Hope Comes to Visit
Hope Comes to Visit is a soulful podcast that holds space for real stories, honest conversations, and the kind of moments that remind us we’re never alone.
Hosted by author, speaker, and former TV journalist-turned-storyteller Danielle Elliott Smith, the show explores the full spectrum of the human experience — from the tender to the triumphant. Through powerful interviews and reflective storytelling, each episode offers light, connection, and presence for anyone navigating the in-between.
Whether you’re grieving, growing, beginning again, or simply craving something real, Hope Comes to Visit will meet you right where you are — with warmth, grace, and the quiet belief that even in the dark, transformation can take root.
New episodes drop every Monday and Friday, so you can begin and end your week with a little light, reflection, and hope.
Hope Comes to Visit
One Day at a Time: Martha Sharkey on Hope, Loss, and Building “Today is a Good Day” - Episode 19
“Hope has to evolve and change.”
These powerful words shaped the extraordinary journey of Martha Sharkey, Founder & CEO of Today is a Good Day — a nonprofit creating a lifeline for families navigating the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
When Martha and her husband, Paul, welcomed identical twin daughters at just 23 weeks, their world turned upside down. Claire weighed barely over a pound. Mary, only slightly more. Two weeks later, they faced the devastating loss of Mary, while continuing to fight alongside Claire through 103 days in intensive care before she finally came home.
That experience revealed a critical gap in support for NICU families: emotional guidance, practical resources, and community connection during one of life’s most isolating challenges. Out of that gap, Today is a Good Day was born.
Over the past 11 years, the organization has grown from basement operations into partnerships with 24 hospitals across seven states. Through care packages, “Navigate the NICU” sessions, direct financial support, and a robust online community, Martha and her team provide what she once longed for: comfort, connection, and the reminder that families are not alone.
Martha’s story is one of resilience, loss, and transformation — but also of hope that shifts and adapts as life unfolds. Her family’s mantra of “one day at a time” offers profound wisdom not just for NICU parents, but for anyone facing uncertainty.
In this episode of Hope Comes to Visit, Martha reminds us that even in the darkest places, a small gesture — a journal, a milestone card, a bonding square — can carry the light forward.
You can lern more about Today is a Good Day right here.
You can also connect with Martha on LinkedIn.
Thank you for listening to Hope Comes to Visit. If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show — it helps others find their way to these conversations.
New episodes drop every Monday and Friday, so you can begin and end your week with a little light and a lot of hope.
For more stories, reflections, and ways to connect, visit www.DanielleElliottSmith.com or follow along on Instagram @daniellesmithtv and @HopeComestoVisit
And she said, martha, hope has to evolve and change. And that simple line brought tears to my eyes because I thought so much about our experience with our son William, when he was diagnosed with trisomy 18 at 14 weeks gestation. There was there. You don't know what the future holds for you.
Speaker 2:Hi there, I'm Danielle Elliott Smith, and this is Hope Comes to Visit. This podcast was born from the belief that even in the darkest times, light can find its way through. I'm really excited you're here to join us today. Wherever you are, I certainly hope that this episode meets you where you are. My guest today has made it her life's work to help people find their way through in difficult times.
Speaker 2:Martha Sharkey is the founder and CEO of Today is a Good Day, a nonprofit providing personal and financial support for families who experience the neonatal intensive care unit. Martha and her husband, paul, founded Today is a Good Day in honor of their daughter Claire and in memory of their daughter Mary. Following their extended stay in the neonatal intensive care unit, the Sharkees recognized a gap in care for parents and families navigating the NICU journey. They founded Today is a Good Day to fill that gap, to support families. Martha is passionate about helping communities and people grow and persevere, especially during challenging times. She has led the effort to advance the mission of Today is a Good Day, expanding its reach to 24 hospitals and organizational partners in seven states over the past 11 years.
Speaker 2:Let's take a quick moment to thank the people that support and sponsor the podcast. When life takes an unexpected turn, you deserve someone who will stand beside you. St Louis attorney Chris Dulley offers experienced one-on-one legal defense. Call 314-384-4000 or 314-DUI-HELP, or you can visit Dullelawfirmcom that's D-U-L-L-E-Lawfirmcom for a free consultation. Martha, thank you so much for being here with me.
Speaker 1:Oh, thanks for having me join you as a guest. It's great to be here.
Speaker 2:It is. I was reading more about your story and it's you are the reason that I am doing stories like this. People who have somehow taken an extremely difficult time in their life and said I want to show people that there is a way through, and even more so in your situation. You are not just saying it's possible to make it through, but you're holding out your hand and saying I'm going to help you do it, because when I was going through it, there were missing pieces and I want to. I want to make this journey easier, for you.
Speaker 1:That's why we found it today is a good day. Try and help others going through it.
Speaker 2:I would love, if I would love our listeners to hear a little bit about your story. So if you wouldn't mind sharing a little bit about you and Paul and and Mary and Claire sharing a little bit about you and Paul and Mary and Claire and how this started.
Speaker 1:Sure Well, thanks again for having me. We found out. My husband and I are proud Penn Staters. We went to Penn State, met there, got married at Penn State and after we had gotten married a few years later, found out we were expecting identical twin girls. Very exciting for our family, as you can imagine.
Speaker 2:And we thought.
Speaker 1:You know, like so many get pregnant, you have a baby, you start a family. Not how our story went, but our daughters were due March 8th of 2011. And I'll never forget the day, november 9th of 2010. Something didn't feel right. I was at work, I went in, I was put into bed rest with big hopes to make it for several more months, since our daughters were not due until March. They arrived just five days later, at 23 weeks and five days, claire weighed one pound two ounces and Mary weighed one pound four ounces, and we were thrown into the NICU not knowing anything about it.
Speaker 2:Had they had the doctors, prepared you at all for the potential that the girls might come even slightly early? Was that even on your radar?
Speaker 1:It was on our radar that they could come early, but in our minds we thought we were in control of the situation. We're like OK, we're doing all the things we're supposed to do. We have several more months. We're going to be in this hospital room for Thanksgiving. The holidays kick off the new year.
Speaker 1:That is not how our story went and we really didn't have any family members or friends who had experienced the neonatal intensive care unit, and especially with babies born so prematurely, as our daughters were before six months gestational age. It was a really scary time for us, and when the girls were born, claire was actually our weaker twin. When the girls were born, mary was a little bit stronger and then, two weeks into our journey, unfortunately, mary lost her fight the Sunday after Thanksgiving and, as we said goodbye to her that Sunday, we went back to Claire, who was continuing to fight, by to her. That Sunday we went back to Claire who was continuing to fight. She had dropped below a pound, she was very sick and we we I still remember my husband looking at me and he said we're going to leave here with two one or none, and we're going to be okay whichever path is chosen for us. And that was when the doctors had done their consult with us, actually before the girls were born, and so we weren't sure what our future held.
Speaker 2:That is a very heavy experience to go from we're expecting twins to bed rest to five days later you're in the NICU, not even having been familiar with the NICU. Been familiar with the NICU to losing one of your girls, to putting all of your attention on Claire and not knowing what to expect. How long was Claire in the NICU?
Speaker 1:Claire ended up spending 103 days in the NICU, and a story that I always remember. We worked really closely with the medical team members, the neonatologist and the rug had come for the girls' room along with both cribs. So my husband had gone home. He got one of the cribs out of the nursery. The rug was still rolled up and I said we're not going to put that rug out until we know that Claire is coming home, because we weren't sure. And I'll never forget the day that one of our dear friends, one of the neonatologists who took care of Claire and Mary, looked at Paul and me in the NICU and she said you can put the rug down, claire's going to come home. So she came home three and a half months after being in the NICU.
Speaker 2:Oh, martha, my heart. It's funny. As soon as you said that about the rug, I thought you're going to tell me that you got to put the rug down. Yes, and it's those. Those are core memories, right? You have those moments where you're just like this was the moment that I knew we actually were going to get to take her home. Is there an average stay in the NICU for children, for families going in and out of there? I, I'm not familiar.
Speaker 1:No, there's really not an average day. Everybody's story is so unique and their journey is all different. And there are babies like Claire and Mary who are in the NICU, to full-term babies who had complications at birth or are medically complex, who spend time in the NICU, and every journey is different. One of the phrases that families who may spend a week or a couple of days in the NICU and every journey is different I you know one of the phrases that families who may not, who may spend a week or a couple of days in the NICU. They say, oh, we were only in the NICU for seven days and our rule at today is a good day is to never say only so. It doesn't matter how long that you're in the NICU. It's not a place that you expect to be or want to be. The medical team members are incredible, but it's a scary time. It's a experience that's filled with ups and downs, a roller coaster ride.
Speaker 2:So at what point do you and Paul say, okay, there is a way that we want to show other families a little bit of light while they're going through this experience. We had no idea what to expect. There is a way that maybe we can make this terrifying journey a little bit softer.
Speaker 1:I think that's a great question. I think it relates to all of the difficult times that many of us can go through and for Paul and me, we looked back at those positive moments. So we live by the motto one day at a time. In fact, in our care packages we give one day at a time bracelets out to families as a reminder and that one day, one hour, one minute at a time and the name of our organization, today is a good day. We always tried to celebrate the good moments and the good days that we had with Mary at the beginning or with Claire during her extended stay in the NICU. But I think for all of us we look at those difficult times and experiences that we have. Are there pivotal moments that really stick out to us? And for us being in the NICU, there were several moments that stuck out to us that were so important that helped us to launch. Today is a good day.
Speaker 1:We met a former 23 weeker. He's now heading off to college. I was just texting with his mother this week. Wow, he came in with his mom one week after Claire and Mary were born. The nurses said you and Paul need to go meet Sam week after Claire and Mary were born, the nurses said you and Paul need to go meet Sam. He is a 23 weeker.
Speaker 1:We went back there. He was playing on his mom's iPhone. He gave us so much hope and inspiration. We left that pizza lunch and we said, okay, Sam, successful, Claire can be successful. That was actually before Mary had passed away and Sam, that little bit of inspiration, inspired us down the road to start taking Claire back to meet with families. When she was 18 months old we met another family who had twins and we started going to dinner with them. So it really helped us to say, hey, parents going through the NICU, caregivers make connections with others who are going through this journey. Meet them, talk to them, build those lifelong friendships. I was just texting with her today. So there are those pivotal moments.
Speaker 2:I love that. I love the way that you've created this community chain of inspiration, of hope of. I learned a long time ago that hope is so powerful for us when we're going through experiences. Having that taken away is painful, right when someone just rips that out from underneath you, it can be very damaging to your psyche when you're going through something. And it is equally and opposite powerful when someone provides it for you, when someone comes in and says look, look, what can be hang in there, and that feels as though that is what you are providing on so many levels for so many families. So how did it start? What did you guys do first?
Speaker 1:We started taking Claire back and meeting with families. We would host pizza lunches. And then my best friend from Penn State called me and said I started your fundraiser page to raise the money for your 501c3. I'm tired of hearing you talk about it, so let's get this thing going. And the three of us got it started.
Speaker 1:My best friend, paul and myself. We just kind of worked together. She helped to help us raise the money to apply. My brother-in-law's an attorney, so we were able to do all the paperwork and everything we needed to do. And then my grandmother, who was my favorite person another, martha. She passed away in July of 2014.
Speaker 1:We received our official 501c3 status in May of 2014. So we just celebrated 11 years. But in July, my nan passed away and our family said, in lieu of flowers, please donate to a newly formed foundation. And we raised our first $3,000 to help purchase care packages. Wow, a tribute to my grandmother.
Speaker 1:And we have taken off since then. So we ran the organization on the side for a couple of years. My husband has a separate full-time position, as did I. We ran it on the side and then, at the end of 2017, we had a real heart to heart about the future of Today is a Good Day and how much it was growing and how we really couldn't continue to manage it out of our basement, and so I made the big leap of faith to step down from my full-time role to focus fully on advancing the mission of Today is a Good Day, and we now have 24 hospital and organizational partners, an incredible team of eight with many NICU family advocates working bedside with families and program coordinator and just really trying to be out there to help make a difference for NICU families going through this journey.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. What's in a care package?
Speaker 1:Oh, great question. So they have evolved over the years, but they started with one day at a time, bracelets, a journal. We journaled every day and the today is a good day I started to share earlier. But we obviously had a lot of difficult moments and difficult days early on and so anytime the doctors and nurses would say today is a good day for Claire or today is a good day for Mary in their daily reports, we always jotted that down in our journal.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:So we have a journal Today. We have milestone cards so families can record their milestones and they're blank with a marker, so every milestone is different for every family. Okay, we have one day at a time bracelets, a copy of On the Night you Were Born, a custom swaddle from Kiki Pants. Resource cards, our podcast card. We have a NICU Today podcast for families. Virtual Navigate the NICU sessions, all different resources for families.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's amazing. So how have you grown into having additional hospital partners? Are they all in your area?
Speaker 1:A majority of them are in our tri-state area. We're located right outside of Philadelphia is where our headquarters is located, but we work primarily in this Philadelphia region into New Jersey and Delaware. We also have some partners in the Midwest and then a partner in South Carolina as well, so we've grown very organically through connections and meeting new people.
Speaker 2:So what are some of your favorite stories through this experience with? Today is a Good Day when you think about the hope that you are sprinkling in other homes, other families. I mean when you think about it growing organically right. You hoped that this would touch someone in a way that you needed when things were happening for you and now you're connecting with these other families. How is it impacting you?
Speaker 1:I think the biggest piece of this and what really just means so much, is to look at the community that's been built.
Speaker 1:When I look at where we are today, it is because of everyone who has joined the Today is a Good Day community. When I look at our NICU Miracle Parent Network on Facebook and the thousand family members who are a part of that, who communicate with one another and ask questions and ask for guidance and help from fellow NICU parents, when I look at our volunteers who come into this office and who are across the country who weave bonding squares, which are a part of our care package, to help with scent between the parent and the baby that they're little squares. One goes in the isolate, one goes on the parent's skin and then they swap them at night the entire Today is a Good Day community. It is humbling to see how many people have come together because they've experienced the NICU or they know someone who's experienced the NICU and they just want to help. So to me, it is the expansion of the mission and the whole community that has come together to help us to get where we are today. It's just really incredible.
Speaker 2:What's been the most surprising part of the journey for you.
Speaker 1:Oh goodness, Most surprising part of the journey, I think, seeing how big it's become. If you would have told me that 11 years ago, I'm not sure I would have gone, oh okay. Well, I'll be sitting here talking with you, Danielle, today.
Speaker 2:Today's a good day and having this conversation.
Speaker 1:I think that piece of it. I also think, just seeing how we've been able to expand our offerings, that our team is so open to saying, well, what more could we be doing?
Speaker 2:How can?
Speaker 1:we create a better experience for NICU families, which is where our podcast came from and where our virtual Navigate the NICU sessions came from, and our NICU dads group that my husband started during COVID and our Coffee and Conversations we started. And all these different programs that have just evolved over the past 11 years, which is notations we started. And all these different programs that have just evolved over the past 11 years, which is not where we started in 2014,. Right, right and also, I think what I'm really excited about, it's grown so much beyond our family story. I mean, claire is a teenager. She'll be 15 in November. Our family story has gone on, but to see how many babies and families are featured and how many people have been impacted by the mission and want to join in to help others.
Speaker 2:Where can people find out? Some asking this is a multi, usually I. I will end the podcast with where, like where can people find this? But I think this is an important piece, like where can people contribute to what you're doing? So that's a part of this, but also what can people do to support your mission?
Speaker 1:Well, listen, we can talk about it now and we can talk about it at the end. Okay, so we can go visit our website, which is today is a good day dot org, and on that website we have so many opportunities to get involved. Whether you're a NICU family and want to reach out and become a part of our NICU family community, we'd love to hear from you. We also have volunteer opportunities for corporations. We have at home volunteer opportunities for families. We also have individuals have at-home volunteer opportunities For families.
Speaker 1:We also have individuals who make bonding squares for us and we go through 9,000 to 10,000 of those a year because we put two in all of our care packages and then give hospital partners extra bonding squares for families. But we have volunteers across the country who weave, sew, crochet, knit our bonding squares for us and send them to the office. I remember one day, I think, we got four packages in from four different states, including Alaska, and that is just really incredible. So all of those opportunities are available at todayisagooddayorg. And then, if you're a NICU family going through the NICU, we have resources. We can send a care package. We have virtual programming weekly. We have programming emails that go out, so lots of opportunities to get involved.
Speaker 2:And is that available even if the program isn't currently in someone's hospital?
Speaker 1:Yes, they can reach out to us. We will send a care package upon request. We also have care packages available if family members are listening in and say, oh, I have a.
Speaker 2:She had boys that, and I don't know the exact but they were in the twenties they were when they were born. They were 20 weekers in that they were micro preemies and I know her story sounds quite similar to yours in that it was a complete surprise and they were in the NICU for a very, very, very long time. And I she's going to be one of the first people I call after I finished talking to you, because this, your mission, will be something that resonates so very deeply with her. But, living here in Missouri, is there an opportunity for someone like her, who was a NICU family 13 years ago, to help potentially start a chapter in local Missouri hospitals.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's a great question. We, we well. I hope you're going to connect me with her.
Speaker 2:I mean that's for sure. Yes, I absolutely will. Her name's Sandy. I love it, Hi Sandy. Can't wait to meet you. She can. I absolutely will Her name's Sandy. I love it, Hi Sandy, Can't wait to meet you.
Speaker 1:She can absolutely reach out. We have opportunities for care packages and ways for hospitals to get engaged with us in different ways.
Speaker 2:So absolutely, I love that. See, I just think that one of the things I've loved to do my entire life is connect people anyway, and so this just you know, the podcast just gives me another opportunity to do that Connect good people with other good people and people who are doing good and hard work. I just it's. Could you have ever imagined this version of you doing this type of work doing?
Speaker 1:this type of work. I have always been in the nonprofit sector Okay, my entire career, fundraising events. So the idea of working so in a way it's not a departure.
Speaker 1:No, I am a believer. I think we get put on paths in life that take us in certain directions. I think we get put on paths in life that take us in certain directions, and I also think our experiences can lead us in certain directions. I agree what I didn't share earlier, but we had our twins, and then we had a full-term daughter, martha Rose fifth Martha in the family. She's 10. And then we had a son who was diagnosed with trisomy 18 in 2018. And we learned that at 14 weeks when I was pregnant with him. I carried him until 34 weeks and he was with us just about an hour and a half before he passed away.
Speaker 1:Oh, martha, I'm sorry, thank you, but I think all of those life experiences for us have been poured back into the mission of today is a good day. So we are focused on the NICU experience, but we know that NICU families like ours also go through loss, and so making sure that we have child loss resources available or can help connect families that may have with organizations that may have child loss as a primary focus of their mission is really important to us. But I do think, just from a life experience, it's all how you approach it, and for us it was. This was our path that we got. We have these conversations with our daughters frequently, because it's very easy for us to say this isn't fair, why this happened to us Absolutely, but why didn't it happen to us? And so what can we do to try and help other people who are going through this journey and help them to have a better experience than we did going through it?
Speaker 2:I love that and I love that you're having these conversations with your daughters. It's so much of my life experience informs this podcast right, the grief and the loss and the I'm in recovery, so one day at a time has been a fundamental piece of my life. I'm just celebrated six years and it's oh, congrats.
Speaker 2:Thank you, and it's funny because I had heard the phrase one day at a time before choosing sobriety, and I had always heard one day at a time and, and you know sponsors, and, and they were all just phrases to me, and I can remember sitting in a meeting and hearing someone say I have to take it one day at a time because if I think about the never again it will drive me batshit crazy and I thought, oh, there's actually a meaning behind one day at a time. Oh, so my goal is I'm making it through today, I see, and it's. I'm making it through today, I see, and it's.
Speaker 2:It's amazing to me how one day at a time has popped up in so many aspects of my life, since it has truly resonated. And it really is beautiful in its simplicity. Right, because what you're talking to the families about, and the today is a good day. The beautiful simplicity of that is we're focusing on what we're doing right now squares and the, the scent and the, the love and the light and the, the peace that you're offering, is focusing on right here, right now. And what can we do to love on you and your family and your child and your children, and I'm I'm in awe of how you have you and Paul have taken and and your best friend as well, your best friend for saying yeah, I'm not going to let you guys just just let it be this, this thing you talk about we're going to do, is your best friend still involved?
Speaker 1:She is. She served on our board originally. She now is on one of our committees and it worked out great. You talk about people being in your life. She is a chief operating officer for a large nonprofit and she has helped with strategic planning and different aspects of the organization in such a meaningful way. And we were pregnant at the same time, so her firstborn and our daughter, claire, are best friends for life.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 1:And they are connected at the hip when they get to see each other. They don't live super close to us, but close enough. So she was at the hospital the day after Claire and Mary were born to be up here and be there. How does Claire tell this story? Oh, interesting, claire just had her first podcast interview the other week, so she's out there.
Speaker 1:Luckily she loves drama and theater, so she's all about the microphone and the stage.
Speaker 1:But she tells her story and we talk about it a lot because I think it can sometimes be heavy. It's heavy for her that she has a twin who's not here but we try to be as supportive as possible and that she and her sister, martha Rose, have lost two of their siblings. Right, how we talk about it, it's something we've had to handle with their teachers at school to say they may talk about it. Just want to prep you and let you know that we have four children. Two are here with us, two are keeping. Want to prep you and let you know that we have four children who are here with us, who are keep and watch from above, and the girls may say something about their siblings who aren't here. But we have always been very open about it in our family and in conversation, and I think Claire is as well and she shares her story. She was just here today volunteering this morning at the office. She was just here today volunteering this morning at the office, but she has really become this.
Speaker 2:just she's a walking, talking miracle child, but it sounds to me like you are raising girls who are compassionate and heart centered and who will know who they are and how to be good hearted people in the world.
Speaker 1:We hope so, danielle. It's the goal. Martha, I know it's the goal. Come on, as parents, we do the best we can right we?
Speaker 2:hope so, danielle. It's the goal.
Speaker 1:Martha, I know it's the goal but Come on, as parents, we do the best we can right. We hope, but that's what we hope for.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I mean, I certainly know that it's what we hope, but doing the good, heart-centered work that you're doing and raising girls who have had to go through some hard stuff, right, and you've been honest with them about it, you haven't hidden them from it. How have they handled that level of honesty from you?
Speaker 1:That's a great question. I should probably ask them more in depth how they've handled it, but I I think they've handled it fairly well. When we look at, they are still very blessed to have three of their grandparents, but I think the idea of loss and uh is something that we talk about really openly in our family. So when we would go to the cemetery together and actually my husband wrote a really wonderful blog post, a journal entry on our website, about munchkins with Mary and taking the girls to go have munchkins at the cemetery and how it kind of changed his perspective of how he talked about our family and what Claire shared with him that day. But I think they're doing okay with it.
Speaker 2:How do you define hope?
Speaker 1:Well, hope is something we talk about every single day. We talk about community and hope and that is a core part of our mission. Our mission is providing hope and building community, and what I love about the word hope and I have to paraphrase from a dear friend of mine she's a bereavement nurse at a local hospital here. She's become a very good friend over the past number of years, so she works with families on a daily basis who are experiencing experiencing child loss. I mean, she is just an incredible human being, angel, and I feel so grateful to know her. But I interviewed her for one of our podcast episodes and we had a real heart to heart. I oftentimes say if a guest makes me cry on the podcast and I'm interviewing them, it's a problem.
Speaker 2:No, it's actually a good thing, Because, I mean, I been, I've been made to cry too, but that means that means you're you're doing a hard work right, Because it means you're willing to be vulnerable with them.
Speaker 1:But she said something and I'll pass it along here. I'm going to kind of paraphrase a little bit, but this, this one line she said specifically and I think it's so important we started talking about hope and she said, martha, hope has to evolve and change. And that simple line brought tears to my eyes and I had her explain it a little bit more. And she talked and this is where I'm paraphrasing a bit, but she talked about when she works with a family and a baby's born that they hope the baby is going to survive and if it looks like the baby is not going to survive, they hope that they can give medicine and help the baby to get better. And if it ends up looking like the baby is not going to survive, they hope that the baby will go peacefully and be peaceful, right.
Speaker 1:And that, to me, just made me tear up because I thought so much about our experience with our son William when he was diagnosed with trisomy 18 at 14 weeks gestation.
Speaker 1:There was there you don't know what the future holds for you, right, and the hope of being able to. We knew he would pass away after he was born if he made it to live birth based upon his diagnosis and what it was looking like, the hope that we would have a little bit of time with him, and our hope throughout that pregnancy really evolved and changed, and, I think, hope for all of us. You know we were talking about the motto one day at a time. Look how that fits in. So many different scenarios right Illness, what you share, going through recovery, what I shared about going through the NICU and not trying to get ahead of ourselves of what our future would look like, if Claire would live or not, or what she would be able to do based upon her prognosis. All of those mantras certainly relate to all the different life experiences that we have, which I think is the same with hope, but hope has to evolve and change. It's just something that sticks with me all the time.
Speaker 2:It really is beautiful. I hadn't thought about it that way, but it's interesting because there was someone special in my life years ago who struggled with addiction and I. It's funny because I used to think about the word surrender at the time because he would relapse quite regularly and my initial hope during that was I hope he's OK, I hope he's okay, I hope he's okay. And then it evolved to I'm seeking, like I'm hoping, for the strength to handle whatever happens, because I have to let go of a piece of it.
Speaker 2:I can't control that anymore, but as you were talking, I was thinking about how my hope has evolved over time, so you're really going to have me ruminating on that.
Speaker 1:I know I just I it. It is such an important phrase and I think for her, in the role that she's had for so many years and all that she has seen and worked through with families by by their side, I mean just an incredible person. But that around hope has really stuck with me. That's beautiful.
Speaker 2:Tell me about your podcast.
Speaker 1:Oh well, it is the Nick you Today podcast, available on all podcast listening apps and on our website. We have podcast episode featured with families sharing their different experiences that they've had. We also have lifestyle experts who happen a lot of them to be connected to the NICU experience, whether they had it themselves or they had a close family member who went through it. We also interview NICU nurses, doctors, and it's a resource for families. A resource for families and again it goes back to a personal experience. But when we think about driving back and forth to the hospital being able to listen to a podcast, that might have given us a little bit of hope or a little bit of guidance and that's why we created the podcast. So we have over 80 episodes and, amazing, We've been doing this for a number of years now, but NICU today.
Speaker 2:I love it, and so do you also interview people who have had NICU experiences a long time ago? Yes, okay.
Speaker 1:So, oh, you're connecting me with your friend. We're on it.
Speaker 2:I'm connecting you with people Like how do I? Because I think her story is powerful in that I mean her boys are 13, but I know that it was a very formative experience in her life. So, yes, that we can talk about that later, but I would love for you to tell our listeners, everywhere they can find you and today is a good day, so that they can learn more and support everything that you're doing.
Speaker 1:I love it. Well, danielle, thank you for sharing a little bit about your story. Thank you for having me on your podcast today and listening about today is a good day and our family's journey. You can check out more about our mission and ways to get involved at todayisagooddayorg. You can also follow us on all of our social media channels at NickUtoday, on Instagram, on Facebook, and then our LinkedIn is TodayIsAGoodDay, so definitely check it out. We share a lot of wonderful, inspirational stories from different NICU families and would love for you to follow us.
Speaker 2:Oh, Martha, you have been an absolute delight and this has been hope and light and inspiration, and today is a good day. Thank you so much for being here with us today. I'm so incredibly grateful and thank you, friends, for joining us once again. It is always so good for my heart to hear this light and hope and inspiration and stories and I so hope that we met you where you are today and I hope that, because we did, you are turning around and sharing this episode with someone that you love and connecting to other people you know and making sure that the people you know and love are getting a chance to hear these episodes. Remember to subscribe and I hope that you will take good care of yourself until we connect again. Thank you so much for being here. I'm incredibly grateful to the people who support and sponsor the podcast.
Speaker 2:Sometimes, life takes a sharp turn and when it does, having someone steady in your corner can make all the difference. Chris Dully is a trusted St Louis attorney who personally guides his clients through criminal defense cases with clarity, compassion and experience. From traffic violations to serious charges, he shows up fully and directly. Call 314-384-4000 or 314-DUI-HELP or you can visit dullylawfirmcom for a free consultation.