The First Hello That Makes You Fe...
The First Hello That Makes You Feel Seen
TayTalks by Taymeyah Al-Toubah
E19
May 12, 2026
57:19
Episode notes

Support during pediatric cancer and blood disorders rarely looks like a grand gesture; it looks like someone quietly showing up. In this episode of TayTalks, Taymeyah sits down with Sharin Nelson, a longtime leader at a family support center in Tampa, to talk about 25 years of walking alongside families through diagnoses, holidays, and everything in between. Sharin shares how their team creates moments of normalcy, a Thanksgiving scarecrow party, gingerbread “jamborees,” chair massages for exhausted parents, while also running a holiday adoption program that now serves more than 150 families with gifts, grocery cards, and practical help at home.

They explore what has changed over the decades, from more kids being diagnosed and families pushed farther away by housing costs, to the way parents talk about the “C word” with their children. Shar ... 

Keywords
TayTalksPodcast
NonlinearPaths
TayTalks
Podcast
cancer survivor
cancer thriver
cancer
oncology
pediatric oncology
children's cancer center