Life Happens!

WOW! What a whirlwind of a two months this has been.  Eight short weeks ago, I was anxious and excited about the Inaugural High Tea!  I can’t begin to explain the joy I felt to see so many beautiful women show up in their gorgeous hats on a rainy Sunday afternoon.  The champagne with strawberries were in place, the tables were draped, the tea cups in place and the saxophonist was ready.  Everything was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.

Since I believe in partying with a purpose, we raised more than $2000 for the Lupus Foundation.  Yayyyy!  It was so much fun!  On the day of the event, I received a call from Stephanie Reed from the Lupus Foundation, advising me that she would be in attendance. This was another prayer answered.  I stopped long enough to shed tears of gratitude and thanked God for Blessing us with her presence. There were ladies in attendance that are struggling with Lupus daily, others whose Lupus is in remission, some aware of the disease’s side effects and some learning more about this deadly auto immune disease like I am. But one thing we all had in common, was the joy and happiness to be amongst other beautiful women in this setting. Gracefully Embracing the Grey! The smiles, the laughter and the conversation was more than this little southern girl asked for.  So much more! Again, I thank God!

The week following the Tea we joined the Lupus Foundation in their annual Walk to End Lupus Now.  This was another fun event!  The Platinum Beauties showed up! We laughed and talked while we walked.   The distance was shorter than we expected so we did it twice.  It was great to see so many people turn out for this cause.   I’ve learned that Lupus rears it’s ugly head in the lives of so many people. Statistics show that it affects more women than men and more people of color than any of other ethinicity. The Annual High Tea will continue to work in conjunction with the Lupus Foundation to raise awareness and monies for a cure.

Then life happened! Less than two weeks after the tea, I’m going through all the beautiful pictures when I get a call that my mother’s home was on fire. I quickly learned that she and my brother had gotten out safely.  However, she was standing in the rain, watching her home of 60+ years burn.  My childhood home.  The place I desired to go to because it was HOME and also when life became challenging…There is no place like HOME! When my sister called, it was close to midnight so I couldn’t do anything but wait!  What a long wait it was.  I couldn’t sleep. I cried. I prayed. I was concerned.  Though I knew my family was okay, I wasn’t!  All I could think about were the emotions my 85 year old mother was experiencing.  I needed to go home! The next morning, my hubby presented me with flight options, and that’s exactly where I went. Home!  Jackson, MS here I come!

For several weeks, I went back and forth to Jackson to assist with the clean up. The fire resulted in an 85% loss and we did our best to salvage what we could. God blessed us to salvage all of Mom’s photo albums.  It’s unbelievable the type of devastation fire causes.  Complete destruction!  Of course, you know I’m on an emotional roller coaster at this point.  I want to be Home but need to be here which is also Home.  I want to be with Mom but need to be handling my businesses.  So I attempted to manage it all…I need to write a blog. I need to post Tea pics. I need to start planning the Back to School event with Book bag donations.  I have wedding clients to contact. I have graduation events on my May’s calendar that I must prepare for. And our son is moving into his own place while my husband is on his annual boys vacation.  Wait, then our dryer went out! What the frackanackle! With all of my great management skills, I didn’t do so well.  I dropped the ball in some areas because Life Happened to me!

See, what I’ve learned is that I’m not in my 20’s, 30’s or even 40’s any more.  So all the ripping and running is a little more tasking on this body.  I was exhausted but couldn’t stop. I know I’m not the only one that Life Happens to. Too many commitments to fulfill.  So often we get overwhelmed with our self imposed timelines and commitments. We lack the ability to say NO when we know that NO should be the only answer.   We fill our plates and our cups runneth over with obligations, commitments and promises. Then we put ourselves on the back burner so we can continue to meet the needs of those we love.  Well, this was me!  Ripping and Running while Running and Ripping.  Because Life Happens! Thank God I completed it all with His help.

Now the graduation celebrations are over, Mom is doing well and will be comfortable in her new space soon, I’m on top of my wedding clients, our son is getting settled into his apartment and I’m writing this blog with event gallery on the site. Yayyy!  Oh…I’ve been to the laundromat twice and I’ll have to tell you about that experience later. 😉 As I prepare all the information regarding what’s next, please know that I sincerely apologize for my delay in sharing these beautiful pictures. Because Life Happened to me!  I thank each of you for your participation in the Inaugural High Tea!  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did and I hope you continue to follow me and join us for future events.

The “Back to School” event is next!  I hope you’ve been planning your Old School attire.  Of course, I haven’t but I’ll get there. LOL I will have this information finalized and posted very soon.  Be on the look out for it.  I will also announce the school that will receive our book bag donation.  To make it easier and more cost effective, the book bags will be on this website and you will be able to purchase as many as you desire right here.  This is going to be fun!  Stay tuned!

“Seasoned, Unique and Still Beautiful”

“Gracefully Embracing the Grey” (and all that comes with it)