Inspiration Week 6

An inspirational email a week a year ago, helped fund 69 art classes and workshops, 50 internships, studios for 419 artists and events for 7,539 people of all ages at Pyramid by raising $5,000.

This year, I am going to raise 1,000,000 pennies (or $10,000) to help make even more possible. Join me.

Week 5 is in the books and I am at 170,000 pennies or ($1,700). Thank you, thank you! Here is your Week 6 Inspiration:

"I am the kind of person that doesn't care how difficult something may seem. I believe their is an answer. I believe that there must be a way and that in the end, it will all works out. I know that sounds naive. I believe this is because my parents divorced when I was 13, and I promised myself when that happened that I would not become a statistic. A statistic like "children of divorced parents are roughly two times more likely to drop out of high school than their peers." I did not want anyone feeling sorry for my and my family and having to become the "man of the house" at the age of 13 was just what I had to do. My parents had not been happy for a long time. At least three years before they divorced, you could see and feel the sorrow. There were some weeks when I would not see my dad all week. There were some weekends when we would spend both days out with my mom. There were some days when we would finally all be together and they would start arguing over dinner or after we had gone to bed.

Their divorce at the time made perfect sense to my 13 year old brain: my dad was a problem. He was keeping our family from being happy. My mom was trying to make life better for me and my brother and sister. I blamed my dad and it helped me get through, but I never stopped trying to understand both my parents or their divorce. Why was my dad so angry? Why was my mom so unhappy? Was their something I could have done to keep them together. Maybe, if I had not been such a sensitive kid, they'd still be together. I needed to know why because to believe that they no longer loved each other was something I could not comprehend. If my mom no longer loved my dad, would there come a time when she would no longer love me? If this were true, what would happen to me? Would I be sent to live with my dad? I could not believe that this could ever happen to me, so I blamed my dad instead. It was just easier. Then I got older and got to know a much different man. A man I grew to love again and admire. Our new relationship made life such a complicated thing. It was so much simpler to hate him and blame him, but I couldn't anymore, so I loved him and told myself that we were two different people now and we could start over. I needed to believe that it was possible for us to start over and we did.

We found each other and worked out what some fathers and sons are never able to work out. The memories I have of him as an adult bring me more joy than the memories of the angry bitter father whose divorce from my mother brought me relief brought me pain.

I think that is why I always believe that their is an answer, a solution, a chance for things to get better even when all signs point to a dead end and doubt begins to creep. If I would have given up, I would have accepted being a statistic. If I would have given up, I might not have ever gotten to know my dad and through him, gotten to know myself and my capacity for love.

This is my favorite quote: "Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end."


I hope I inspired you to join me. Its easy:

• Contact me to pick up your pennies I will pick them up, count them and give you a tax receipt for your charitable contribution!
• Make a Penny drop. Drop your pennies off at Pyramid. I will count them and give you a tax receipt.
• Visit a Penny Partner and drop your pennies. Go to Fillmore Silver Spring, Kefa Cafe, Velatis Caramels, ArtSpring,Plaza Artist Materials, Zipcar, Firestation 1 and The Toole Design Group.
  

If all this penny stuff is too complicated and you just want to make a contribution, you can donate in any form of currency to Pyramid Atlantic by clicking here. I will add up your donation in pennies and include it in my campaign.

Join me tomorrow night, Thursday, March 8 at 7 pm for a culinary event at Pyramid with Chef Egg! Admission is "pay what you can." Enjoy parmesan risotto, spicy garlic shrimp, and pure fresh fruit sorbet prepared by Chef Egg right before your eyes. Bring your pennies and I will take them to my friends at Eagle Bank.