By Carol Radin<\/p>\n
Photo by Maureen Tricase\/Capture Your Moments Photography<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Looking back on the night that she met her husband, Maggie Bristol beams.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was like my knight in shining armor,\u201d she said. \u201cA southern gentleman \u2014 kind, friendly, outgoing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Maggie was teaching school nearby. They were married two years later. At the time, Maggie and Jeremy could not have known all the ways they both would change, and, even after hitting rock bottom, grow together and become stronger. Maggie\u2019s devotion to Jeremy sparked something more \u2014 an intense commitment to promoting support for veterans\u2019 with mental health problems and their caregivers.<\/p>\n
In recognition of her activism for military caregivers and her work with mental health issues, Maggie Bristol has been selected as New York State\u2019s representative for the Dole Caregivers\u2019 Fellowship. The Dole Caregivers\u2019 Fellowship is a national program started by Senator Elizabeth Dole to promote advocacy, legislative support and personal support to the \u201cHidden Heroes,\u201d the families of military veterans coping with physical and mental disabilities as a result of their service. As one of the 50 Dole Caregivers across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, Maggie will champion caregivers\u2019 needs at veteran events, local health fairs, conferences and political forums. Excited at the prospect, Maggie has already started initiating ideas she wants to implement, and the Elizabeth Dole Foundation will provide her with the necessary assistance and materials.<\/p>\n
A particular focus will be to strengthen the connection with another organization dear to her heart, the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI).<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very passionate about mental health,\u201d she said. \u201cThis coincides with my role as a board member for NAMI Syracuse and also aligns with my role as a Dole Fellow.\u201d Recently, she submitted a grant to do events for veterans through NAMI, as well as another grant to support veterans\u2019 attendance at the NAMI state conference in October.<\/p>\n
What was it that motivated Maggie to transform her own and Jeremy\u2019s private struggles to a public forum?<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be that person I needed five years ago,\u201d she said. \u201cI was very alone for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Maggie and Jeremy got married in 2011, \u201cit was perfect,\u201d Maggie said. \u201cWe had a cute little house. We had a cat. We had a lot of friends. We went to the beach, to concerts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet even then, there were signs that Jeremy was not coping well emotionally. He was enduring back problems from his Army days, but this was different.\u00a0 Seeking medical help, Jeremy and Maggie went to three different Veterans\u2019 Administration hospitals in 2013 alone. Then, after Christmas, Jeremy had a breakdown. In the hospital, something like a moment of truth arrived.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you ever thought of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?\u201d the nurse asked.\u00a0 Maggie recalls Jeremy\u2019s reaction vividly. \u201cHe looked at her. He looked at me. And then he looked down. And then I realized there was so much I didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
From then on, Maggie set out to know more about Jeremy\u2019s pain. Side by side, she and Jeremy took on the struggles they could now acknowledge. Along with that personal commitment, Maggie learned first-hand the importance of professional support.\u00a0Jeremy sought residential treatment for PTSD, and both of them undertook marriage counseling to learn how to deal with their challenges.\u00a0 As for family, Maggie said, \u201cMy parents are wonderful.\u201d To this day, they take Jeremy to appointments when Maggie can\u2019t, and they have him and their 2-year old son Jack over for dinner whenever Maggie works late.<\/p>\n
Jeremy also discovered Project Healing Waters, an organization that has been therapeutic for him, offering a kind of brotherhood of fellow fly fishers. He recently took first place in his region for fly-tying, and now owns his own business, Custom Rod and Angler Supply.<\/p>\n
Above all, Maggie and Jeremy now have Jack, their two-year son. He gives new meaning to their lives and, Maggie adds, inspires Jeremy \u201cto be a better person for our family and especially for Jack.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Maggie that the Dole Caregivers\u2019 Foundation chose is a devoted wife and mother, self-aware in new ways, she also maintains a professional career, softball coaching activities and community service. With a master\u2019s degree in reading education K-12 and a doctorate in educational leadership, Maggie is currently the literacy specialist at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Middle School. She is also the girls\u2019 varsity assistant softball coach for the Syracuse City School District.<\/p>\n
Adding Dole Fellow to her list of accomplishments is simply part of Maggie\u2019s fundamental operating principle.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re going to be part of something, you have to participate!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Maggie put that into practice in the political arena in April, when she spoke at a press conference with Sen. Chuck Schumer. The event was the culmination of meetings she and other caregivers held with both Sen. Schumer and Congressman John Katko, to make substantial improvements to the Veterans\u2019 Administration Caregivers Support Program.<\/p>\n
While Maggie keeps everyone else going, who keeps her going?<\/p>\n
\u201cHe does!\u201d she said, referring to Jeremy.<\/p>\n
When teaching Family-to-Family classes for NAMI, one of Maggie\u2019s favorite moments is when she can tell other caregivers, \u201cLots of people get to fall in love once. Not everyone gets to fall in love with the same person twice. But that\u2019s what I did!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Carol Radin Photo by Maureen Tricase\/Capture Your Moments Photography Looking back on the night that she met her husband, Maggie Bristol beams. \u201cHe was like my knight in shining armor,\u201d she said. \u201cA southern gentleman \u2014 kind, friendly, outgoing.\u201d Jeremy was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Maggie was teaching school nearby. They…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[896,895,157,894],"class_list":["post-2469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-dole-caregivers-fellow","tag-elizabeth-dole-foundation","tag-inspire","tag-maggie-bristol"],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/fullsizeoutput_1640.jpeg?fit=5503%2C3524&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2116,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2116","url_meta":{"origin":2469,"position":0},"title":"National Family Caregivers Month","author":"Staff","date":"November 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Families of David\u2019s Refuge It isn\u2019t possible to talk about self-care for family caregivers without talking about respite. 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