Reflections

Well, I'm doing this a little late... or maybe right on time, as this is about the time every year when I'd begin preparing in earnest for the Craft Fair.
Last year was my last Craft Fair in the incarnation everyone has known it for the last ten years: handmade crafts and fun in my side yard. The actual day was less emotional and more anticlimactic than I anticipated. It was a lot of fun, and we raised some great money for AAMDSIF. I can honestly say that they are very excited about the work that we did.
I'm getting a little nostalgic for the fair these days- there is much less to fill my summer days than there used to be, and the work I am doing, I don't enjoy quite as much as I loved finding a new angle from which to write donor letters or revising my Information poster board with a new statistic. But, what I mostly think about is all the happy memories I have of the fair: friends, family and community members coming together for a wonderful (and beautiful- to this day I marvel at the string or good weather we chanced upon) day of crafts, games, food, music and fun. The most exciting year for me personally was probably the fair that was at the very beginning of my sophomore year- the first year we had live music, the year we broke $2000, and the year one of my old nurse practitioners from the Jimmy Fund stumbled upon the fair. But all of the fairs had their own wonderful elements, and I cherish all those days and the excitement and fun leading up to them.
This year, while we were all going through the college admissions process, I had several friends tell me they wrote about volunteering at the Craft Fair in their essays, or that they think the Craft Fair helped them get in to college or--even better-- that volunteering at the Craft Fair made them really think about giving back to an important cause. And I've heard numerous times from the folks at AAMDSIF about what a difference the fundraiser makes, and how important it is to them that I do what I do. I guess when I look back on it, that is really all I could ever ask for: lots of happy memories and people whose lives are better because of what I did.
I love the fair, and I will miss it dearly. I am planning to continue working to support AAMDSIF in some way in the future.
Stay tuned, because we're NOT done! My brother Ian and two of his friends who are veterans of the fair have committed themselves to holding some type of fundraiser for AAMDSIF this fall. I'm leaving it completely up to them, so we'll see what they come up with, but I'm sure it will be great.