Sunday, November 23, 2014

and that's a wrap (8:00 am)

Well, it's been a great 24 hours of blogging around the clock for The Compassionate Friends. Our fundraising total is officially in:

Thank you again to everyone who made this happen. I'll be sending out e-mails to all raffle prize winners over the next day or so!

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I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be.

Wylie Meadow Joly
5/23/2014

thank yous & wrapping it all up (7:30 am)

Thank you from the very bottom of my heart to you. All of you.

Every donor who generously donated. Everyone who sent me encouraging texts and Facebook messages. Everyone who sent me an e-mail to introduce yourself and your children. Every company and business who selflessly donated product to be raffled off during the Blogathon.

Thank you to The Compassionate Friends for doing what you do to comfort so many, to end the isolation, to provide support. Thank you for including parents of stillbirth, infant loss and miscarriage when society is so quick to turn us away. Thank you for caring. Thank you for making a difference.

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I wish everyone could have won something. With 60 donors this year, it was easily my biggest Blogathon yet. The support completely blew my mind. I wish every single person who donated could have walked away with a raffle prize. I am so appreciative for every single donor, for every dollar donated, for everyone who so generously made a donation to The Compassionate Friends through the Blogathon. You all have my sincere thanks and my gratitude. When I set my fundraising goal of $500, I never imagined I would wrap up the Blogathon at nearly $2,000 raised. I am grateful for all of you and want you to know how very appreciative that I am.

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Thank you to all of the sponsors who donated raffle prizes: Hello Apparel, Core Bamboo, Hydro Flask, The Printed Palette, Designs by Jessika, Stephanie Pederson's Origami Owl, Yogi Teas, Sweaty Bands, Planet Box, Sweet Bliss Sugar Scrubs Co., Ben and Jerry's, Bolder Band, The Leakey Collection, Ashley Seiden's 31, Arvo, Sarah's Scents and Songs and Keurig.

--- One more post to go and that's a wrap for this year. Thank you for your support and for allowing me to break the silence over something that needs to be talked about. Thank you for letting me remember my daughter and all of your children, too. Thank you for listening. Thank you for your support.

Just one more post to go.

the one with the keurig raffle (7am)

I met the Keurig PR people at a blogging event. That night, I received an e-mail CC'd to me and someone in Keurig management. Two days later, someone was knocking on my door with a Keurig K10 Mini Brewing System and a tray full of K-Cups to be raffled away during the Blogathon. Those folks at Keurig? They're good people.

Without further ado, congratulations to the winner of the Keurig mini brewing system and coffee...

#365, Lorin Rodman

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That's a wrap on our Blogathon raffles! I can hardly believe it. We had so many incredible prizes donated this year and I'm so grateful for all of our sponsors! I wish everyone could have won something (that's the mom in me -- I'm one of those "everyone gets a trophy for trying!" moms), but I know the world won a little something -- a little kindness and compassion, maybe -- through everyone's donation to The Compassionate Friends.

and everyone is waking up (6;30 am)

Well, my house is up.

Ethan had a bad dream somewhere around 5:30, before the sun came up. After trying unsuccessfully to get him back to sleep, we're all laid up on the couch watching The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh on Netflix. My bed is totally calling my name. Not too much longer to go now.

I guess the next post will be the Keurig raffle!

Oh, coffee. My very best friend.

sweaty bands raffle time (6:00 am)

From the Sweaty Bands website: "Fitness instructor Donna Browning needed a headband that could hold up to her grueling workouts and busy working mom lifestyle—so she made one. After loving her hand-sewn finished product, she realized her headbands had what it took to become a global business—so she made that happen too. Through late nights sewing in her basement, and weekends spent traveling to eCommerce seminars and fitness expos, Donna built a cult following for Sweaty Bands, and grew the business from a basement operation to the 30,000 square foot warehouse we operate out of today.

This spirit of female entrepreneurship has carried through our evolving brand, and remains the driving factor for what makes us great. We care about our products and our people, and strive to empower women everywhere through our female-led workforce and continued sourcing of domestic seamstresses for production. We are a fun, close-knit group, who believe in celebrating the journey, and who know that healthy bodies lead to healthy minds, and, ultimately, a healthy business."

I'm excited to raffle off one Sweaty Bands headband! I can't believe this is the 2nd to last raffle left!

Without further ado, congratulations to...

#205 Rhian Lockard

the best i can do. (5:30 am)

People love to ask me if I'm going to have another child. Some seem to think I can replace the one I lost. Others mean well, they just wonder if I'll ever consider it.

I don't know.

I lost Wylie and I also lost the dreams of the big family we will never actually have.

I don't know if I'll ever be lucky enough to bring home a third baby. I don't know when I will ever be brave enough to try.

That's another thing about grief: there are no rules, which I know I said earlier. There are no guidelines. There's just your gut, your broken heart and your fractured sense of self. That's what you get to rely on for direction.

I lost my daughter and I lost the dreams of kids and cousins and chaos that I wanted. Sometimes I believe that there is a third baby in my future. Sometimes I don't know if I'm brave enough to find out. Sometimes I don't want to know the answer.

The future looks different once you face a loss. I used to have mine all planned out but now, it's all day by day.

And that's the very best I can do.

three hours to go! (5:00 am)

Alright, I'm still going! Three more hours to go!
I thought I'd bravely post my 5 a.m. sleepy selfie. (So attractive, right?!) Three hours to go, two more raffles to go. We're at $1,965 raised for The Compassionate Friends!

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I'm a little tired and fuzzy and feeling totally incapable of saying anything profound, but I hope that this Blogathon brought some awareness. I hope that it helped someone feel strong enough to talk about their loss, or maybe it helped someone know how to be there for a grieving friend. I wanted to create awareness and I wanted to bring remembrance. I hope I was able to do a little bit of that.