What made me cry today

I was going to post something the other day about crying, was thinking about it on my way home last week, which feels like much more than a week ago. It's been a very long week and I am finally recovering, health-wise and otherwise. Still coughing a bit and sniffling but I think I am finally on the mend, which is good, because I need as much energy as I can get. I feel a lot stronger, and finally ready to tackle this year and all the work I have, and not just to tackle it, but to realize the blessing I've been given with it. I err on the pessimistic side, always, and it's hard for me not to see what I don't have in the way of work, rather than what I do, and I think that often bogs me down when I'm trying to actual be creative. So for now I'm just digging in and in fact discovering that, hey, writing is infuriating but also kindof fun, when I let myself just go with the flow of it.

I always tend to cry when I'm PMSing, and I know I posted about my breakdown outside the embassy, and then there's been Hillary's crying all over the news. But today I feel like I cried for a real reason, for someone who's gone through something that is truly one of the worst things I can ever imagine. And it's probably wrong to feel grateful for what I do have in light of someone else's tragedy, but it did help me put my life into perspective and buck up a bit and just get down to what I'm supposed to be doing. I've been dawdling for way too long and in some prolonged limbo stage, and I'm not sure why, but I felt like I read about this today for a reason. I'm not sure what that reason is, but I had to share because reading about this family just moved me so much.

I was researching an Australian (Brisbane) bakery called Carousels Cupcakes and Coffee, for an interview I'm doing for Cupcakes Take the Cake, when I came across their special Ava cupcake, so named after owner Sheye Rosemeyer's daughter, who passed away at only three and a half years old. There's a memorial site about her here, and Sheye has a blog about her life and work as a children's photographer.



There's also an Etsy shop where you can purchase artwork like the illustration above, part of the Super Princess series, with 25% of proceeds going to Royal Children's Hospital. I have nothing else to say, but leave you to read more about Ava and Sheye. As I wrote to Sheye, my heart goes out to her, and anything I can do to spread the word about her bakery and the example she is setting, I will.