Memorial Donations for Maryjane Blizzard Thurston

Maryjane Blizzard Thurston
Sept. 6, 1927 - Nov. 2, 2014

On Nov. 2, 2014, our founder's mother died after a long illness. Karen Thurston Chavez's mother was an avid, longtime supporter and contributor to Broken Hearts of Florida.

Karen's mother, Maryjane Blizzard Thurston, requested that donations be made in her memory to her daughter's organizations. Maryjane's obituary ran Nov. 5, 2014: Maryjane Blizzard Thurston Obituary.

Broken Hearts was near-and-dear to Maryjane's heart because her youngest grandson, William -- Karen's younger son -- was born with a congenital heart defect. A few months after his diagnosis in spring of 2005, Maryjane's daughter, Karen Thurston Chavez, founded BHF as a way to connect and help families affected by CHD. Throughout the years, Maryjane regularly and faithfully attended a variety of Broken Hearts of Florida events, including its regional forums and monthly family dinners.

We've established a giving page through JustGive.org to accept donations in Maryjane's memory.

Please visit Maryjane Thurston Memorial Donations to make your memorial contribution to Broken Hearts of Florida, a nonprofit organization that supports, educates and connects families affected by congenital heart disease.

Thank you for your thoughtfulness.

Does God give us more than we can handle? Read this and you decide.

This week has been a very hard week for several of our heart families, for my colleagues at work, for some local families in Tallahassee I've never met but have been praying for, for fellow heart moms I've never met in real life but love keeping up with through Facebook. 

Over the past several weeks, I've seen posts that say or allude to the saying that "God doesn't give us more than we can handle." And each time I see it, I think about this blog post by Jill Haskins, a fellow heart mom I've never met in real life, but love chatting and Facebooking with. 

Jill says that God does give us more than we can handle, and she explains why she believes that. Jill gave me the OK to share her blog post here ... thank you, Jill, for always sharing your heart, even when it's breaking. 

God DOES give us more than we can handle.