Hello, my name is Meno Reiner and I’m glad you found your way to Just Love. My mission here is to provide compassion and support for individuals and families with chronic, complex illnesses, especially those that are mysterious, invisible, or not easily diagnosable. There are a lot of us folks out there, and while all our situations are unique, what we do have in common is that we just need some gosh darn love already! But also, equally important, is that there is no love without justice, and no justice without love.
I am blessed to share this beautiful and hard life with my husband Steve* and our two precious children, now 15 and nearly 13. Our daughter Ayla was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease before she could stand. Our son Jonah was debilitated from age 8 to 12 due to tick-borne infections and mold toxicity. My mother, Barb/Babs/Boppy, has Parkinson’s disease, dementia, severe scoliosis, skin cancer, and so much more. She is currently on hospice care…another blog idea. My sister Carli and I are her advocates. Carli is my amazing sister and my “gemini twin”…another blog idea. I myself, have had a go at several of my own health issues, although far less serious, so…another blog idea.
On so many occasions I have felt as though I’m carrying not just the weight of my family, but also the weight of the world. At the very same time, however, I know that I am unbelievably blessed and privileged in measures way beyond most people around the world.
We have been so fortunate to receive abundant love and care from our community and families, and we aim to reciprocate that care as much as we are able. Thankfully, my children are currently, relatively stable in their health, so I wanted to make something I hope can be useful for my community, which turned out to be a website I call Just Love. And clearly, I have a need to write, connect and share, so it feels like love to me too.
Love, Justice, and Compassion and are my personal highest values. I believe that most humans have been doing their best to survive, thrive and evolve. I recognize that this looks and has always looked very different for everyone. I aim to do well by others, be self-reflective, and to be a good steward of our mother earth and her creatures, while cultivating and sharing the peace and joy and safety that I have access to.
Living with chronic, complex illness is expensive and indiscriminate. Many folks are in great need of help. I intend to add links to scholarship programs, free resources, and peer-reviewed research related to living with chronic and complex illness and disease.
You’ll find my old blog, my new blog (coming soon), and eventually links to those of others that are relevant to the topic of chronic and complex illness, disease, and the like.
You’ll find a Facebook group for people living with chronic and complex, and/or mysterious illness, and for those who care for them, to gather, interact, ask questions, listen, learn, share stories, give and receive compassion. This is a place where anecdotes are allowed and valued, and the experience of living in the margins is expected and seen. This group is intended to uphold a standard of kindness, inclusivity, safety and compassion for all people who have this topic in common, which incredibly sensitive and world-wide. Hate or violence is not allowed nor tolerated.
For many years now, folks have been sent my way who are in the midst of health crises similar to one of the many I’ve fielded. My strength, and perhaps my purpose, is finding creative and customized ways to help people. We humans have common problems and also we are all unique. I believe everyone has as much to learn as we have to share.
I’m presenting this Just Love project with so many questions and space for inspiration and collaboration. Looking for name suggestions… Just Love, Consulting & Advocacy for chronic/complex/mysterious illness. Too long, right? I actually started with Just Love, Compassionate Consulting & Advocacy, but then it sounds like I could be a sex therapist, which I definitely am not. I’m open to friendly feedback!
just love
* Steve is my favorite human. We’ve been together for 25 years and this year we will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary! I mention him minimally out of respect for his private nature, but I hope to share more about him later in a blog post.