Time flies by quickly, huh? I mean, how many times have you heard/thought “I can’t believe it’s the end of December!”?
It’s hard for me to say out loud, let alone write, but the past (almost) four years have been the toughest of my life. Amazing and beautiful things have happened – I spent more time than ever with my sisters, I married my amazing husband, we jumped into magical waters in Mexico and swam with ancient turtles, I became momma to a little rescue puppy we named Bruce, I became momma to a beautiful baby girl we named Eleanor, I started aspire&grow and it changed and changed and changed, I made friends all over the world, I had the best ever Lobster Roll sitting on a dock in Maine, I studied yoga with the son of a great man, I launched a program that has the power to change businesses, and I learned 3,547,658 new things (*rough estimate). So why was it also the toughest?
This Saturday, December 27th, would have been my mom’s 58th birthday, but my beautiful mom passed away almost four years ago after a long hard battle with heart disease. I’ve spent a lot of time processing her passing and what I can learn from her legacy. It’s an interesting word, legacy. It’s something you build while you are alive (usually without even knowing you’re building it) and then it lives on after you’re gone. A legacy is intangible, yet so much a part of you.
Mom was a teacher and she loved her students like they were her own children. As you know, proceeds from every single registration in Systems Finishing School goes to DonorsChoose.org – an organization that helps teachers and students get the supplies they need to do the work they need to do. It’s incredible what a few hundred bucks can do for a classroom, really. I’ve seen it in person. My mom bought supplies with her own hard-earned money and now it’s my turn to pay it forward a bit. And so here’s my big request of you this holiday season: make a donation to DonorsChoose.org in the amount of either $27 or $58 (for mom’s birthdate or age) or any amount of your choosing. $5 goes a long way. So does $500. You can pay with PayPal or a credit card. This is the project I chose. If you want to learn more about the impact this organization has, read this page.
If you care to share, I’d love to hear which project you chose to donate to. Share it in our Simplified Systems Facebook Group or on your own Facebook page and tag aspire&grow. Let’s build a community around giving and sustain a legacy. Mom would be so very proud.
xo
