June 2014 Our Hands Can! Community Stories

Our Hands Can! Community Stories June 2014: Living Things

Show Us Your Hands! is launching an exciting new community program called the Picture Project. Every month, we ask people who live with inflammatory arthritis to take photos of their hands [involved in] doing something related to the month’s theme and post them on our Facebook page. The inaugural monthly Picture Project was this June on the theme of Living Things.

To celebrate this new program, we asked the Show Us Your Hands! Advisory Council to choose their favorite among the submissions. The winner will receive a signed copy of Your Life with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Tools for Managing Treatment, Side Effects and Pain by Lene Andersen, our Director of Community Outreach. We received a wonderful variety of submissions, some of which have been chosen to be included in this month’s Our Hands Can! Community Stories. Read on to the end of the post where we announce the winner.

And now we’d like like you to meet a few of the wonderful submissions on the theme of what your hands can do with Living Things.

Emily Fowler Eller gave us our very own “Daily Squee” when she submitted this photo of her hand holding one of her newborn English Angora rabbits. Around our international offices, there was a collective awwww. Ellen says that her bunnies are “sweet friends and produce wool which I spin into yarn and knit.”

Robyn Crocome shared a photo from her garden. She said “I am so thankful that I can still feed the winter garden birds under the glorious tree dahlia” We were thankful for her thoughtful perspective on gratitude and giving back to other living things.

Greida Quintero submitted this powerful photo of her hand with a stethoscope. She said that “today I can do my work to take care of my patients.” Thanks for the wonderful work you do, Greida. It’s good to know that there are people like you who have inflammatory arthritis and work in the healthcare system.

Angelica Jacobs shared a beautiful moment with her faithful companion. Angelica shared how important her dog is to her, saying “when I'm not well, she sleeps on me. Follows me everywhere and talks to me (dog talk).” Those of us who have pets completely understand what you mean, Angelica!

Thank you to everyone who submitted photos in our June Picture Project! And now…. The winner!

Congratulations to Greida Quintero! We’ll be in touch to arrange sending the book to you.

Do you want to help us unite and inspire the inflammatory arthritis community? Join the Picture Project! Post a photo of what your hands can do on the Show Us Your Hands! Facebook page. July’s theme is Holiday Fun. All submissions qualify to win a copy of 7 Facets: A Meditation on Pain by Lene Andersen.

What can your hands do for Holiday/Vacation Fun?

*Thanks to the Advisory Group for choosing the winner!