While my daughter was moving forward in her therapy, I was moving forward in mine as well.

We are sharing the testimony of the mother of an adolescent who participated in the adolescent and young adult program in Saint-Malachie. Here, she writes a message of gratitude to Chantal, counsellor of our family support services.

“Hi Chantal,

I’m taking a moment tonight to write to you — a suspended moment between memory and gratitude.

I probably have a small grieving process to go through about no longer receiving the Tuesday night Zoom invitations… and Gisèle* gently reminds me that it’s time to let go.

But Tuesdays still bring me back to Portage.

Because it was on a Tuesday that our story began. May 3, 2022. A blurry, heavy day — but forever etched in my memory.

That day, I drove my child to the Portage centre in Saint-Malachie. My eldest, the one who taught me how to be a mother. I left her in your hands after she finally understood that she needed help. I entrusted her to you fragile, thin, pale, withdrawn, with so little confidence in herself… and over time, I watched her be reborn. I saw her emerge with that strength, that inner light, that I knew was hidden within her.

And while my daughter was progressing in her therapy, without even realizing it at first, her mother was progressing in hers as well.

Chantale (counsellor, Family Support Services), I have immense gratitude for you.

You never told me what I wanted to hear — you told me what I needed to hear. With honesty, with humanity, with your whole heart. Because of you, I became a new mother, a new woman… and even professionally, a transformed person. And that transformation did me a world of good.

Thank you for everything you give and everything you are. Thank you to the entire Portage team for what you have done for my daughter and my family.

Even if I’m no longer on the Zoom calls, know that I am never very far. Thank you for being there when everything felt like it was falling apart. Thank you for welcoming me, listening to me, and guiding me.

You are now part of those chapters that changed the course of my story.

Thank you for everything.”

- Isabelle, mother of an adolescent from the Saint-Malachie Centre, Family Support Group

Names have been changed to protect client confidentiality.

Photo : Lili Kovac