when my stepfather was sick in the hospital, we had time to visit with him, weeks, before he died. I flew 9 hrs from paris. i made beef stirfry for us to eat in the family room. we had a lobster dinner. we did crossword puzzles together. (the funniest part of that story is that i'd read out a clue, he'd say "building" or whatever, and then i'd say "did you say boob?" and he'd laugh every time.)
he was a serious collector. that's a polite way of saying that every time he went out, he came home with things. rocks were his favourite. when he died my mother found bags and bags (and bags) of rocks hidden all over the house.
some stones he polished. some he painted. then he wrapped them in wire and made necklaces out of them.
ok, there's me and my 3 sisters. that'd be 4 necklaces. but he literally had hundreds. probably thousands.
when we were doing crosswords in the palliative care ward, and making lists, and he was telling us where he wanted his stuff to go, he asked that his clothes go to the shelter, but he wanted us to find one that took dogs.
which we did. It's called "Out of the Cold" and their site says: A volunteer-run emergency winter shelter open to men, women, transgender individuals, couples, youth and pets … it aims to offer a meal and a bed for those without other options.
I told him that i'd take some of his rocks, and that i'd do a fundraiser with them, and that we'd send the shelter some cash, too, in addition to his clothes. (He said, 'I've always needed an agent.")
So i brought home a suitcase of rocks. not kidding. thanks to Air Canada for not charging me extra baggage fees when i tearfully explained what i was doing, and why.
Here's what the stones look like. They're all wrapped in wire.
It’s like all strong things still need protection around them.
He even had boxes of these rocks in his hospital room, encouraging people to take them with them as reminders. He hung them from his bed frame.
because even strong folks need protection. even those of us who are sober rocks need arms wrapped around us.
And so now it's time. The shelter just hast reopened for the winter season.
Here's how the stone fundraiser works.
you check the chart with the rock photos. you pick out a strength rock that you'd like to have as a reminder that even rocks need protection.
you go to purchase it, and you manually enter the amount you’d like to pay. the actual “cost” per necklace for me is about $5 each -- for the chain, the padded envelope, and the postage. any amount you pay for a strength necklace that is above $5 will be donated directly to Out of the Cold. all of it.
I’d like to send a cheque with my mom for her to take in to them, to say “here’s what a bunch of sober folks online can do to help.” {especially for folks who need a place to go with their dogs.}
and when you pick a stone and you donate you'll be helping the shelter and you’ll help me too. every time I mail out a rock (or two or three) it’ll remind me of the time spent rock-gathering, crossword-puzzle-doing.
can you help?
Each one will be shipped in a padded envelope with a 17" (42cm) silver plated necklace.
can you tell that my t-shirt is inside out?
to see available stones, go here > http://soberlinks.me/stones
thanks 🙂
and hugs from me