1000 Pillows

I finally did it! I made my first pillow. It took me four weeks of classes, multiple screw ups, and a new found appreciation for a labor of love. This pillow is a lot like love…Not perfect, a little rough around the edges, it took a little time to come together, but it is solid and ready to be appreciated.

The Love Story begins…Just like this pillow my life is not perfect and it is very rough around the edges.

However, I feel that life and God bring you exactly what you need when you need it and God brought me John at a very crucial point in my life.

2006 was a terrible year for me and my family. This part of the story is a bit of a downer, but is important to tell because it is a huge part of who I am. I had never experienced sadness so deeply until January 22, 2005. That was the day my beautiful, 29-year-old brother died unexpectedly of complications from a rare disease called A Plastic Anemia. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/aplastic-anemia/DS00322

He was perfectly healthy all his life, but one morning he woke up feeling sick and a week later went to the doctor for tests. A week after that, he ended up in the hospital. He literally got sick, diagnosed and died all within nine weeks. It was the worst thing in the world to watch this tall, strong, young man suffer and become incapable of simple life’s pleasures like picking up his newborn baby. His death was devastating. He left behind four young children and his high school sweetheart who he married right after graduation. They were married for ten years. My sister-in-law, only 27 at the time, was incapable of picking up the pieces of this tragedy, so my mother and I came together and promised to help her raise their children. It has been a tough road and every day I pray that my mother, sister-in-law and I stay healthy and strong to raise the kids to be happy, fulfilled adults.

In October of 2006 I needed a mental health break. After loosing my brother, ending a long term relationship, losing my job and adjusting to everything that had happened, I woke up one morning and decided to book a flight to LA to visit a friend. My dear friend Joel knew I needed to be distracted and do something different so he invited me to spend the day with him in Malibu while he worked. He was working on a pilot for a cooking show doing all the preliminary work out of a house in Malibu. I went along for the ride and who could complain about spending the day in a beautiful house on top of a mountain with a view of the Ocean. To me, this was paradise. I had spent the last year and a half in emotional darkness and being in this gorgeous setting awakened my soul.

Jan, the woman who Joel was working for was so incredible and her and I instantly connected. You know that feeling you get once in a great while where you know deep down in your heart that people are brought into your life for a reason, well, Jan is one of those people for me. She immediately took me in like a bird with a broken wing and offered me the opportunity to start healing my wounds. At the end of the day, she looked over at me and said, “It’s happy hour.” The three of us spent the evening talking, eating and drinking and before I left that night she offered me a chance to work with them for two weeks. I accepted and came back the next day. I was hired to do PR for the sponsors who were funding the pilot.

In the middle of the afternoon John out of nowhere showed up, noticeably frustrated and not happy to see me sitting at his desk. I introduced myself to him and he just dismissed me and asked Jan to talk to her in private. I looked at Joel and said, “What a Jerk!”

I will stop here for now, but please join me next week for a new pillow and continuation of the story.

If you are interested in helping our wedding dream come true the donation for Dream Pillow #1 is $25 plus shipping. The pillow measures 18X18, the material is cotton and pink in color with denim like designed flowers patched throughout the fabric. The material is washable and the case is removable. The inside pillow is a Soft n Crafty Premium Pillow that is made from poly-fil. It too is washable and Non-Allergenic. All donations are final and non-refundable. Thank you kindly!

Frances & John