Tuesday, April 25, 2006

All is well

It has been an incredibly hectic and stressful week, but I am happy to report that all is well! First, and most importantly, my niece Mia is doing wonderfully well. She had MAJOR surgery where portions of her intestine were removed entirely and then her whole small intestine was "rerouted" and attached to her abdomen due to malrotation. She also had her appendix removed, the cyst removed, an umbilical hernia corrected, and a cyst from her head removed. More info is available by following the link to her care page on my previous blog entry. She was on all kinds of tubes and monitors and now sports a scar that goes horizontally across her abdomen from one side to the other over her belly button. BUT she is now out of the hospital and is doing remarkably well. She is a strong, brave little girl with strong, brave and loving parents. I am in awe of their composure and grace during such a trying time. I know it is all relative, but I crumbled at a little baby virus that Liam had! :) I am just so proud of Erin and her beautiful family. I know they had a lot of prayers and support and I am grateful for it all. God does not guide where He does not provide!

With that blessing, I also celebrate the success of my non-profit. Throughout the concern I was experiencing with Mia and the Morris clan, I still had an event that was a year in the making to tend to. The media coverage was amazing! I was on the local NBC morning news show 4 times, with 5 or 6 teasers - all shot live from my house Thursday morning. It was fun! The reporter was terrific and really helped me feel comfortable being interviewed. I have a huge respect for news folks now - they really have to think on their feet and be so articulate. They must be great conversationalists at cocktail parties! :) Anyway, the TV coverage was great and we got TONS of hits on our website as a result and already requests on how to donate merchandise are pouring in. Wonderful! We also had two newspaper articles about us last week.

The best part, though, was a successful event! Almost all the girls left the event with a dress of their dreams - complete with shoes, accessories, and even make up! One girl did not get one because she had her heart set on an orange dress and we did not have an orange dress. Another girl had a dress from us last year that she loved, but wanted some accessories. We had make up demonstrations and hairdressers giving complimentary prom updos at the event, so girls were trying on gowns with glamorous hair! It was so fun. The volunteer force was large and really skilled and the event went so smoothly! I loved seeing the smiles of the girls we helped - and also the smiles on the faces of the volunteers as they experienced the heart warming day. I will admit that it is a LOT of work and there are days when I question my sanity in taking this job on. The compensation is all in the faces of those girls, though. That is why I do this. Thank you to all my friends and family who have helped, listened, contributed, supported etc. Special thanks to my husband who has helped with the kids while I was hosting board meetings, carried dresses up and down from the basement, and been a shoulder to cry on and active listener as I vented. I am so lucky to be a part of this organization and to have the support in my life to make it possible.

There is lots to do with Ever After as we follow up this event and try to profit off the media coverage. I am looking forward to a busy and successful year ahead! But also looking forward to some down time after such a crazy week.

One of the best parts of things working out and having such positive news is that I got to share the success with my friend, Stacee. She is one of my best friends and lives in Boston (insert jealous face here :). She came for a visit this weekend, leaving her wonderful boyfriend and adorable dogs behind to help me out at the boutique event and spend the weekend with Nick and me and the kids! It was SO great to see her and it was such fun. God Bless her for putting up with toddler attitude and baby meltdowns in restaurants! Instead of typical activities that we USED to enjoy such as dancing at clubs and having cocktails in some cool urban lounge, Stacee jumped right into my life of dancing with Kate to the iPod tunes and sipping a glass of wine as we prepared chicken nuggets for Kate and prepped the backyard BBQ. Instead of old habits of ignoring the animals that are creepy guys on the club scene, we strolled with the kids to seek out animals at the Como Zoo! :) I must admit, I prefer marveling at the gorillas to the "euro guys" in their tight armani black tshirts that so often plagued boston in my days there! :) Life changes, but good friends roll with it and love you - thank you, Stace.

So - now it is back to "normalcy". Other adventures are on the horizon and I will greet them as they arrive. But for now I am loving Liam asleep, in his baby swing with Kate coloring in her Dora coloring book and singing a made-up song to herself. Sigh of contentment.

No comments: