We Did It! Our Inaugural Event! 🦋

Phew! I made it through…it was an absolute mad dash at the ‘end’ to get everything done, set up, and pretty. But, I think things turned out OK 🙂

Sharing Solace hosted our very first event at the Just for Her Expo in Kansas City last weekend. It was totally exhausting {…emotionally, physically, mentally…} and worth every single second of it!

I was anxious {to say the least} to get this thing started because this was the first time I had really shared Sharing Solace on a large scale… What if nobody ‘got’ it? What if nobody LIKED it? What if I just wasted the last 3 years of my life? I actually brought a full box of tissues thinking I might need them to wipe up my own tears {which I did, more on that in a minute}.

Of course, there were hiccups. Of course, there were things that didn’t go how I had hoped/expected them to go. …I don’t even know if the event could have lived up to the image I had in my mind…

Planning for this was a LOT like planning a wedding – everything, down to the color of my shoes and (tool)belt, was planned out. Pretty much everything was DIY. Nothing would/could be ‘good enough’. And, as we got closer to the big day the little ‘zhushes’ I’d planned got thrown out the window as the clock ticked down {and no one but me knew any different}.

I had ONE SHOT {cue Eminem} to launch our mission – and to make my Madelyn proud of her mama…true or not, that’s how I felt…

**Side Note** As we were packing up all the stuff {and there was a LOT of stuff} to go to the show I noticed a bunch of the boxes were exactly the same, plain cardboard box…not moving boxes, not amazon boxes, just plain ol’ boxes. Further investigation uncovered that the boxes were from the online pharmacy that sent us our fertility drugs… Both the hubs and I had to laugh that at least SOMETHING from those thousands of $$ we spent actually was useful. And it was ironic that it was for Sharing Solace – all about grieving what could have been…

So we’re all set up, in this giant convention center, nestled between pretty, happy things like t-shirts, and fudge, and jewelry and home decor. I didn’t have anything to sell – just a mission to share and a story to tell {and brochures, crayons, and candy}.

We must have looked friendly or something because people stopped. People looked. And, people were willing to let me get on my soapbox.

I didn’t share my personal story about Madelyn – unless it felt relevant {and it was only a few times}. Mostly, I just wanted people to know that we’re here and they’re not alone {and a little bit about how it ‘works’}.

Tears were shed by all – both happy and not-so-happy {good thing I had all those tissues}. We had mothers without their babies, daughters without their mothers, wives without their husbands, and sisters without their siblings. I think we heard just about every scenario under the sun. And, I think I gave out more hugs than candy, crayons, and brochures combined.

We had people asking for handfuls of brochures because they ‘knew someone’ that needed Sharing Solace. We had friends bring back their friends because they ‘had to see this’. We had counselors, and hospice workers, and doctors, and nurses want to talk more. We even had community organizations want Sharing Solace to speak at their next event.

Some might say that our first event was a bust – and I guess if you’re looking from a financial standpoint you’re right, we didn’t ‘sell’ a single thing.  BUT my heart is full, my confidence is boosted, and I’m even more determined to make Sharing Solace a ‘real thing’. Watch out world! Here I come!

I have to give a HUGE shout out to EVERYONE that helped – there was no way I could have done this myself! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone that helped build, design, decorate, setup, work, and gave moral support. Your love and support have not gone unnoticed. There is not enough love {and caffeine} in the world for me to bestow on you ❤❤