Advocate Spotlight: Julie Gibson

Julie Gibson – Donor Mother

Donor Alliance volunteers and advocates are the heart and soul of our efforts to inspire and inform our community about the importance of registering as organ, eye and tissue donors in Colorado and Wyoming. Each of our volunteers and advocates has their own unique and inspiring story to tell. This month, we are featuring Julie Gibson, a Donor Mother.

What is your favorite memory volunteering for Donor Alliance? I’m pretty new at volunteering so don’t have many experiences to choose from. But I love walking in the parades and watching the kids, seeing their bright shining smiles always makes me happy.

What is your proudest accomplishment? Wow, that’s s tough one. I’ve been working with wood (re-using old pallets) and I made a entry table from just using a picture that I saw. My grandfather worked with wood all the time and I think he would have been proud of me for that accomplishment.

What song would you sing at karaoke night? I’d choose an oldie. Chantilly Lace, I used to sing that one to my kids all the time when they were toddlers and we would dance around while I sang.

What are some of your favorite hobbies? I have too many hobbies and too little time! I love to read, work with wood and lately I’ve been teaching myself to quilt.

If you could take an all-expenses paid vacation, where would you go? I would love to go to England, Ireland and Scotland. It’s on my bucket list of places to see. But it has to be when it’s warm I am not a fan of damp and cold.

What is the last book you read or movie you saw? Would you recommend it? The last book I finished was called The Lock Artist. It was our Book Club book for last month. It was an interesting read. I liked it but it wasn’t my favorite book. My favorite book of all time is Tending Roses by Lisa Wingate. That book I would definitely recommend.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? Another hard one! Probably the best was right after my son became a hero and I received a letter from LCNW (Life Center North West) and it stated that it’s “okay to have bad days”, just don’t let those days become your lifetime. I needed to hear that. I needed to know that bad days were supposed to be the norm for a while. I started telling myself, okay, have a bad day then tomorrow be better. Then I moved on to, okay have a bad hour but in the next hour be better. It sounds silly but I needed to know that I wasn’t failing in my grief. I needed to know that I was moving through the process and not stuck.