April's box has gone through a change or two. I had chosen a cause back a few months ago...Organ Donation, as April is National Organ Donation Month and we have someone dear to us, actually several people that I know, that have undergone life-saving surgeries (on the giving and receiving end). Don't be dismayed, we WILL be revisiting this cause and will be supporting it later in the year.
It was half-way though March when this decision changed. I saw an Instagram post that rocked me to my core. I spent the next several minutes crying and spilling it all out to my dad, who I was riding around in a golf cart with at the time. Through tears, I told him her story. How it hit so close to home for me, as her sweet is so close in age to my kiddos. How I had just listened to her speak bravely about her story a few weeks back at a conference. How I had signed up for Brand Camp, a week long retreat, that she was going to pour her heart and soul into me and my business and I was so looking forward to spending more time with her.
She is Elsie James mom. She is also known as Brooke Taylor. There are so, so many other ways to describe her, but the words seem to fall short of truly who she is. That Instagram post was one I never wanted for her. Her cancer, the cancer she started fighting hard when Elsie was mere hours old, it was back. In her words, "It's bad news bears". The cancer is back and it is angry. She has won the hearts of so many through showing "the real reel", starting back when she was diagnosed the first time.
Brooke is an inspiration to all. She has a thriving business (@ruralgoneurban - check it out) and keeps expanding it, a mom, a wife, a friend, a sister in Christ. I have been working with one of her best friends to curate this collection, in order for it to be the "truest Brooke" it can be. When I was discussing it with her, she said this, "Her big thing is always to simply love BIG and without strings attached. No judgement. No condemnation. Just love."
So, I hope this collection exudes that. Brooke is going to pour into me and my life in a few short weeks and God placed her BIG on my heart to pour into her as much as I can. This is how I can do that. I thank you all for your support for her, she truly is amazing.
