Affirmation

There are days, believe it or not, that I wonder if what I do is worth it. Once I make and sell my pieces, I don't know where they go or what they do. Do they raise the awareness I crafted them to, or do they end up at the bottom of a jewelry box? I'm also missing the one person for whom I do my advocacy: my mother. It creates such a vastly open-ended endeavor. I very rarely get to see the fruits of my labor, so when I do it is incredibly rewarding and affirming.

I came home today to find a box on my front porch. My first thought was that my husband had been shopping on Amazon again. But, when I went to bring it inside, I saw that it was addressed to both of us, from a friend and her husband. Being the impatient person that I am, I had to open it immediately.

I got the tape cut apart, all the while trying to figure out what could be inside. They had just recently gotten married, so I wracked my brain to remember if we had forgotten something at the reception by accident. When I finally opened the box, I was even more confused. "I don't think these are our blankets" I thought to myself, still in the mindset of having left something behind at their wedding.

I pulled out the teal and purple blanket, to see if there was a note stuck inside or at the bottom of the box. It wasn't until I saw the embroidery--teal4mymom.blogspot.com--that the realization of what I had in my hands struck me. It was a return on my investment into ovarian cancer awareness. I'm not entirely certain why she made custom-designed throw blankets for us, but the weight of the gesture was intense. For her, it may have been just another embroidery on another blanket, but to me it means quite a bit more. It means what I do isn't all for naught. It means continuing my work IS worth it. It also means I'm never have to be cold at another 6:30 a.m. event again!

All pieces pictured on blog posts dated on or after June 23, 2012 are available for order. Every piece is hand-crafted and no two pieces are exactly the same. Custom orders are accepted. Prices are negotiable--50% of the proceeds is used to buy more beading materials and 50% is donated to an ovarian cancer organization. Email me at janinemkr@gmail.com for order requests! RIP Rita Ann 7/1/2001