Lovely Ladies!

This is a long over-due THANK YOU to the folks who helped organize and throw the Playdate for Abram Silent Art Auction, the amazing Leanne Kamberg (and crew!) who has a heart bigger than anyone I know (who dreamt up this awesome thing) and to all the folks at The Fremont who have been nothing but supportive throughout all my ventures!

To be honest, I literally hadn't gone into a public place to see my friends since the night I closed my business in March of 2012! After Abram was born things just never seemed to calm down or slow down and with no family in town to help.... we just don't get out much! I was having a major anxiety attack after being a recluse for that long!

However, immediately upon arriving I was greeted by friendly faces, huge hugs and tons of kind words. I felt better and uplifted and brave enough to walk inside and see what was happening. The minute I step in the door, I see Stella and she whispers in my ear that she'd already raised over $700 by allowing the patrons of The Fremont to take swipes at her head with the clippers for donations!!! This beautiful woman and kind individual literally met me at that very moment. She didn't know me or my son but she wanted to HELP and she went BALD for it! It was such a touching and endearing thing to do and I will NEVER ever forget her. 

It took me a good hour just to make it past the front of the venue and into the spot where the Silent Art Auction was happening and where Leanne was presiding.  I was overwhelmed by just how many amazing things people had donated! Old friends, strangers and even out-of-state people sent stuff in to help raise money for our son's medical expenses! All of it was amazing from original paintings (including Herman Munster) and sculptures to unique clothes, dishes, handmade dolls and beautiful handmade jewelry. I only made it half-way around the room before I was bawling and collapsed into Leanne's shoulder bawling as Jen Allen was singing. It was just so overwhelming.. having that feeling of that much love coming from so many people who care about what happens to my family and my son without even knowing me... it just took my breath away. I had to finally excuse myself and go outside to get a hold of myself!

On top of all of those great things, there were also bands who donated their time to entertain during the event and our good friend Andrew cooked up some amazing food and served it up all night long to all the hungry patrons to get even more donations for Abram! We are beyond lucky to have such kind friends in our lives!

To all the phenomenal people, artists, musicians, hand crafters and everyone else who came out to support us, THANK YOU SO MUCH! Abram's scrapbook will have a special section dedicated to that night and what our friends did for us! It was a great night and everyone involved should be proud! They raised over $2,700 that night and when Leanne came by to give us the last of the donations, she informed us that someone had bid on, won and gifted us a great handmade quilt! It turns out, it was the Mama of the woman who shaved her head for Abe! We are so grateful and lucky to know what true friendship and what COMMUNITY is truly about. So if you are reading this - that means YOU! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

To Leanne, Michelle, Dan, Andrew, Meagan Tron, Stephanie O, Brooke... thank you so much for making that happen! Love you guys.

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