Joplin was destroyed on sunday and i've been posting about my hair.
When a huge tragedy strikes, its so hard for me to believe that its real. I even lived in Joplin for 2 years, and i still can't seem to process that what i'm seeing on the news is that place.
i hear the words, but they don't get to my heart.
I NEVER watch the news. When someone mentioned the Chile Miner situation to me the first time, i was shocked! Steve said (in a loving, joking manner), "oh, Maria didn't hear about that, it wasn't on etsy."
Sometimes i feel like the news is mostly political and boring and i just ignore it. (really mature, right?)
but this, this is REAL. 124 REAL people dead. so many REAL families with no homes.
and even if you are safe and healthy, can you imagine driving through your town and it looking like a bomb went off??
i have forced myself to watch the videos and read the news. and i want to throw up because its so sad
And i feel so helpless because i'm not sure how to help. yes, i can give to the red cross...and that's awesome, but i want to give to something specific. like this family:
This is a photographer named mark. i found out about him through some awesome artists at this blog
mark and his family lost everything.
and there's not an insurance check coming to bail them out.
the goal is to raise enough for a camera so that he can support his family again.
WE can totally do that. i have 200 followers. if you each gave $10 dollars. we'd be golden.
(although if you want to give more, that'd be great :)
you can donate here or just press this giant green button
i know this post is way long, but i imagined if my third floor got ripped off my house, my business would be gone. totally gone. and then if someone showed up the next week with a uhaul of vintage clothes i could have, i would be over the moon. and i'm not even the main financial supporter of our family.
so, let's get this dude a camera. thanks.
p.s. (if you're also having trouble feeling how real this is, watch this) .
p.s.s. i am NOT inferring that everyone should be posting on their blogs about joplin instead of their hair or clothes or whathaveyou. i am talking about a personal problem with MY heart.
m
Now this is something I can get on board with. I remember watching the sun rise over my school after it was destroyed in a tornado. Even seeing it and walking through the flattened dorms didn't make it sink in completely. It takes a lot of time for this kind of thing to feel real. I hope they raise even more than they expect! I'll pass this along to my friends too.
ReplyDeletethank you kristi!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful. I'm also guilty of never watching the news (sometimes local) and being sooo behind on current affairs. I actually had no idea about the "royal wedding." Anyways, as fascinating as I find tornadoes, it's really tragic when they take towns by surprise and cause destruction to lives. Thank you for posting this.
ReplyDeletegoing to donate right now, your post is what I think about all the time, so easy to just get on with our own 'stuff' isn't it! nicely put M.
ReplyDeleteit is so easy to be in my own little world, but i want to do better at being aware of the pain in the world. even if it feels like more than i can handle.
ReplyDeletei too tend to gloss over/ skip the news, as so much of it seems sensationalist and/ or (truthfully) just a massive bummer. but, as you so poignantly make clear with this post - life sometimes IS a massive bummer & it's important to take a look to our left & to our right, & help those in need.
ReplyDeletei've just sent a donation over to the neuenschwander family - i hope that mark will soon have a new camera.
thank you lisa!
ReplyDeleteYou are one amazing lady. Thanks for setting this up. I'll be sure to pass this along.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly how you feel, you put it so well. It's easy to know there are hurting people, it's hard to feel with them. Thanks for this. :)
ReplyDelete-Ellie
I'm not much of a news watcher, but the weather channel is something I watch all the time. The last few days have been terrible. Watching that video you link brought me to tears. Every day is such a blessing. Thank you for posting this!
ReplyDeleteJust donated!
ReplyDeletethanks Quincy, and everyone!
ReplyDeleteThis is my first time on your blog and I was so touched by this article because I don't look at the outside world enough too. I donated to Mark. Hope he gets back to work with these donations. thoughts and prayers.
ReplyDeleteFrom your new follower. Lovely blog!
Best,
Ashley
AshleyBrookeToussant.bandcamp.com
Nice article, thanks for the information.
ReplyDeleteThanks for making me aware of this. Australia has had its fair share of natural disaters this year, but I think it is really important to stay in touch with what has been happening int he rest of the world as well. I've just donated - hope Mark is back to work in no time!
ReplyDelete