On May 6, 2008 three very important things happened to me. First, I turned 22 years old. Second, my entire life savings ($4000) was stolen from me. Third, a reporter from the Orlando Sentinel decided to do an article about me as her senior spotlight for my college since graduation was only 5 days away.
That day changed my life forever. I had planned to use my savings to live off of while looking for a job after graduation. I was relying so much on my savings that it hadn't occurred to me that my checking account contained only twenty dollars. I was in trouble, to say the least.
With no where to go, graduation approaching (which would mean no where to live), and no money to eat, let alone celebrate my birthday, I did what I always do in a crisis... I called my sister. My beautiful sister drove three hours in rush hour to give me the hug of a lifetime. She offered to let me stay with her until I could get on my feet and she paid for everything (not something you expect your 20 year old younger sister to have to do), including a wonderful birthday dinner.
Later that week I let the reporter interview me for her graduation article and I packed my room and waited for graduation. Graduation day was beautiful but what I remember even more vividly was the phone call that I got that afternoon from the reporter, who I later found out put me on the cover of her section. She told me that she had two members of the Orlando community reach out to her because they wanted to talk to me. She asked if she could provide them with my phone number. As luck would have it, two of the most wonderful and generous women that I would ever come to meet both live in Orlando and both commended me on my accomplishments. Believe it or not, these women contacted me because they wanted to replenish my life savings for me. I was floored. I couldn't stop smiling and crying at the same time. It was such a relief and so unbelievable. These wonderful women, whom I had never met before, wanted to help me. When I asked how I could repay them they both simply said that they just ask that I please pay it forward one day. Their kindness was inspirational.
I have been searching for a way to pay it forward over the last five years but I have never had a chance to do something big. I help raise scholarships for women, I tutor, I am a mentor - but it just wasn't enough. Then... I became a Pure Romance consultant. In April 2013 I earned a promotion to Senior Director and my bonus that month was considerable since I had recruited 9 beautiful women and my team's sales were exceptional. When I saw that bonus I knew that this was my chance to do something big with my first big check.
I lost my mother to her fourth battle with cancer when I was 17. It goes without saying that Mother's Day is bittersweet for me since I am now a mother but I have none of my own to celebrate with. For Mother's Day I decided to do a Facebook event where children could enter their mothers into contest to win a massage gift set. I received several submissions. Each entry included a wonderful story about the mother being nominated. One story hit home. A woman named Emily entered her mother, Sandee, into the contest with nothing but beautiful things to say. She explained how her mother had been through tough times and, even though they are very far apart, her mother still supports every crazy idea and endeavor that Emily runs with. Emily explained in her message that she hadn't celebrated Mother's Day with her mom in over four years (since she moved to FL) and that in the four years that Emily has lived here, her mom has only been able to visit once.
That story really got to me. I know that if my mother was alive I would do absolutely anything I could to spend Mother's Day with her (and everyday for that matter). However, I know that life happens and we can't always get what we want.
I read Emily's story and knew that this was my chance to do something big for Emily and Sandee. I called Sandee that afternoon and, after explaining that I wasn't a telemarketer, told her that I owned Pure Romance by Mia and I would love to fly her down to Florida to spend Mother's Day weekend with her daughter. She began to cry. I followed suit. Sandee was very touched that someone would do this and all I kept thinking about was how I felt when those kind women helped me. I flew Sandee in on the Friday before Mother's Day, so that she could spend all day Friday with Emily as well. The pair got to stay in a relaxing hotel and enjoy the pool and beautiful Florida weather over the weekend and after enjoying a Mother's Day dinner at Cheesecake Factory compliments of Pure Romance by BJ Jones they ended Sandee's visit on Monday afternoon with a photoshoot courtesy of CMD photography.
This was just a small step in my efforts to pay forward what those women did for me when I needed it most. However, I hope that my small step left big footprints in Emily and Sandee's hearts.
Note: The photo above was taken by me while the photographer was shooting. For more information on the photographer, Courtney Michelle Dembek of CMD photography, please visit her website at http://www.cmdphotography.com/. She will be releasing the professional photos of Emily and Sandee to them later this month.
