Evening of Hope returns to Post Falls Library
DEVIN WEEKS | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 2 months AGO
Jim Morrison, a cancer survivor, is an advocate for others experiencing cancer. After a two-year hiatus, his Evening of Hope cancer support groups have returned to the Post Falls Library on the second Thursday of every month.
Press File
Devin Weeks is a third-generation North Idaho resident. She holds an associate degree in journalism from North Idaho College and a bachelor's in communication arts from Lewis-Clark State College Coeur d'Alene. Devin embarked on her journalism career at the Coeur d'Alene Press in 2013. She worked weekends for several years, covering a wide variety of events and issues throughout Kootenai County. Devin now mainly covers K-12 education and the city of Post Falls. She enjoys delivering daily chuckles through the Ghastly Groaner and loves highlighting local people in the Fast Five segment that runs in CoeurVoice. Devin lives in Post Falls with her husband and their three eccentric and very needy cats. | March 10, 2022 1:07 AM
POST FALLS — It's been 18 years since Jim Morrison heard the words, "You have cancer."
You wouldn't know it by looking at him today.
“Adversity has not stopped me in the past and it sure is not going to this time," Morrison said during a recent visit with The Press.
Through ups, downs, crybaby days and unknown outcomes, Morrison pulled through the 2% chance of surviving Stage 4 lung cancer to make it to his daughter's wedding and be alive and well when his family expanded with several happy, healthy grandbabies.
Morrison has not sat idle nor taken his blessings for granted. He has written books and created an army of "cancer warriors" locally and across the country to give people experiencing cancer the courage and support to get through their trying times.
His cancer group, Evening of Hope, has returned to the Post Falls Library to once again provide a space for cancer warriors to meet and defeat their illness.
He tells people to remember that "this is cancer. We need to be honest with each other."
"If you’re looking for a ‘Woe me, why God why me?’ this is not your group," Morrison said. "We are not victims in this group. We are victorious, adversity warriors. If you want to march and get in the trenches that we’re in fighting the war, honey, you’re welcome. But if you want to sit over there, ‘Why me?,’ this ain’t your group. That’s not who we are."
Evening of Hope provides encouragement and fellowship for cancer warriors and their families.
Evening of Hope formed in 2016, but was out of commission during COVID-19 restrictions.
“We’re too emotional" for Zoom and online meetings," Morrison said. "We’re fighting life and death. Some people, when they’re facing death, need a hug. Or they need to throw a chair. Or they need to cuss. Or they need something. We're built for relationships; we’re built for companionship."
Marie Shockley, circulation supervisor and adult programming specialist for the Post Falls Library, is excited to see the group return.
“So many of our members are affected by cancer in some way," Shockley said. "We are really happy to provide a space for them in their journey through that difficult time."
Evening of Hope meets the second Thursday of every month from 6 to 8 p.m. The next meeting is tonight.
The Post Falls Library is at 821 N. Spokane St.
MORE FRONT-PAGE-SLIDER STORIES
Evening of Hope welcomes patients, survivors, caregivers
Coeur d'Alene Press | Updated 3 months, 1 week ago
ARTICLES BY DEVIN WEEKS
Coeur d'Alene Garden Club grant supports Lake City High garden project
Coeur d'Alene Garden Club grant supports Lake City High garden project
Students in the outdoor studies program, Coeur d'Alene Garden Club members and some happy honeybees gathered in the Lake City High School xeriscape garden Monday afternoon as final touches were added. The students and garden club members have been working together the past several months to replant and revive the little garden that was first planted to the north of the school entrance about 13 years ago. “This is a huge project for me,” said junior Emily Zuetrong. “I want to be a firefighter, so I love being out in the environment and doing all these things and having this here."
Local company hosting contest through Aug. 1
Local company hosting contest through Aug. 1
A local company is inviting community members to nominate deserving seniors to receive a much-needed free home makeover. J.B. Painting Co. LLC is accepting submissions now through Aug. 1 to conduct a free house painting for one lucky senior citizen between Labor Day and Grandparents Day, Sept. 2-5. The winner will be selected and notified in August. "We run into so many elderly people who, first off, are not going to be climbing ladders to paint the eaves on their house and a lot of time they can’t afford it," Brenda Berry, who owns J.B. Painting Co. LLC with husband Jason Berry, said Monday.
At long last, first-time homeowners move into Post Falls' Britton neighborhood
At long last, first-time homeowners move into Britton neighborhood
Puffy white clouds rolled across the deep blue sky as that new home smell wafted on the breeze. The sun shined on the celebration unfolding on Britton Road in Post Falls. And just as happens on a lucky wedding day, the skies opened long enough to sprinkle rain and blessings on the first-time homeowners who received the keys to their brand-new homes. "We are standing in the middle of a first-in-the-nation solution to restore the American Dream of homeownership for our hard-working families whose wages have not and will not catch up to our escalating market rate prices for real estate," Panhandle Affordable Housing Alliance Executive Director Maggie Lyons said Thursday.