Something Small That I Can Do

I sew. I sew to stay sane as a stay-at-home Mommy. I sew because it makes me happy to create something from scratch that we can use or wear. I sew because it relaxes me and I am addicted to fabric. Addicted to putting different types of fabric together to create something beautiful or useful. I have a shop on Etsy, a web site for a community of artisans who create handmade items, so that I can justify how much I sew and how much I want to sew.

On January 20, 2009 my life changed forever. My almost-3-year old daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. We spent the usual 3 days in the hospital stabilizing her and educating all of us as to how different our lives would be and what we would need to do. When we got back home, I started trying to sew and promote my shop again and to try to adjust to our new normal. Only it didn’t feel right. I was on the JDRF web site and finding support and information where I could online when it hit me. I need to DO something. Something that gives back. Something, however small, that gets me out of my own head and occasional self-pity about our situation. And it came quickly and clearly to me: I needed to donate all of the profits from my shop to JDRF.

It’s not that we couldn’t use any extra I would make from the shop. We could. And there are other things that I could do to give back but this is the thing that means the most to me. How can you be sure I will actually donate the money? You can’t be. Except that I am the mother of an almost-three-year old who has just been diagnosed with diabetes. That right there is your guarantee. It may not be much, but it’s something that I can do.

Please stop by and check out the shop at www.SnugglebugDesigns.etsy.com.