Today's post is dedicated to Sharon and Alfonso, two generous and thoughtful community members who embody so much of what we stand for at the House of Shine.
I am counting on the fact that a picture speaks a thousand words, because there is no way I can do this story justice by myself.
One family
soliciting the help of relatives, close friends, and even young girls who are on their daughter's soccer team,
to work for months
and months
and months
so that they may,
without expectation of anything in return,
open their home to families they've never met, but whose children go to the same school or play on the same sports teams,
and create, for them, the kind memories we wish could fill every crevice of our minds.
The attention to detail was show stopping. Handmade decorations hanging from most every branch of every tree. Napkins rolled to look like carrot sticks, beautifully decorated cupcakes, games for kids to play at most every turn, Willy Wonka-sized containers stuffed with holiday candy, bunny ears for every child who wanted to wear them, a balloon artist roaming the lawn, a cotton candy booth, free snow cones, bunny hop races, and homemade confetti filled eggs for kids to crack over one another's heads. Hundreds of them.
It was as though each perfect detail was wrapped up in a small box with a bow and a note attached that said, "I went out of my way for you, because you are worth it."
But Sharon and Alfonso, do you know what the greatest gift of the day was? It wasn't the delicious lunch you catered for us or the 4,000 eggs you stuffed and spread across your perfectly manicured lawn. It wasn't that every single child left feeling like a winner, or even the photographers who roamed the party capturing our kids on film.
The single greatest gift of the day was sitting on a picnic blanket, under a tree with my husband and my kids, and knowing that, at that very moment, a family memory was being created. Because of you.
Thank you for shining and for generously sharing it with others. You have made your corner of the world a brighter, better place to live.
Shining off until tomorrow...