This past weekend, the kids and I held our Annual Lemonade Sale for Alzheimer's - it was also 5 months since Mike passed. The "anniversary" date made it that much more important to us, which is why we had a very rough start to the day. Tensions were very high as we considered canceling the sale. We had always been blessed with beautiful weather, but this year we woke up to the sound of thunder. The forecast was not good and I even called upon my very own personal meteorologist (nephew Steve) to see if he could give me anything optimistic. He couldn't. It called for a 30% chance of scattered thunderstorms all day. Added to the fact that it was 5 months since Mike passed, my sister and her crew came in from PA to help us. They never had the opportunity to experience one of our sales and we thought it would be fun for all of us. This combination was an even bigger reason why we wanted this day to be a success. We listed the start time as 11:00 a.m. Finally at 10:40 I made the call to "go for it". Courtney had baked all day on Friday and I knew if it wasn't that day, we wouldn't be able to have it this year. Despite reports that there were torrential rainstorms (with flooding) only one town over from us, we held our sale the entire day with only 15 mins of a slight mist. I am so pleased to report that we made $1,048.29 and counting.......... For the first 1/2 hour, no one bought anything, they just stopped and gave money. My sister was on the opposite corner from me and I looked at her and realized that neither one of us could hold back tears. It leaves me speechless that there are SO MANY poeple out there wanting to help. The entire day people would stop to donate and tell stories about their loved ones who had the disease or passed from it. Many people thanked US for doing what we did. I am absolutely positive that we had help from above that day - to keep the rain away from us so we could have a successful sale.
Each year after sale, I have a BBQ for Courtney and Brandon's friends who spend the day helping us raise the money we do. I had just finished cooking the burgers and dogs, their friends just got their food and just sat down to eat when the heavens finally opened up on us. After a mad dash into the house to finish eating and play some board games, all were fed and satisfied. The rain had stopped about an hour later and they all went back outside to enjoy the rest of the night. My children have a great bunch of friends.
The concern for having the lemonade sale last weekend stemmed from the fact that this weekend will be crazy as the kids and I will be packing for our 11 day trip to California! (The Saturday after we get home, I will be bringing Brandon back to school in CT). We are looking forward to this trip very much, but it is understandably bittersweet. I doubt we will ever be able to take a trip like this ever again, so we will be savoring every moment. Five days in Los Angeles (Disney, Cirque de Soleil, parasailing/zip lining, Walk of Fame etc) and then 5 days in San Fransisco (Alcatraz, Muir Woods, Hauted mansion, Ghiardelli Square etc). I haven't been saying "I can't wait" because I know in the blink of an eye it will all be over as well as the summer. I look forward to making happy memories with Courtney and Brandon. With Courtney graduating from college next year, I have no idea when I will have this time with them again.
1 comment:
Karen, We were glad that we could help & I know that Mike is very proud of what we accomplished that day.
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