Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Parks' 4th birthday. Truthfully, we don't know Parks, his mom Jenn and his dad Keith that well. We have met them through close friends and see them a few times a year at birthday parties and get-togethers. They do live in the same neighborhood so sometimes we see them at the park or out walking. We were very touched however, when they invited us to join them today as they had asked all of their guests to make donations to either The Children's Hospital or directly to Mike and me for Unite for the Cure. Parks didn't seem fazed at all by the lack of presents. He was too busy jumping in the bouncer and throwing water balloons! Everyone had a great time on one of the last beautiful days of summer.

Thank you so much Keith and Jenn and most especially to Parks. What a big boy to give up presents on behalf of others! Here are a couple of pictures!

Calla and Maya about to climb into the bouncer.

There's Mike taking one for the team. He was soaked by the time the kids were finished with him! : )

Love to you all,

Kristen

Check them out!

Today I went down to pick up the t-shirts to raise money for Unite for the Cure and must say that I am quite impressed. Thank you so much to Eli and the amazing staff at Special T Shirt Company. They were so kind and helpful and tried to offer a discount wherever possible. They also posted the petition flyer in their staff room and many of them signed it. The following pictures aren't the greatest but I wanted everyone to kind of get an idea of what they look like.

I found a couple of cute models to show them off. They are actually quite big. Calla is wearing a 4T and Maya is wearing a 2T.

Here's my t-shirt...long sleeves for the long cold winter!

I now have the t-shirts ready to sell. I have already pulled out the ones that some of you ordered and I will make arrangements to get them to you soon. Thanks for all of your support.

Love to you all,

Kristen

Trash the Dress

On Sunday my friend Tanya Lynn and her friend Carrie Ekosky, both photographers got seven gorgeous women together in their wedding dresses for "Trash the Dress". They spent some time in the Exchange district and then some time down on Bird's Hill Beach. Please take the time to read Tanya's blog about this amazing day. http://www.tanyalynnphotography.blogspot.com The group raised over $1000.00 and all proceeds are being donated! Thank you Tanya. Thank you Carrie. And, thank you to all seven women that took part in this very special day. Georgie's eyes would have been almost as huge as her smile as she watched all of you let go of those pink balloons!

Love to you all,

Kristen

Inspired

I didn't really feel like writing tonight but I came online to check on the other families via their blogs and was inspired. I only write when I feel like it and lately I don't often feel like it...mostly because I don't have a lot of time to sit down and reflect. I checked on the Unite for the Cure site and another family included the following quote in their reasons for accepting the challenge:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead

Ahhh...

Remember my club? I believe that I said something about not underestimating our power. I asked you all to help us fight instead of watching helplessly from the sidelines and so many of you are stepping up. I also read the Daily Dakin about a little boy who continues to fight. His mother has decided that before she takes her last breath she will see this disease eradicated. I wrote back to her in agreement. I actually decided that quite some time ago. SMA will be eradicated and all of you will have been a part of that.

If you still have some doubts regarding the importance of the stem cell trials down in California then please spend some time reading some of the blogs I follow. So many families are still fighting with their little ones and they deserve a fighting chance. These children deserve to sit up, crawl, walk, eat, breathe and swallow on their own. These children deserve to not only celebrate their birthdays but blow out their own candles!

Our family total for Unite for the Cure stands at $1800.00 right now. That does not include the $400.00 that we made on the weekend. Thank you to all of you that have helped to make that happen. There are many more ideas being thrown around and put into action. I have no doubt that we will raise the $5000 nor that my club will raise the $100 000. Georgie would definitely approve of what we have done.

Love to you all,

Kristen

First Day

On Friday we walked Calla to school for her first day of kindergarten. She seemed quite nervous upon arriving but followed her teacher into the school without a fuss. When I picked her up a few hours later she came bouncing out talking non-stop about all of the things that she had done and asking when she could go back. Having Calla feel happy and secure has never seemed more important to us. We are so thrilled that she had a great first day!

Maya missed her big sister but seemed quite excited for Calla and can't wait to go to pre-school in another week.

There she goes!

Love to you all,

Kristen

The Garage Sale

Well. after lots of help from family and friends we joined our community today and had a garage sale. Thank you to all of you yet again that donated items, helped me get organized, showed up ready to buy or just to smile. Thank you especially to my mom who stood at the Unite for the Cure table for 7 hours telling complete strangers why it is so important. Even I don't have the energy for that!

In the end we raised $895.00 for pediatric palliative care in the city and $405.00 for Unite for the Cure. That's $1300.00! Not bad for a day's work. Thanks for the cinnamon buns mom, the chocolates Abby and Natalie and the ribbons Tanya.

Once again we find ourselves overwhelmed by your generosity and kindness. We continue to find our spirits uplifted by all of your support. I'm too tired to write more tonight. I plan on relaxing in front of the television with Mike and a glass of wine. Tomorrow I'll post about Calla's big day.

Love to you all,

Kristen

Housekeeping

I have been letting my entries slip the last couple weeks. My apologies but I have become quite busy. Mike and I have been getting things ready for Georgia's Journey of Hope, the garage sale, Unite for the Cure as well as balancing all of the everyday activites like work, grocery shopping and back to school. Firstly, I want to draw your attention to the right side of our blog where you will now find a link to the fundraiser website. It remains a work in progress and we would love to have any suggestions or feedback about making it better. I plan on spending some time on it after the garage sale.

The flyer announcing the fundraiser should be ready by the end of today. All volunteers will receive a copy via email but if anybody else would like one please contact me. I am still in need of a few volunteers to help with facepainting so if anyone is interested please let me know.

I also wanted to send a big thank you to a few people. Thank you to Carol and Colin Rogers for their generous donation to Unite for the Cure. Thank you to Abby and Natalie Rich for making chocolates to sell at the garage sale. Thank you to Tanya Francis who is working on awareness ribbons to be sold at the garage sale and the fundraiser. Thank you to all of you that have offered and dropped off stuff to be sold and to all of you that are coming at different times to help me get organized. I don't know what I would do without all of you.

Before signing off I just wanted to say to Sue, "The Outlander series is one of my favorite series ever written. I have read the first three books several times and I rarely read a book more than once. Did you know that there is a new book coming out on the 22nd? I won't be touching it until October 4th!" : )



Love to you all,

Kristen

PS Calla starts school tomorrow. Stay tuned for pictures!

Let the Light Shine

Since losing Georgia I have stopped dismissing every coincidence in my life as just that. Sure, I still believe in coincidences but I am often surprised by how the right person, the right book, the right situation etc. will just present itself when I need it most. The other day we received our monthly flyer from the local pizzeria and I was surprised to see that she had included the following passage:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

I have had many moments since April 21st where I would love to have hidden under the blankets and shrunk down until people stopped noticing me, but who am I to do that? There are still moments where I would love to just make myself invisible and sneak away unnoticed but I know that is not what I am meant to do. It is not who I am meant to be. I have been given a gift, many gifts actually but the one that I am referring to right now is the one that will have the greatest impact on the rest of my life.

Georgia's life and death has set my life's journey down a new path. A path that is filled with possibilities despite the many twists and turns along the way. It is up to me as her mother to help let her light shine. One of the ways that I do this is by reaching out to others to help me find ways of honouring her. October 3rd will be just one event in a continuous string of ideas and events that we will continue to remind people of the light that she brought with her. In doing so I have been liberated from fears and am learning to shine on my own.

I have no choice but to adopt this tactict you see because I will never just 'fit in' again. I am now the woman that lost the child. I am the woman that people recognize as 'the one that lost that baby'. I know that I am many other things to many people but I also understand how many people see me first. I will never just 'fit in' again. And so the question when one is left to stand alone is, "Do I shy away and try to make myself invisible or... do I rise up...face my fears head on...and let the light shine?"

Love to you all,

Kristen

The Meeting

Thank you to everyone who came to the meeting last night. I think that it went really well and am confident that Georgia's Journey of Hope will be a big success. Several of the volunteers took tickets to sell to family, friends and coworkers. If you would like some tickets to sell please let me know. Please note that you don't need to have a ticket to get in the door. You can just pay the $5.00 entrance fee as you arrive.

My ever so creative and generous friend Tanya(the one who made the bracelets) also came up with the brilliant idea to have awareness ribbons made up. They are hot pink and say,'unite for Georgia' on one end and 'cure SMA' on the other. Thank you yet again Tanya. I have shared this idea with the Strongs and am sure that it will be passed along to all of the uniters.

Another big thank you to Rita for her generous donation for "Unite for the Cure". I have managed to personally put $1700 down towards our goal. I will continue to update all of you.

Next weekend is the big garage sale. Several people have started dropping items off at our house. If you are interested in donating some of your stuff to Pediatric Palliative Care here in Winnpeg please let me know. The girls will be selling lollipops for Unite for the Cure! : )

Am I busy? You betcha! Am I happy? Alot of the time. I am energized, confident and most importantly hopeful! Thank you for helping me get here.

Love to you all,

Kristen

Escape

I have always been an avid reader, well at least from the age of 7. Ask me what I would take to a deserted island and books would be at the top of my list. I'll read almost anything as long as it has a strong story line and well developed characters. Since Georgia's death I have been unable to read the way I used to. Sure I can concentrate for a little while and read the lines but there hasn't been any stories that have grabbed my attention and made me want to read. In fact, there are several books that I have attempted to read since April 21st that lay unfinished in different spots around my house. They are a constant reminder of what I am no longer able to do.

While on holidays however I picked up a new book. It was actually on the couch at Mike's dad's house when I walked in. I had heard lots about it but it didn't sound interesting to me in the least. While I love love stories vampires aren't really my thing and why would I want to read something originally intended for teenagers anyway? So I read the first chapter... and then I read the second. I was surprised that it had piqued my interest. I decided to buy the book (the original was on its way back to Vancouver). I started reading it every night as I waited for the girls to fall asleep while we were away. All of a sudden I found myself thinking about the story at different times of the day and looking forward to 'bedtime'.

By the time that we were driving home I decided that I had better pick up the next book before I finished the first. This lead to a near panic attack as I ran down the aisles of Superstore in Medicine Hat on a Sunday night hoping that they had it. : ) I nearly broke out in a sweat when I had the third book in my hands but couldn't find the second. Eventually, I found it and nearly skipped back to Mike and the girls. After that I was hooked!

Why am I telling you all of this? Because I finally found an escape again. I am sure that psychologists would have a field day with a grieving mother finding escape in the ideas of immortality but I don't care. In the last two weeks I have found a way to totally and completely relax. When I am immersed in the world of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen I can shut out the rest of the world, at least for a little while. For those precious few minutes, sometimes hours the grief is gone.

I am sure that I could list several reasons as to why I love the story but here are just a couple. If you're a psychologist have fun!
Edward Cullen has become something that he never chose to become and certainly never wanted to become. Despite his circumstances he chooses to live a life that is full of love, compassion and empathy. This is a conscious choice on his part and something that he struggles with throughout the story. He and his family are loyal each other and will do whatever it takes to protect each other.
The heroine, Bella is portrayed as somewhat lost and often confused but again bases all of her decisions on selfless love. She refuses to be afraid even in the most dire circumstances. I like these ideas and in the end I loved the story.

The Twilight series was my first escape. I don't think that I'll have another one for quite a while. I don't even plan on picking up a book for at least a month! I am optimistic however that when the time is right I will find an escape yet again. Something that will allow me to feel refreshed and re-energized.

Love to you all,

Kristen

PS The movie sucks compared to the books!!