When I heard about 2-year old Kelli's sudden diagnosis with a fatal disease, it really tugged at my heart. As a parent myself, I cannot imagine the devastation and heart break of this kind of totally unexpected news. And it makes me think about other children & families I've known that have had similar devastating experiences/news. We have no idea the number of children and families that receive the terrible news of being diagnosed with a debilitating or fatal disease. But having known a handful myself in just the past 2 years - I can't imagine how many others there are.
For those that are reading this entry, I would like to ask you to please keep 2-year old Kelli, her family and medical staff in your daily prayers & thoughts. Kelli is the daughter of a friend of a friend of mine. Please see the email below & view this new website www.caring4kelli.com the was created for Kelli. And please pray for her!
Again, as a parent myself, I cannot imagine what this family must be going through. May thoughts & prayers from all around help support & see the family through this. THANK YOU.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
A Child's Gift of Giving
It's a proud moment when you see your child doing something to help another person...well, in this case...to help animals!
Tonight my daughter & her friend did their 2nd annual fundraiser to raise $$ for the SPCA...
It all started last November when we were playing with pipe cleaners, started making Christmas chains out of them, and the girls realized we could make them & sell them. Of course they wanted to sell them for the SPCA because they both LOVEEEEEE cats!! (Anyone that knows my daughter knows she's been a cat lover since kindergarten!!)...
So I contacted a local restaurant to see if we could set up a table there to sell the xmas chains...The awesome manager agreed..the girls made $46.00 dollars...
This year, they DOUBLED in sales...made $92.00 dollars in 2 hours time selling their dog/cat magnets, chocolate suckers, and ornaments...and the same supportive manager let us set up in his rest. again...too cool!
The girls worked hard & were so excited to make $$ for the animals...
Like last year, we'll go this week to the SPCA to give their donation & to of course visit the animals...(CATS MAINLY...lol)...
I'm so proud of her, and her gift of care & concern for animals, and people too. This Saturday, we'll do our annual bell ringing for the Salvation Army kettle at a local store. She & I love doing that & it's been a tradition for several years!
So, cheers to helping others!!! The gift that keeps on giving!!!!
If you read this...I ask that you Pay It Forward...do something today to help someone in need..or just a random act of kindness..it's the BEST feeling!!
Tonight my daughter & her friend did their 2nd annual fundraiser to raise $$ for the SPCA...
It all started last November when we were playing with pipe cleaners, started making Christmas chains out of them, and the girls realized we could make them & sell them. Of course they wanted to sell them for the SPCA because they both LOVEEEEEE cats!! (Anyone that knows my daughter knows she's been a cat lover since kindergarten!!)...
So I contacted a local restaurant to see if we could set up a table there to sell the xmas chains...The awesome manager agreed..the girls made $46.00 dollars...
This year, they DOUBLED in sales...made $92.00 dollars in 2 hours time selling their dog/cat magnets, chocolate suckers, and ornaments...and the same supportive manager let us set up in his rest. again...too cool!
The girls worked hard & were so excited to make $$ for the animals...
Like last year, we'll go this week to the SPCA to give their donation & to of course visit the animals...(CATS MAINLY...lol)...
I'm so proud of her, and her gift of care & concern for animals, and people too. This Saturday, we'll do our annual bell ringing for the Salvation Army kettle at a local store. She & I love doing that & it's been a tradition for several years!
So, cheers to helping others!!! The gift that keeps on giving!!!!
If you read this...I ask that you Pay It Forward...do something today to help someone in need..or just a random act of kindness..it's the BEST feeling!!
Monday, December 18, 2006
Special Chance Encounters
Did I say that I didn't know what I was going to write about in my blog...Well, well...No need to wonder that any longer...
Today I received a Christmas card from Fran from New Hartford, NY. And it brought me to tears...not only to hear from her, but what she said in her card, "The best train ride I ever had!!"
Because I didn't hear back from Fran last year when I wrote her, I thought something might have happened to her (health-related). You see, Fran is an elderly lady (in her 80's I believe) whom I met on a train about two years ago.
I attend a meeting in Albany one-two times a year for my job, and it was on one of these trips that I met Fran. It's kind of a cute story...
I was going from Buffalo to Albany when Fran got on the train at a stop close to Syracuse. I had a brief conversation with her because I heard her tell the woman she was sitting next to that she was going to Albany for a friend's funeral. As it turned out, I ended up speaking to both Fran and the woman she was sitting with. I don't remember that woman's name, but I do remember that she was a school principal who was going to Albany to see a specialist. She was getting a second opinion on a diagnosis she had gotten from another doctor (cancer I think). I hope she got better news & that she's well! I really do!
Back to Fran...as it turned out, Fran was staying in the same hotel/conference center where I was staying. So Fran & I shared a cab to the hotel. The woman Fran was sitting with, did not want Fran to travel alone from the train station to the hotel. She was so happy to see that I was going to the same place & that I could share a cab with Fran. I assured her that Fran would get there safely.
And as it turns out, Fran and I happened to be going back home the same day also, so we caught a cab back to the train station together a few days later. We sat together on the train until we came to Fran's stop (I believe now that it was the Utica stop).
What wonderful conversation we had! Fran & I told one another about our famlies, our jobs, our lives. Job? yes, at Fran's elderly age, she was STILL working part-time! She was an amazing woman! I wish I could remember everything we spoke about, unfortunately I have a terrible short term memory, so many of the details of our conversation have slipped my mind. But I'll never forget meeting Fran, and realizing how amazing she was, and I know our conversation was special. And best of all, we exchanged addresses. We hugged goodbye & promised to keep in touch.
It's not often that you exchange addresses with someone you sat next to on a train (or in an airport - that's another blog story)...but we both wished to keep in touch. Fran had even invited my daughter and I to come visit her sometime.
After that, Fran & I did write one another a few times. So when Fran didn't write back after the last card I sent her (last Christmas I believe), I had worried & feared the worse.
So needless to say, when I opened the mail today, many emotions ran through me. I can't wait to write back to her. I will offer to take my daughter to visit her. I want my daughter to meet this amazing & special lady. It's not often that you meet someone that really touches your heart, and it's not often that you make a new lasting friend this way...even if it is only through occassional correspondence after that.
And now I have something to write about in my blog....because Fran is an example of actually quite a few special chance acquantances that I've had the blessing of coming into my life.
And the timing of this is inpectable...there are things to write about...there are things to think about & be thankful for...and I plan on using this opportunity (blogging) to do just that. I can't wait to blog again!! :)
Today I received a Christmas card from Fran from New Hartford, NY. And it brought me to tears...not only to hear from her, but what she said in her card, "The best train ride I ever had!!"
Because I didn't hear back from Fran last year when I wrote her, I thought something might have happened to her (health-related). You see, Fran is an elderly lady (in her 80's I believe) whom I met on a train about two years ago.
I attend a meeting in Albany one-two times a year for my job, and it was on one of these trips that I met Fran. It's kind of a cute story...
I was going from Buffalo to Albany when Fran got on the train at a stop close to Syracuse. I had a brief conversation with her because I heard her tell the woman she was sitting next to that she was going to Albany for a friend's funeral. As it turned out, I ended up speaking to both Fran and the woman she was sitting with. I don't remember that woman's name, but I do remember that she was a school principal who was going to Albany to see a specialist. She was getting a second opinion on a diagnosis she had gotten from another doctor (cancer I think). I hope she got better news & that she's well! I really do!
Back to Fran...as it turned out, Fran was staying in the same hotel/conference center where I was staying. So Fran & I shared a cab to the hotel. The woman Fran was sitting with, did not want Fran to travel alone from the train station to the hotel. She was so happy to see that I was going to the same place & that I could share a cab with Fran. I assured her that Fran would get there safely.
And as it turns out, Fran and I happened to be going back home the same day also, so we caught a cab back to the train station together a few days later. We sat together on the train until we came to Fran's stop (I believe now that it was the Utica stop).
What wonderful conversation we had! Fran & I told one another about our famlies, our jobs, our lives. Job? yes, at Fran's elderly age, she was STILL working part-time! She was an amazing woman! I wish I could remember everything we spoke about, unfortunately I have a terrible short term memory, so many of the details of our conversation have slipped my mind. But I'll never forget meeting Fran, and realizing how amazing she was, and I know our conversation was special. And best of all, we exchanged addresses. We hugged goodbye & promised to keep in touch.
It's not often that you exchange addresses with someone you sat next to on a train (or in an airport - that's another blog story)...but we both wished to keep in touch. Fran had even invited my daughter and I to come visit her sometime.
After that, Fran & I did write one another a few times. So when Fran didn't write back after the last card I sent her (last Christmas I believe), I had worried & feared the worse.
So needless to say, when I opened the mail today, many emotions ran through me. I can't wait to write back to her. I will offer to take my daughter to visit her. I want my daughter to meet this amazing & special lady. It's not often that you meet someone that really touches your heart, and it's not often that you make a new lasting friend this way...even if it is only through occassional correspondence after that.
And now I have something to write about in my blog....because Fran is an example of actually quite a few special chance acquantances that I've had the blessing of coming into my life.
And the timing of this is inpectable...there are things to write about...there are things to think about & be thankful for...and I plan on using this opportunity (blogging) to do just that. I can't wait to blog again!! :)
Sunday, December 17, 2006
New to Blogging!
It's been a long time since I've had any "free time" to do something like this, so I thought what the heck! I've never been interested in just surfing the web, would rather put my energy into something more constructive like blogging! Although when I did search the web once, I found a baseball field named after our family name...way cool! Which bye the way, I intend to visit soon! So maybe there is good read on the web...maybe when I have the time...LOL
I'm not sure yet what I'll write about in my blog....the weather (which determines my mood often..LOL), what's happening in the field of counseling (which I'm currently studying in grad. school), the reality of parenthood, how excited I was when I went to Disney World for the first time last year, how I cannot hang a nail on the wall for the life of me without making a big whole or leaving my pictures to hang crooked, or the desire I have to sky dive when I'm TERRIFIED of heights....
But here goes....Till next time...
I'm not sure yet what I'll write about in my blog....the weather (which determines my mood often..LOL), what's happening in the field of counseling (which I'm currently studying in grad. school), the reality of parenthood, how excited I was when I went to Disney World for the first time last year, how I cannot hang a nail on the wall for the life of me without making a big whole or leaving my pictures to hang crooked, or the desire I have to sky dive when I'm TERRIFIED of heights....
But here goes....Till next time...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
