As I sorted through a list of suggested adoption fundraising ideas, I dreaded the thought of hoagie sales, garage sales, and car washes. I couldn't imagine any of these would yield much profit, and the thought of our sweet friends going out of their way to receive a soggy hoagie or subpar car wash was less than ideal. I had hoped we could find something that would represent the spirit of what we were trying to do. And that's when I stumbled upon the idea of a puzzle to raise some much needed funds.
The puzzle fundraiser in short is this: friends donate $30 for a puzzle piece, and we write their names on the back. After the puzzle is assembled, it will hang in our child's nursery in a double-sided glass frame. On the front is the above picture of Bulgaria, and on the back are all the people who helped to get Baby Hemmings #3 to his/her new home. The puzzle will represent the love and support he or she had when they were thousands of miles away.
I love the puzzle for a few different reasons. First, life is one giant puzzle anyway. I have spent years picking up pieces of my own life, examining them, and trying to figure out where they fit. Sometimes, in my stubborn pride, I will try to shove pieces where they don't belong, simply because I think I know where they go, only to have to painfully rearrange them down the road. But slowly, over time, our lives start to come together into something kind of beautiful. We may think we know what picture we're putting together, but more often than not, when the puzzle is done, it's something far different than we ever could have anticipated, even if it's lovely nonetheless.
Second, I love the puzzle because this child is already a large piece of our family. We have spent countless hours talking about the adoption and our future child. Oliver and Ellis talk about it constantly as well. Tonight, in fact, Ellis wandered up to me and asked if I thought he would have a brother or a sister. (He then pranced around the house yelling, "We need bunches of brothers!") Baby Hemmings #3 will help make us feel more complete.
Third, I specifically love the picture that Brad found for our puzzle. He was tasked with the impossible job of finding something that would represent Bulgaria and also work in our future child's room. We didn't want anything too touristy (the beaches of Bulgaria, for example) because we have no idea where he or she will be from. Brad must have searched 1,000 pictures and finally found this one, of the town of Veliko Tarnova. Specifically, he loved the bridge and the arch in the above picture.
The bridge represents the bridging together of our cultures and our countries. Our child is crossing over into a new part of his or her story... walking through the arch into something new and uncharted.
Yes, this picture is just perfect. And we'd love to invite you to be a part of it as well. If you'd like to donate $30 to have your name captured on a piece, please feel free to send us funds via Venmo, PayPal, or via check (see below).
Our child - all of our children, actually - will spend their lifetimes assembling their own life puzzles. Our adopted child may not understand what the picture of his or her own life is supposed to look like or where to find the missing pieces to answer the many unanswered questions. We all struggle with this at times, and Brad and I are honored to be a part of our little one's journey of self-discovery.
And... if this fundraiser doesn't go so well, please humor me if I offer you a soggy hoagie. :-)
To donate:
Venmo: kristen-hemmings
PayPal: Click here, send to kristenembry@gmail.com
Check: mail to 3816 Belladonna Drive, Glenshaw, PA 15116
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