Career, chronic illness and family A journey of faith, hope and love

BY SUE SMITH-GRIER | photos contributed

When you have a job going through a major transition and you have an important role to play, and you have a preschooler to raise and you have a chronic illness to manage, life can get complicated and overwhelming.

Millions of American women are faced with such a dilemma but not all of them are as courageous and persevering as Ashley Moren. Her journey managing the different challenges life has placed before her is inspiring to those who are tempted to throw in the towel.

Life’s rough road

Most of us have some type of challenge we must face on a regular basis. For some it is financial, for some it can be interpersonal relationships and for others it may be health issues. For Ashley it is the latter. She is living with Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory illness that causes problems in the digestive system. For most patients, it affects the small intestine and the beginning of the large intestine. Some individuals are plagued with problems in the mouth as this disease can attack any part of your digestive tract. Unlike some autoimmune disorders, Crohn’s is different for everyone.

Crohn’s is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) This autoimmune illness attacks the gastrointestinal tract leading to abdominal pain, fever, diarrhea and bleeding from the rectum. About 70 percent of the time, the attack takes place in the bottom of the small intestine and top of the large intestine. About 30 percent of Crohn’s patients suffer from attacks only in the large intestine. This is known as Crohn’s colitis.

Doctors have yet to understand why there are so many differences between Crohn’s patients. Even people with the same type of disease can have widely varying symptoms. Treatment is different for each patient and the severity of the attack varies from person to person.

Faith

Having faith in oneself and finding inspiration to keep going even when the road gets rocky is imperative when living with a chronic illness. Ashley is one of the 1.6 million Americans living with Crohn’s disease. She was diagnosed with this autoimmune disease at the age of two. Fortunately, it was not too long after the doctor’s findings that she went into remission, thanks to medications available at the time. For years, she was able to live a normal life without the pain and inconvenience of Crohn’s.

Ashley Moren said her son, Ollie provides unconditional love as well as comic relief to life.

Ashley was determined to graduate from high school with hours of college level work under her belt. Taking college level courses during her junior and senior years in high school meant she could enter college with advanced standing. She worked hard to keep on track even when she came out of remission and her illness threatened to take over her life.

At 12 years old, Ashley stopped her medication and was fine until her freshman year of high school when she began to feel sick again. She masked her illness as long as she could but then came the day when she had to seek help. Her doctors told her stopping the medication when she was 12 had not been the best idea and she began treatment again. Ashley had been an exceptional student; however, her illness affected her life such that she was unable to complete the points necessary for graduating with honors. Though finishing high school was a bit of a challenge while dealing with the hardship of Crohn’s, she persevered and she managed to graduate and enter remission again.

Hope

After graduating from high school, Ashley looked forward to attending college where she planned on getting a degree in social work with a minor in psychology. She was also planning on getting her certificate in nonprofit management. She attended Bemidji State University remotely for her studies and was given an internship at WonderTrek in Brainerd as part of her curriculum.

After a month of internship at the Franklin Arts based children’s museum, she was offered a position as a playworker there. This meant playing with the little ones who came to visit the museum. As part of her responsibilities, she does research in the Play Lab watching how the little ones play with different materials. This research helps with the design and development of their offerings so that the children will have the best experience.

She has also been instrumental in helping with design and development as the children’s museum plans its new space in Baxter. “One of the best things about working with a startup organization is that everyone is invited into the development process,” she said. She brings a fresh and creative view to this endeavor.

Even so, a new flare up of Crohn’s has brought more challenges to Ashley as she manages life as a wife, a mother of a preschooler and working woman. Despite the problems her illness presents, she manages to press on. “Making sure I give prayer time and attention to each aspect of my life can be a challenge,” she said. Fortunately, the staff at WonderTrek understands and supports her as she wrestles with her illness and at the same time works to maintain her responsibilities as a team member.

Love

Working at WonderTrek has been exciting and stimulating for Ashley. Having a job you love can make a huge difference especially when your health has been compromised with a chronic illness. Having a spouse who is understanding and supportive is also essential. Her son Ollie provides unconditional love as well as comic relief to life, though he also has his little quirks.

Ashley has a great support system in her husband, Josh, and her grandmother, Shirley Johnson. Josh helps with making meals and Shirley is a great grannynanny when called upon to watch little Ollie when Ashley needs a babysitter.

In addition to the people in her life supporting her, Ashley also has a therapist to help with management of life. Loving yourself enough to know when you need help and seeking out that help is critical to living your best life. Chronic illnesses come with a boatload of other issues, such as anxiety, depression, fatigue, insurance issues, medical bills, and the list goes on. Getting help to manage and mitigate these issues is essential.

Ashley recommends therapy in general, but for those with chronic diseases, it is essential because of all the aspects of life that are affected by the illness. She also has found that it is helpful to seek friendships online with those who are going through the same thing. Her son was born during the pandemic which prevented her from joining young mother’s groups and visiting friends. As Josh was working, her days could get quite lonely but for social media and online friendships. “If you look in the right places you can find friends and community. You won’t feel so down anymore,” she said.

Having faith, hope and love in your life while managing a chronic illness and life in general, is essential to making the most of a challenging situation. Ashley’s words of advice? “Be honest with yourself. When you have no spoons to give today, right now is how I feel. It doesn’t mean I’ll feel this way tomorrow or ongoing. Do what you can and appreciate the small efforts. Take things one at a time.”

Susan J. Smith-Grier, mother, grandmother, writer, storyteller, blogger, and Reading Corps tutor of early elementary kids, enjoys the changing seasons of Minnesota lake country. She lives for those moments when the possibilities light up the eyes of her awesome school kids and delights in the power of words and story.

Hillary Stumpf Guest Systems and Training Manager

Hillary’s journey in the automotive business began in 2014 with the Mills Automotive Group, where she started in our Customer Care Center, assisting Guests with Service and Sales requests and questions. Over the years, Hillary’s commitment to enhancing Guest experiences and her ability to adapt and innovate have been key to her growth within the Company.

Today, Hillary proudly serves as the Guest Systems and Training Manager. In this role, she combines her deep understanding of Guest services with a passion for training and development, ensuring that the Mills Automotive Group continues to deliver exceptional service and maintains its reputation for excellence. Hillary has lived in the Brainerd Area

Reichert Vice President

Her Story

I started driving school bus the summer prior to my Freshman year at college in St. Cloud. I was able to get paid for my training during summer school and be an Aide on the Special Needs Bus to make money before I got my licensing.

Fast forward 25 years, and I’m the Vice President of our bus company looking to hire more drivers and pay them to train to get their license! We have a great hiring bonus, monthly attendance bonuses, as well as, Holiday and Year End Bonuses currently! We are 75 years locally owned and operated and definitely “Lakes Proud” as we all live here, work here and spend here!

If you’re looking for more than just a job, we’d love to have you join our Reichert Family! We are now training for the upcoming most of her life; when she is not working, she enjoys spending time with her nieces and family and watching football! school year and are always happy to hire existing drivers looking for a change as well! www.reichertbus.com/apply

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