Gold Lining Day

The Kelley Kids Foundation is a 501(c)(3) that focuses on helping pediatric cancer patients and their families by funding grants for pediatric cancer research, educating the public about issues related to childhood cancer, awarding scholarships to children with cancer and to their siblings, organizing bone marrow registration and blood drives, and celebrating inspirational individuals and organizations. It was founded in January of 2018 by Daniel Kelley and his family. The family created Gold Lining Day a few months later.

The Kelley family had had a difficult 2016 and 2017, so they decided that 2018 should be a year of celebrations where something positive could be made out of each day. They started celebrating daily holidays, from the common to the obscure, many of which they had found on Checkiday. After being inspired by the holidays they found on Checkiday, they decided to make their own holiday, Gold Lining Day, "a day for people to reflect on a difficult situation in their own life and make an effort to find the 'gold lining' by turning it into something positive!"

They chose September 28th as the date for Gold Lining Day because it was on that date in 2016 that the oldest Kelley daughter, Bridget, who was 7 at the time, was diagnosed with t-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Since Gold Lining Day is about finding ways to turn difficult situations into something positive, they thought it was the perfect date. As a family, they had worked together to look for silver linings when Bridget was facing challenges with her cancer, and it was these linings—like being supported by others, receiving kindness from hospital staff, having Bridget get through a medical procedure, and having each other to rely on—that helped pull them through. The Kelley family chose to call it Gold Lining Day instead of Silver Lining Day because gold is considered to be superior to silver, and because it happened that the holiday took place during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and gold is the color for childhood cancer awareness.

Gold Lining Day is not just for those facing cancer, but for those dealing with any hardship or adversity, such as the loss of a loved one, or even daily stressful situations. It is a day to look at those hardships in a different way and to make something positive come out of them. For example, if the hurt is on account of the loss of a loved one, the day can be used to keep their memory and legacy alive, and to honor them by doing something they would have appreciated. The Kelley family has said, "We wish Gold Lining Day could magically make the negative aspects of life go away, but until we figure out that formula, the best we can do is view a negative situation with a golden outlook."

How to Observe Gold Lining Day

Take part by reflecting on a difficult situation in your life and making an effort to find the "gold lining" in it and to turn it into something positive. You might reflect on something big, like the sickness of a loved one or yourself, the death of a loved one, the loss of a home to natural disaster, or the loss of a job, or you could reflect on something smaller in scale that still is difficult or stressful. After reflection, take action. This could look different depending on what your hardship is. But no matter what, make sure you are looking on the bright side!

The day could also be spent learning more about the Kelley Kids Foundation by checking out their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.

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