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I want to apologize for the lack of blog posts this month. June has been much busier than I could have ever imagined. I need to thank all the supporters. The Seventh Mom Project, Inc. was in its infancy only one year ago. We showed a film, and we knew we had to keep working. Thank you to everyone who has helped along the way! So why has June been so busy?? Between school letting out, a full day SISTER Mom training featuring Mental Health First Aid, and a half day Cultural and Linguistic Competency workshop with Tampa Bay Health Care Collaborative, we CLIMBED. Well some of us actually climbed, the majority walked a beautiful Florida path on a muggy Saturday morning. Our Climb raised $555 to contribute to Postpartum Progress as they continue their mission to help moms globally. Our climb was attended by 28 adults and 24 or so children. We met at Weedon Island at 8 am on June 11th, ate some delicious donuts and drank my life source, aka coffee. I stood on a table and nearly cried as I was so touched by the turn out and the support. I really don't think I could properly convey how grateful I truly am. We were honored to climb with the mother supporter of a climb leader from Vermont. She even brought a gift, a book written by her daughter, Dancing on the Edge of Sanity. We used it as a raffle prize to share with our participants, but will be adding this to our library with our next order! Mrs. Florida Galaxy and her family joined our climb and gave a moving keynote address post climb. We were also joined by Sarah, the founder of Postpartum Florida, our friend and mentor on this journey. She is extra cool because she brought cake.  After a muggy walk, we ate cake! Because when you are as awesome as we are, it is totally okay to eat cake at 9:30 am.  Thanks again for a wonderful inaugural climb in Tampa Bay! Please forgive us for our lack of posts this month. We are working hard on a few big projects to debut in July!
Holding the Umbrella, Elizabeth
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 I recently had the joyous experience of traveling with children. This alone can be trying. You know the packing, the dragging of small children around in crowded spaces, the potential for screaming. However, this trip was especially stressful. It's a "I've been there," story. It is also a "restore faith in mutual motherhood," story. The morning started off with a slightly late start. But I needed coffee, so I urged my husband to stop at Wawa. The barista was new. Even though I was uber irritated with my first unsteamed latte; I took a deep breath and helped her through the steps to remake the coffee. I was polite and rose above. And was now 15 minutes behind, but felt like the karmic energy of my day was better than if I had lost my cool. We got back to the road, and sat there in traffic for way to long. I started getting nervous, but thanks to the wonderful magic of modern medicine, I was not panicking. Yet. Next, you know those signs that update you about the upcoming traffic patterns... well we came to one that said the interstate was down to one lane coming up. Deep breaths. To take my mind of traffic, I turned on the radio, "relax, it will be okay", I thought. The car in front of me had a North Carolina plate. The universe was telling me that I would be getting to my destination. "If you are heading south on I-275, note that all the lanes are now closed..." UGH. Now my heart is beating a little bit more, but we don't give up! My husband reroutes us. After what seemed like hours of tense driving, watching every minute change over on the clock, knowing my flight was going to leave with out us, we arrived. The series of unfortunate events that happened next finally led to my weeping. But I jump ahead. We get to the airport about 20 minutes too late and my phone is dead by this time because I forgot to charge it the night before and left the car cord somewhere else. I have to call my friend to find out what plan we should take now, as there are no other flights to Raleigh that day, the airline can only reroute me. So I run to the little airport store and purchase an overpriced charger and a crocodile puppet (my son calls all stuffed animals puppets, its adorable and I was not interested in a melt down). Upon ripping open the cord, I accidentally THROW away my debit card with the cord box (or maybe it was stolen in my rushed confusion). I sit down and charge my phone, so I can call my friend. We decided to take the reroute to Asheville that gate closes in approximately five minutes. At the ticket counter, I slide my credit card, declined. I have her swipe one ticket's fee instead. I search for and finally realize that I don't have my debit card. I rush away having paid for half of the reroute fee; I was committed to getting on this plane. I frantically search all trash cans and retrace my steps. The airport store cashier looks at me as if to say I shouldn't do things so distractedly. I want to cry. I dump out my diaper bag and purse all over the floor as an airline man calls "Asheville, anyone else going to Asheville?" "Me!!! But I can't find my card to pay for the reroute!!!" I wave my hands like a lunatic. My hubby is going to bring his card. Just give me five more minutes.
"Well they should be able to use the card on file," says the man. Perfect!! I tell hubby to not worry, never mind, we got it covered. "Yes!! Please do!" I shout across the lines of people to the lady that has my sale open. But---since she swiped my credit card it replaced the card on file. Once again I am defeated. My husband has turned around again. He won't make it in time. I burst into tears. I am frantically crying with a phone at 6% battery life, begging for a discount, a credit, a bill me later, anything that will get me on that plane. And then, a magical angel, my karmic hero steps up and asks what I need. She hands them her card. I fumble through my wallet looking for a business card so she can call me and be repaid. Her next words melt my heart. "From one mom to another, go, get on your plane." What an amazing gift. She rebuilt my faith in kind strangers. I grabbed my preschoolers hand and we ran through security while calling the bank to cancel my debit card. We made the plane!!! We made it because another mom stepped out of her way to help one in distress. Thank you for being my umbrella that day. Elizabeth |
Each walk is different, but we walk together, and that makes all the
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