
Sunrise, sunset swiftly flow the days...
Today is a bittersweet day for me and for Buttons of Hope...I know it will come as a surpirse for many of you....this quote from the funny and courgeous Gilda Radner really captures my feelings today...
“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.”
After much reflection and a bunch of mixed feelings I have decided to take down the website I launched 1,988 days ago on October 27, 2006. While today will be the end of the first verse for Buttons of Hope ~ I still love the idea and would like nothing more than for it to be my life's work...hopefully closing this door will open a window to a new future....
Like destiny something happened that gives me hope for that future...after going weeks without a button order, last night I received an order for just one button...Amanda Thompson is doing the Avon Walk for breast cancer in honor of her Mom. I found it so poetic and powerful that Buttons of Hope was ending right where it started with One person honoring a loved One with One button...
That’s been the simple yet powerful promise of Buttons of Hope all along...helping people like Amanda honor their loved ones and put a face on their fundraising one button at a time.
Hopefully soon we’ll be able to write a second verse for this beautiful poem Buttons of Hope. If you run a charity or know someone who does a partnership would make all the difference ~ contact me igibbs(at)mac(dot)com.
I’m writing a more complete au revoir and thank you to the many who've supported me and of course the courageous people on the buttons - I will post it here soon. But for now a very heartfelt thank you to Dale, Janine, Codie and Janie...they were the very early inspiration for an idea that has inspired thousands and helped change the face of fundraising...hopefully we made dents in thousands of universes.
And lastly I'll leave you with this....I had the honor of meeting Elizabeth my friend from across the pond shortly before cancer took her life... to me Liz was a delightful mix of Fraulein Maria and Princess Diana, one of kind ~ better than anyone she captured the simple promise of Buttons of Hope. I will always cherish this beautiful video gift she left me...thank you Liz!
Buttons of Hope - It's amazing how powerful small things can be! from Mike Gibbons on Vimeo.