Joy
So we got up this morning after sleeping in — we went out to a gala last night and then out with friends while Beatrix was at a sleepover — and proceeded to re-wallpaper the bedroom. Because that's how we roll.
Fist, though, the gala. Julia and Wade Burgess are the nicest folks you would ever want to meet. When we first met them, they truly had it all. Gorgeous home, two beautiful daughters, cabin up north, jobs they loved. But you underestimate just how close you can always be, as Nora McInerney says, to something bad happening. And one day, just awhile after they put their daughter Vivienne to sleep (just days before her third birthday) — well, that night they went in to check on her a little later and she was dead. SUDC, a rare but incredibly painful cause of death that affects hundreds of children a year. I can't even imagine, honestly.
With more grace than I would ever muster, the Burgesses founded the Vivienne's Joy Foundation, and last night's gala was the first major event for them to raise funds for a new playground in her name at nearby Boyd Park (across from their home). Last night's gala (emceed by the inimitable and above-mentioned Nora MacInerney) was emotional and beautiful and heart-wrenching and raised over $150,000 for they playground. But there's a long way to go for this, and for the Foundation's other big dreams. I already believed in them, but after last night am a HUGE advocate — which means you should check out the website, sign up for the upcoming Fun Run and playground building volunteering and more.
So after that emotional night and wining down with friends at the Green Lantern afterwards, we slept in a little and then I woke up with a bee in my bonnet about removing the pathetic, hand-painted book page border I had put up in our bedroom that was well on it's way to peeling totally off. So before I had even finished a cup of coffee, I was stripping it off and replacing it; never mind that I had never wallpapered before. I got most of it done today too (in addition to running errands, going to a clothing exchange, picking things up, Beatrix's book club, and more.)
It's not surprising, really. What I was doing is making a little bit of home, shaping my environment in a world where things often can't be controlled. But it felt like what I needed to do today.
(watch out, tomorrow I'm thinking of getting a steam cleaner...)
Fist, though, the gala. Julia and Wade Burgess are the nicest folks you would ever want to meet. When we first met them, they truly had it all. Gorgeous home, two beautiful daughters, cabin up north, jobs they loved. But you underestimate just how close you can always be, as Nora McInerney says, to something bad happening. And one day, just awhile after they put their daughter Vivienne to sleep (just days before her third birthday) — well, that night they went in to check on her a little later and she was dead. SUDC, a rare but incredibly painful cause of death that affects hundreds of children a year. I can't even imagine, honestly.
With more grace than I would ever muster, the Burgesses founded the Vivienne's Joy Foundation, and last night's gala was the first major event for them to raise funds for a new playground in her name at nearby Boyd Park (across from their home). Last night's gala (emceed by the inimitable and above-mentioned Nora MacInerney) was emotional and beautiful and heart-wrenching and raised over $150,000 for they playground. But there's a long way to go for this, and for the Foundation's other big dreams. I already believed in them, but after last night am a HUGE advocate — which means you should check out the website, sign up for the upcoming Fun Run and playground building volunteering and more.
So after that emotional night and wining down with friends at the Green Lantern afterwards, we slept in a little and then I woke up with a bee in my bonnet about removing the pathetic, hand-painted book page border I had put up in our bedroom that was well on it's way to peeling totally off. So before I had even finished a cup of coffee, I was stripping it off and replacing it; never mind that I had never wallpapered before. I got most of it done today too (in addition to running errands, going to a clothing exchange, picking things up, Beatrix's book club, and more.)
It's not surprising, really. What I was doing is making a little bit of home, shaping my environment in a world where things often can't be controlled. But it felt like what I needed to do today.
(watch out, tomorrow I'm thinking of getting a steam cleaner...)
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