Messages of Love: Family, friends support Hook with driveway art

GRUNDY CENTER- Megan Hook’s journey with brain cancer began long before the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world almost overnight, and it’s made it more difficult for her to connect with friends and family as she transitions to home hospice care after trips across the country for treatment. But they’ve found creative to offer support, including a beautiful variety of driveway art showcasing their appreciation for a mother and friend who is beloved in the Grundy Center community.

It’s also been a great way to support Hook’s four children—Aiden, Addison, Alex and Aysen—who, like others around the world, have been out of school for nearly two months now.

“It’s really, really neat,” Hook’s mother Stacy Lyman said on Friday. “It is (difficult), but it’s also kind of given the children a chance to stay home with their mom when three of them would’ve been in school, in dance and in soccer. Even though it made the world stop, I think we were ready for a breath.”

Hook’s husband Brent and his brother have helped her get outside each night to be sure that she can see the artwork, and the sheer number of community members who have left a message has been heartening for her family, to say the least.

“I can’t imagine living in another community because there’s so much support, well wishes and ‘What can we do to help?’ that it’s just beyond words,” Lyman said. “There’s no description for that.”

On Friday afternoon alone, at least five friends shuffled in and out in the span of approximately a half hour, and the kids enjoyed the opportunity to connect with friends and teachers they hadn’t seen since classes were suspended. While the family isn’t asking for anything specific in the way of assistance, they’re thankful for all of the love they’ve already received.

“We’re kind of leaving it open. It’s whatever God puts in (people’s) hearts to do. We’re appreciative of anything,” Lyman said. “It’s wonderful to show the children that they will have a community to raise them, (but) they may not like it all the time. There are a lot of eyes on them. It really touches Megan that she gets to see how much support she has.”

And after a long, exhausting journey that led to North Carolina and back in the process of seeking treatments for Megan’s condition, she and her family are now prepared to put their faith in God and trust what he has in store for them.

“After a year and a half of trying to take the control from (God), we finally threw our hands up and said ‘You can do it,’” Lyman said. “It’s a cruel disease, but there’s good that comes from this. And we’re seeing it.”