Jackson, Giving, & Jordan’s Socks

I was having a conversation about dogs with a client of mine and I started to show her some pictures of my furry friends when I stumbled on this shot of my dog Jackson. Poor Jackson has been robbed of his daily walks because I’ve been trying to rest my back for the past week (he has a habit of suddenly jerking me in the wrong direction every time a truck or squirrel goes by). This picture made me sad because I know how much Jackson loves to be outside, especially when we go for a walk through my neighborhood. Don’t worry buddy, we’ll be out walking before you know it.

I was listening to my favorite radio show while driving between jobs and a guy called in and told the host that he was having a hard time coping with the loss of his daughter who died during a bone marrow transplant shortly after she had beaten cancer. He said the only thing he could remember about his child was how she had to suffer and then die – he couldn’t remember anything about her before she was sick. I can’t even imagine that kind of pain. It makes my back pain seem quite trivial. Tomorrow, I will be heading back over to the children’s hospital again to take portraits of the kids and their families that are stuck there during this holiday season. The older I get, the less I care about getting and the more I care about giving. Whatever I can do to make these kids and their families lives a little brighter is a million times better than getting the latest gadget or the shiniest hunk of a meaningless product. That random doohickey you get will be outdated and you will probably forget when, where, or why you got it. The look on the mother’s face when I showed her the shots of her little boy playing up to the camera and looking like he could be anywhere but in a hospital, like he was just being a regular healthy kid waiting for Santa to arrive, will be with me forever.

It amazes me when I think of what one of my daughter’s softball teammates, Jordan, has done this holiday season. She started her own charity called “Warm Feet Happy Hearts” and collected 3,640 pairs of socks and distributed them this past weekend at the Convoy of Hope to kids in need. When I was 11 years old, all I cared about was what time GI Joe was on in the morning! There is nothing you can give that kid that will match what she has done for others (but you can donate a package of socks which she is still collecting). Her heart grew with each pair of socks she handed out on Saturday, and she’s shown the kind of leadership and gumption that presidents are made of. It’s truly inspiring how an idea can grow into a movement, even in the hands of a young child. Thank you Jordan for your inspiration! Check out the photos of the event on their Facebook page.