PAY IT FORWARD!!! JOIN ME!!! Thank you - Make a Wish Upon a Hero!

If you read my blog last week you may have noticed a tidal waves of emotions. I once again felt like I was being pulled in many different directions, and on top of that a bit of frustration because I also realized how far I've come in the last few years....but emotional exhaustion does take a toll, even on the strongest person.

Bill collectors, depleting bank account and my son's 11th birthday at the end of the month. All of it got to me. Thinking about Christmas and how I wasn't able to provide the boys with gifts like I wanted to - grateful remembering the community that filled those needs with Toys for Joy...but still that ache of frustration was in me.

Last week I blogged about that site I read about on a message board - Wish Upon A Hero - and after reading what they were all about, I swallowed that sometimes stubborn pride of mine, and made a wish on behalf of my son and his upcoming birthday....24 hours later, that wish was being granted.

When I read that notice on my computer screen, I cried for my son knowing that he would smile come the day he turns 11. ...

But I have to admit there was still a part of me that was frustrated that I was even in the situation where I needed to make such a wish.

Even with those mixed emotions, I couldn't ignore the fact that my spirit felt lighter...not so weighed down by worry. A feeling I want others to feel. A relief.

So I had this idea- bills are still mounting so maybe it's time to have a garage sale. I really do not have a lot, but maybe enough to cover a little something. Wish Upon a Hero and what they do kept playing over and over in my head....especially the gift we received. I thought about all those clothes my children no longer wear....a few toys that sit in my garage...and decided that those things could bring a smile to another child, and especially if their parent didn't have to pay for it. In a county where unemployment just reached 10.9 percent, I am sure there are many where a used tee shirt is a need.

I want to spread the smiles Wish Upon A Hero brought to me and will bring to my son....so this garage sale I am having will be in their spirit...a Pay it Forward sale where clothing, shoes and toys will be given away freely.

I shared my idea with others, and soon found out that they had items to be given away.....my yard will be filled clothing this weekend....

Then something hit me....wouldn't it be great if there was a Pay it Forward movement of garage and yard sales across the country this summer....wouldn't it uplift spirits that are down...help families out without them needing to ask...and provide that smile to a child. If anything maybe the depression of this sagging economy and rising unemployment could help bring communities together again...neighbor helping neighbor...no questions asked.

Maybe this is me being idealistic once again...I do tend to do that....

But I invite you to join me in honoring the spirit of Wish Upon a Hero...and pay it forward by having your own yard sale where items of need are given away freely. Call it a "Pay if Forward" sale....plant seeds of inspiration and giving while placing smiles on children's faces and helping to rebuild communities.

Care to join me?

Here is a link to the Wish Upon A Hero site where I posted my thank you, and told all there what their spirit of giving will do this weekend in my community....Pay it Forward-Wish Upon A Hero.

If you plan on having a Pay it Forward sale please let me know...I will post pictures from mine next week...and PLEASE HELP SPREAD THE WORD in Paying it Forward!

History Shrouded in Mold - Part 1

Sipping my morning coffee I sit on my bed looking out almost century old windows and into the backyards of my neighbors. This morning was no different. The sky is grey and there is a slight chill in the air, reminding me that outside that glass is another world filled with life and adventure, stories to tell and lessons to be learned...knowledge to be gained. In other words, hope. That sentiment brings back the emotions I felt as a little girl. Then, I sat on my bed looking out the massive Victorian era windows of the 3rd floor apartment we called home. It was in the mid 70s -Evanston, Illinois. I loved being able to see into the green of the trees that lined our street. Between the leaves and branches was another world playing out before my eyes. The birds, the squirrels and sometimes even a stray cat - they lived out a day in their life without ever knowing they had an audience taking in their story. I would spend a lot of time watching them and getting to know their personalit

A Pay it Forward Christmas...

The Christmas Clues came all month long.....a month filled with constant motion ..chaos...stress...and deep inside me the usual holiday dread. Those clues helped to divert my attention away from the emptiness that has been in me for the last few years.... Those memories of a large family coming together where I was the hostess for all the holiday feasts....the memories that usually remind me of the last few years and how much the boys and I have lost when domestic violence entered our home...and what destruction it left in it's wake. Yes, the clues had me looking forward to time that in the last three years or so I would wish I could close my eyes around mid-November and wake up on Jan 1st - yes, me...the one time overly merry hostess had turned bitter towards the holidays. This is the first year in a very long time that I have actually looked forward to Christmas.... That Secret Santa...and those elves....must have known that I was dreading another Christmas...another holiday in

Daniel A. Woolverton - A Rapist you will and SHOULD not forget

Daniel A. Woolverton The picture above is of a West Point graduate (Class of 1997) who went on to have a military career that most men at one time were little boys dreaming about as they played with their G.I. Joe's and Army Men. A sweet face, I am sure as a mother, his own mother worried about his safety every waking moment while he was enlisted. This is him - that same once good looking - waiting to to take on the world, young man. Life has taken a toll, that is obvious - at first glance you might think that the horrors his eyes seen as a former JAG officer eventually led him down the path of self medication and drug abuse. His soul appears to be lost behind those eyes - Truth is, after reading and taking what I have learned since receiving an email today to his story- He never had a soul - at least one with a conscience to begin with. The headline in the email asking to me to consider telling this story on this blog read: NEWS: Disbarred US Arm

Thankfully Chewed Up and Spat Back Out!

Search This Blog