23/12/2025
Two days before Christmas, I want to share something very close to my heart. 🤍
This week on This Is What I’m Here For, I sat down with Kate Markland .adventuresofgabriel for one of the most moving conversations I’ve ever recorded.
For 21 months, Kate has been allowed just one hour a week of contact with her son Gabriel, via FaceTime. One hour!
What she chose to do with that hour became a lifeline, and then something extraordinary.
Together, they told stories.
Those stories became The Adventures of Gabriel.
And those stories have now reached children around the world, giving them voice, confidence and hope.
They have also led to the creation of StoryQuest TM - a methodology that is helping hundreds of children worldwide to find their voices and tell their stories
Just days before we recorded, Kate and Gabriel unexpectedly bumped into each other and shared a long, warm hug. As she spoke about that moment, I felt my own heart crack open.
We somehow held ourselves together for the whole episode…
Until the very end.
When our voices finally broke, and we shared a hug of our own.
This episode is a reminder that love doesn’t diminish with separation.
That hope can wait patiently, as long as it takes.
And that sometimes the greatest gifts are the time we give and the space we create for each other.
🎧 The episode is live now. Link in bio and first comment
If this year has stretched you, challenged you, or asked a lot of you, I hope this story gives you hope. ✨
