Community Day for Cadence

Last week was Community Day at Cadence's school. I had signed up to help out for 4 hours (!) and wasn't completely enthused about it. My work needed help and I contemplated bailing on volunteering to make a few extra bucks. Ironic, huh, that I was planning to bail on helping out the community ON Community Day! Anyway, I decided to go into work a little later and complete my chore at the school. Before I know it Cadence won't be

 begging me to come volunteer during her class anymore.

**cough, Sierra, cough**

 

I am so glad I did it! The amount of work and energy that was put into this by the teachers was amazing! The kids had 10 stations to go to and a bag of money to spend. They are learning about money denomination and spending habits. I was in awe at how orderly the whole event was considering the volume of 5-6 year olds involved (all of the kindergarten classes). There were a ton of parents to

help out. The kids' excitement and positive energy in the room left

me feeling all warm and fuzzy! I truly feel blessed that we

have found our way to such a great school and community!

 

 

Riding the bus

Stop at the Soda Shop

Everyone needs to do yoga during their busy day

Grocery shopping

I worked the shoe shine station which cost 10 cents. We showed them how to

do it, they handed over two nickels, and shined each others' shoes

 

 The kids absolutely LOVED shining the VP and teachers' shoes

They watched a "movie"

At the post office they wrote a letter to a friend

Reading at the book store

They got to take home the book that they bought

Live Alyssa Live

Yesterday was an emotional day.  Tears were shed for a lot of reasons.  We cried when the torrential rain and hail blew through and we thought we might be carried off by a tornado as well as the weather preventing people from showing up to the fundraiser.  We cried when we saw Alyssa and her family skyped in to the event because we were happy to see her but sad that they couldn't make it in person.  Then we cried because of the unfairness of it all... no 10-year-old should have to go through what she is going through.  Alyssa is fighting for her life everyday.  And then we cried because of the awesomeness of a community that can come together to support this family in so many ways.  And more tears when we saw the culmination of the event for this amazing family - over $13,000!

You see, many tears and many emotions.  We all hold our breath today as we wait for the Divers to find out news of Alyssa's scans.  I'm sure I'm not the only constantly checking caringbridge.org or facebook to see how it went.

The event went well and it all started with one person asking herself "What can I do to help?".  She talked to a few friends and then spread the word on facebook.  Yes, it took many people to put this together and many people contributed, but it started with one.  So if you feel that your idea or contribution is insignificant or that you can't "truly" make a difference, think again! Way to go, Megan!

The blood drive collected 29 units of blood (some of them doubles).  Each unit of blood can help 3 people.

Lots of love was shared!

A great band entertained

Photographers and their subjects taking cover from the rain

Joy in facepainting!

More joy!

Yep, three photographers lined up for mini-sessions.  All of the proceeds went to the Divers family

Even Santa came down to give blood

Skyping with Alyssa and her family

Yes!  Live Alyssa Live

Doing the right thing

A feeling of helplessness has invaded my life lately.  Distant issues, such as the vote on the same-sex marriage amendment in North Carolina, leave me feeling agitated and restless and acutely aware of social injustice. A complete feeling of helplessness to change the view of those who don't believe that all love is equal.   My work issues, disrespectful management and general negativity, leave me feeling frustrated and tired at a job that, otherwise, I truly love.  I do have control over how I behave and respond, but again, no ability to change others.  My friend's sweet daughter developing recurrent osteosarcoma leaves me feeling heartbroken and sad beyond measure.  I have no magic medicine to make it go away, only my prayers to send out for a miracle and the occasional casserole to ease the burden at their home. 

And then my own community's financial crisis that have left me feeling all of the above.  Our Board of Supervisors, our "public servants", pulled the rug out from under our schools and subsequently our children, when they decided not to pass the tax increase that they said they would institute.  The board left the schools to absorb a $1.4 million shortfall.  This would translate into cutting sports, field trips, extended education, increasing class sizes, not opening a brand new high school, pay cuts for the teachers, etc, etc.  The parents and concerned citizens of our community rallied together though.  We came together to protest before the Board of Supervisors meeting.  I felt that it was very important for my girls to be part of this process.  We have talked before about social injustices and what we could do about them, but now, more than ever, they needed to step up too.  When we sat down to make signs Laurel asked if other people would have signs too.  When I said "Probably" she immediately indicated that if no one else had signs she would not be carrying one.  Oh, what a great segway for a good talk!  Sometimes, when we are standing up for what we believe in, we need to go out of our comfort zone.  Fighting for the right thing, for what you believe in, may not help you win a popularity contest, but it is what you have to be prepared to do.  Any discomfort you may feel in the process will be repaid in either creating positive change or at least going to sleep at night knowing that you tried.  I hope Laurel and Sierra "got it", at least a little.  Laurel did agree that field trips and keeping awesome teachers at the school were good enough reasons to spend an hour working on her sign and then proudly carrying it at the protest.  In the end, the result was not what we parents and teachers had hoped for.  But at least we tried and will continue to try.  I feel a little less helpless when we are moving forward to facilitate change.  And I hope that my children will continue to watch, learn, and choose to take action when it's needed.

Ok, so they held the signs a little higher when the camera crew showed up!

Even Cadence got involved