A thank you note to one of my fellow Board members at Street Sense. Sometimes you need to take a moment and write the words that you feel – don’t assume the other person knows that you care.
Anne,
You’ve been a great addition to the Board of Street Sense. I want you to know that your generous financial support hasn’t gone unnoticed by your peers on the Board. It’s an essential part of our duty as Board Members and you are leading by example. Thank you.
Reed
Summer is a time for the beach, baseball and barbecues. Well, last weekend I didn’t go to the beach or catch any baseball games, but I did go over to the home of the Executive Director of Street Sense, Brian Carome, and his wife Lisa for a barbecue. Everyone there was connected in some way to the Street Sense Media Center, a collaborative where local filmmakers, photographers, poets, playwrights, visual and graphic artists, and audio storytellers work side-by-side with men and women experiencing homelessness to craft stories that challenge our perceptions of homelessness. The work produced in Media Center workshops over the last year has been nothing short of remarkable and it was nice to take a moment and just relax with this incredible group of people.
Brian and Lisa,
Thank you both so much for inviting me to your home for the BBQ. It was great to talk with you and so many other members of the Street Sense family. The food was outstanding – and while I didn’t have the pork since I’m not eating meat right now, everyone was raving about it. I probably should have cheated and just tried a bite. Anyway, I am buying that Weber Cookbook!
Thanks again – it was a wonderful evening.
Reed
Posted in Thank-yous
Tagged barbecues, bbq, DC, friends, grilling, handwritten letters, Media Center, nonprofits, Paper Source, Street Sense, Washington, Weber, Year of Letters
Manassas fireworks from the side mirror.
Happy Independence Day!
I hope you’ve had a wonderful holiday. Mine was awesome! I spent it with some amazing friends out in Manassas, VA. And while I had a terrific day, I’m not sure my friend Reuben would say the same. Reuben is my friends Chris and Karrin’s dog. I’ve been taking care of him while they traveled up to New England for the weekend.
My best friend for the weekend.
Reuben is one of the best dogs I’ve ever known, maybe the best. My ex-girlfriend even offered to buy him for $1,000. I know, that sounds crazy – but if you met Reuben you’d want him all to yourself too. Reuben likes to lounge around the house, take walks, chase and retrieve things you throw, have his belly rubbed, eat grass, sniff telephone polls and occasionally let out a long howl. He likes a lot of things. One thing he does not like I discovered: fireworks.
I thought it would be fun to join my friends and watch the fireworks that they set off in Manassas – which is quite a show I might add. I pictured us sitting in those collapsible chairs or on a blanket, Reuben next to me sitting on his back legs watching the aerial display with the wonder of a two-year old. Nope. It was nothing like that. #DogSitterFail
Tom, Tressa, Tegan & Tate,
It was great to see you guys today. Dinner was delicious – the quinoa salad, fish, shrimp, veggies were all amazing! Sorry I had to leave abruptly – note to self: dogs do NOT like fireworks, they will freak out. We got stuck in some traffic heading out of Manassas but had a great view of fireworks from all over on the ride home. Sorry about all the water issues (the house and the car!) – you know what they say, when it rains it pours. Sorry…I couldn’t help myself.
Love you guys – your friendship means a tremendous amount to me.
Reed
I recycled a bag from Paper Source to make this envelope.
Posted in Thank-yous
Tagged 4th of July, Dog sitter failure, dog sitting, dogs, fireworks, fireworks and dogs, friends, handwritten letters, holidays, Independence Day, letters, Manassas, Reuben, VA, Year of Letters
Look at what I found in my mailbox today!
I recently went to the National Stationery Show. Yes, there is a convention just about stationery and cards and accessories, etc. It was pretty awesome I have to admit. I went because I’ve decided to launch my own greeting card company (Second Story Cards) that will give men and women experiencing homelessness a revenue stream for their artistic talent. Stay tuned over the coming months to learn more about that!
I didn’t really know what to expect – I mean besides writing a letter every day this year, what do I know about the stationery and greeting card business? The answer is not much. My friend Jami from Day 99 told me that I had to go see one of her favorite card companies: 1canoe2. Well, I did and they were awesome. Everyone on their team was really cool and ridiculously talented. Check out their website.
They learned about my Year of Letters project and decided to send me some of their awesome cards to help me out. So it only seemed appropriate today to send them a thank you.
Kate,
Thank you so much for the thoughtful care package of 1canoe2 cards – you guys are awesome! I really enjoyed meeting your entire team at NSS last month. The cards will definitely come in handy for the Year of Letters project. And on that note, you just became Day 170! Welcome to the club J
Thanks again. I look forward to staying in touch,
Reed
Michelle Dawn Mooney Photo: WPG1450.com
Monday afternoon I had the pleasure of being a guest on Michelle Dawn Mooney’s radio program on WPG1450AM in New Jersey. Michelle had me on her Make a Difference Monday show to talk about the Worldwide Day of Giving. She’s an interesting woman – check out her bio.
I wanted to thank her properly for inviting me to be on her show, so today Michelle becomes letter #168.
Dear Michelle,
What a pleasure it was to be a guest on Make a Difference Monday. The Worldwide Day of Giving was a lot of fun this year and I’m always surprised by the stories I hear from people all around the world who participate – it brings us closer together. Best of luck to you and your new show on WPG1450 – I’ll listen to you online!
All the best,
Reed
Posted in Thank-yous
Tagged handwritten letters, interviews, media, Paper Source, radio, Worldwide Day of Giving, Year of Giving, Year of Letters