Written by: Bailey Hemphill
Family Success Story The Gornells Clockwise from top: Danny, Nicole, Suzanne, Daniel, Anna
M
eet the Gornells—Danny and Suzanne, and their children Anna, Nicole, and Daniel of Millard! Danny and Suzanne are celebrating 17 years together, and the family also has a three-year-old golden retriever named Emma. The Gornells were always a close-knit family with personal and professional success, great health, and general well-being. They would often help the struggling friends and family around them; but they never truly understood firsthand the impact those challenges had on their friends and family. “We knew these kinds of trials were always possible, but we didn’t think that they were probable in our foreseeable future,” Danny and Suzanne agreed. Soon enough, challenges found them. In the winter of 2010, Danny’s father was diagnosed with a rare form of Stage IV lymphoma, battling the cancer for nine months before eventually passing away. The next year, Danny lost his job with little to no severance, except his accumulated vacation time. Suzanne had only been working part time in order to be more involved with the kids, so income became a huge concern. Danny was able to find a contract job within three weeks, but the contract ended much earlier than they expected. Around that time, Danny’s mom was diagnosed with colon cancer, which required tumor removal surgery and chemotherapy. Fortunately, Danny’s mom has done well with the first four treatments of her 12-treatment process. “We had no problems communicating our challenge to family members and friends,” says Danny. “We believe in being transparent with others about our circumstances. Suzanne and I feel
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that we have an opportunity to model a positive response to these obstacles for others to see.” Most of all, the Gornells thought it was important for their children to see how they dealt with the challenges because they know their kids will one day face equally difficult issues. The Gornells leaned heavily on their family, friends, and faith during these challenges, but all gave the necessary support and encouragement to keep them going. Even the children became more considerate and loving during their parents’ struggles, which Danny and Suzanne believe has made their family dynamic much stronger. “We overcame our problems by remaining resolute and facing them head on. We tried to focus on taking small, positive steps forward and tried not to look at these events together, as they would have been overwhelming to manage at the same time.” Although Danny’s mother is still facing her cancer treatments and the healing process that will follow, the Gornells try to follow that same approach to the challenge. They also remain aware that more problems could arise in the future, but they work to face those positively and assist others in similar circumstances. “We have replaced our sympathy with empathy and worked to eliminate any apathy that we had for the concerns of others. We pray harder, give more, and try to make ourselves available to the people around us who face struggles.” The Gornells feel their family is a success because they define the term in a very personal way. “Material success is of secondary concern to passing on a legacy of being able to positively influence others. We will have succeeded as a family if we SPECTRUM have made a difference in the relationships around us.”
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January 2012 familySPECTRUM •