for Tricia to attach my Gratitude Bell to it!!  From my mama: “My gratitude bell is rung every morning as part of my morning prayers. Grateful for all my blessings, especially my family and a special ring for daughter, Tricia, who is one of Jesus’ special children. She is loaded with joy, courage and compassion and she passes it on to all. Love mom To order your own Gratitude Bell from Bevin Bells please click this link ! Of course it’s my dream to get one of these in every Cancer Treatment and Infusion Center especially for others who have stage 4 cancer to have a bell to ring since most of us won’t ever complete or finish treatment but we can all CHOOSE GRATITUDE. 
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Roger's Gratitude Bell

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This post is from my pastor who is being treated for blood cancer and had a stem cell transplant over 140 days ago. My husband wanted to make sure he got one of the very first bells!! I'm hopeful that as more people get a Gratitude Bell for themselves or rings it somewhere, especially if it's rung in a Cancer Treatment Center, I would LOVE to get more and more stories like Rogers so we all can be encouraged by each other. My name is Roger Hendricks and in 2022 I was diagnosed with MDS (myelodysplastic syndrome). MDS is a relatively rare form of blood cancer which sometimes develops into Leukemia. Fortunately, the doctors caught my MDS prior to it developing into Leukemia. Unfortunately, as result of MDS, my quality of life began to suffer while becoming blood transfusion dependent receiving 40 units of blood from October of 2022 until July of 2023. The doctors informed me that without doing anything, I had a maximum life expectancy of three more years. At 63 years of age and wi
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The Unveiling of Tricia’s Gratitude Bell

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Today marked a very special moment in my life.  Literally, a dream came true.  After 5 months of searching for a way to create my Gratitude Bell, I’m so excited to share my reaction of seeing it for the first time. It felt like Christmas! Although I helped direct the design of it, it wasn’t until this past Friday that I actually got to ring it and appreciate it fully. I literally just had yet another infusion just before receiving this in the mail! I also had to say goodbye to my dear oncologist who is going into breast cancer research! A heart-felt thanks to the Bevin Bells  company, who kindly worked with me when they heard about my desire to have a unique Gratitude Bell made so that people with stage 4 cancer can have their own bell to ring anytime we choose to be grateful. Not only did Bevin Bells invite me to help with its design, but they offered to print my poem that can be framed and placed near the Gratitude Bell, too. Additionally, they included a little story about me that w
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How my Gratitude Bell Became A Reality

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Grab a cup of tea. It’s a long read… Here’s the story of the inception of my bell… “Tricia’s Gratitude Bell”. M illions of people just like me are living out their cancer stories. Mine is simple. It’s not tragic, nor unusual. What I do with my cancer story is for me to steward with whatever I choose. My doctors… my food my activities my mindset my attitudes and my purposes are all for me to decide how, who and what to do with as I want to. I didn’t and can’t choose the diagnosis, but I can and will choose how I handle myself and what legacy I leave for my adoring husband, parents, sisters, adult children, grandchildren, nieces and nephew, cousins and friends. Neighbors and strangers may even come across my little story in my blog and if that’s how God wants to use my story then I’m willing to be an open book about what He is doing in my thoughts, my spirit and my body.  Maybe someone else who is just as regular as me will feel a connection and know that they aren’t alone in this . They
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