I have been extremely overwhelmed with all the submissions and interest I have received for this gift over the last 15 months. I have been touched by so many wonderful stories and am thankful that these strangers have graciously shared a special part of their lives with me. But there could be only one winner… I’ve thought long and hard about how to present you with the winning submission for my Big Give. This original submission was sent to me a few months back. It was important for me to present it in a way to give it the attention it deserves. In the end, I wanted to keep it as authentic as possible, so this is going to be done in multiple posts. I present to you Holly+Matt’s submission…
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Hi Joee !
I’m planning to get married this September, and I’d like you to consider this event for your Big Give contest!
I guess in order for you to evaluate my entry, you’re going to want to know a little bit about me, my fiancé and our story.
So sit down - in a comfortable chair - because I’ve been told once or twice that I can be a little long-winded. ESPECIALLY when I’m on a subject that I’m enthusiastic about. Plus I think this is one heck of a GIFT, so you’re definitely worth the effort! But if you stick with me, I’m going to tell you everything you need to know about our story, how we met, how our friendship grew, about our family values, about our commitment to working through challenges and how we ended up here—planning a future, a family, a life together.
It’s gonna be awesome, and we’d like you to be there!
Thanks very much,
Holly (& Matt)
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~ The Proposal ~
Just as a teaser, I am going to leave the full details for later (if I win) but it is a story about an arduous journey with seemingly endless searching, mystery, surprises and yes – a little nudity.
Every time someone asks about the proposal, he proudly proclaims that he rocked it!! And in the months since whenever he retells the tale of the proposal -every single time – he is moved to tears. Every single time.
~ An Unwelcome Birthday Surprise ~
For weeks my parents had been planning to visit the weekend after my birthday, but the week before, my Mom called to say they were going to be arriving late on Friday night. She had a medical appointment that she just couldn’t reschedule. The whole weekend she was withdrawn, tears on the verge of welling up at any moment. Breast cancer.
It felt like someone had silently come up behind me and hit me in the temple with a baseball bat. I was completely blind-sided. I promise you that was the very last thing that I was expecting to deal with. An overwhelming sense of panic. I was doing strange things like hoarding voicemails. When the mailbox was full, it briefly flashed through my mind that maybe I should buy a tape recorder to transfer them over to start archiving them.
I started obsessing over learning her ‘classic’ recipes. Calling her to ask her to how exactly she makes homemade macaroni & cheese. I started quizzing her about family history, asking her to tell me childhood stories. I was storing it all up. Frantically trying to capture and memorize every single detail. I felt like there just wasn’t enough time.
When I was in university, my roommate’s Mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and fought for nine years –she’s now taken over her Mom’s fight and has been fighting ever since.
Then I got the Pathology report from the surgeon’s office. Instead of dread, I felt relief. Finally instead of questions, tests, inconclusive results and more tests, finally I had answers. 8 years of university had taken me from basic biology through graduate school and I could actually read this document! After seeing speaking to Mom’s Surgeon, and meeting with her Oncologist, we made a plan which will result in keeping her here for many years to come.
~ Planning a Wedding! ~
At this stage of the game (we’re not spring chickens here folks) we really didn’t see a need to have a really long drawn-out engagement. With Mom’s health situation, it’s a reminder that we need to get on with life!!! Although I’d always hoped to get married at my parents’ home, with my Mom in treatments all summer, it’s just not going to happen.
So the venue’s about half an hour from their home and the date a month after she’s done chemo & radiation. She may not have a lot of hair, but she’ll be stronger. So no, I won’t be selecting a date in the spring because I absolutely HAVE to have peonies (another story….). And I won’t have time to make everything coordinated and perfectly perfect. And financially, the timing isn’t really ideal.
The day is going to be stripped down to the basics and then built back up based on our limited time, manpower and resources. As we speak, my Aunt is making jam for the favours from strawberries that my Dad picked yesterday. I’ll be taking time off work before the wedding to make decorations, or centrepieces, or programs or whatever we decide to do based on “the current era of fiscal constraint”.
The bonus to planning a wedding is that we’ve all had something positive to focus on, instead of being constantly scared and dwelling on the unknown.
~ Help us Capture the Day ~
So where do you fit into all this? We’d like you to help us preserve the day forever. Help us to capture the moments as they unfold, when we are surrounded by family and our friends, where we will express our love and caring to each other and to all who join us for that day. Life can get so busy with our jobs, with our homes, our activities, our stuff. We can forget to take the time to remind each other how we care. I promise you, if someone you care about is diagnosed with something with a scary name, you will pray to have just a little time back, you will pray to turn back the clock. To say the things you should have taken the time to say. To listen to their stories. To remember the sound of their voice.
If you join us and share your talent, your gift will not be wasted. I want you to know what it will mean to us to have all the little moments preserved forever. One day we will look back to enjoy glimpses of those of who are no longer here. Each time we go back to look at the photos, we’ll be turning back the clock to a day when we all gathered and took the time to show each other how important we are to one another.
So consider this your personal invitation.
Come celebrate with us. Celebrate love, family and LIFE.
-Holly
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A personal invitation !! What an honor this truly is ! So, I’ve RSVP’d
I couldn’t help but be drawn to the details about Holly’s mom’s health condition. The topic of cancer really hits a soft spot for Jeanette and I because someone very dear to me has recently been affected by a form of cancer and also undergoing chemotherapy. Jeanette happens to be a Radiation Therapist so she sees first hand the effects of this nasty disease everyday. It’s definitely not something we would wish on anyone. It’s such a terrible disease and we should all do what we can to help find a cure.
Having said that, I am going to make a personal donation of $1,000 to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation on behalf of Holly’s mom to celebrate the completion of her chemo and radiation treatment !
New total value of this GIFT: over $10,000 !!!!
Congratulations to Holly and Matt and their wonderful families. Thank you again to Holly for taking time to write her submission and opening up her life to the world. I can’t wait to see everyone this September ! I’ll be posting Part 2 (The Proposal) of this lovely submission when I get back from Jamaica.
Stay tuned !
-Joee
Updates:
Click here for The Big Give: Part 2
Click here for The Big Give: Part 3
Click here for The Big Give: Part 4
Click here for The Big Give: Part 5
Click here for The Big Give: Part 6
Click here for The Big Give: Part 7
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