A Legacy of
Restoring
Families
By Lisa Thompson-Dyson
Keeping families together was her mother’s passion.
Now it’s her mission.
M
y mother believed in the power of
family love.
My mother, Dr. Marjorie Velma
Thompson, believed that the
home should be the place where
children’s spirits were as free to grow and thrive as their physical
bodies. She believed that a secure, loving atmosphere was more
conducive to a child’s successful development than a large house
or bank account.
“I love children,” my mother would often say. “That’s why I
want their parents to have the skills to raise them well.”
And that’s what my mother did. My mother saved families. My
mother fought for families.
She was known by many in our small city of Kankakee, Illinois, just about an hour south of Chicago, as Ms. Thompson or
simply “Aunt Margie.”
When counseling couples, she would always advocate for the
family unit. She would recognize and acknowledge their issues,
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The Well Magazine Fall/Winter 2013
but would make it very clear that she represented the family’s
best interest.
One thing was for sure, she was authentic and genuine. People
knew she loved them. She could be stern, and she could come at
you with strong truth. But you could feel the love. She had a
way of putting things straight in such a nice way that it wasn’t
until you walked away that you realized your “attitude” had just
been sliced and diced with a smile.
A Passion for Family
In 1981 my mother started a monthly parenting support group
to support students missing or dropping out of their G.E.D.
program because of family issues such as child behavior problems, marital and relationship discord, homelessness and complications because of family members’ involvement in the legal
system, drugs and alcohol.