My original plan for spring break (late March) this year was to go to Japan to see the Sakura festivals. ( the cherry blossom festivals) Instead I stayed home because I had to help support someone after a surgery. So I went to Japan in January instead… to the Tokyo Quilt Festival.
I would have had to cancel my spring break trip, because the earthquake occurred 1 week before I would have flown there. My friend Evie at Kaufman flew home from Japan just a few days before the quake. So we are both feeling fortunate that we weren't caught in the disaster, but we also feel closer to those affected by the devastation, because of our recent trips there.
Today is our daughter Sophie's "Gotcha Day" – which means 8 years ago today she was placed into my arms for the very first time. So many of our customers and friends followed our travel diary while we were on that trip, in fact we received about 3000 emails from those following our adoption journey. This even included teachers who were reading our daily diary to their classes!
In later years I visited orphanages in China, and have been inspired to help children who are left behind to grow up in institutions. Many of the organizations who receive charity dollars from eQuilter, are helping these children: Altrusa, Mission of Love, Engineers Without Borders and Doctors Without Borders.
So today, as we are celebrating and photographing the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC, Sophie and I are grateful for so many things. Grateful that I didn't plan to go to Japan for spring break, grateful that we can come to Washington DC for the festival, grateful that fate brought her to our family 8 years ago, and grateful that we have a business that allows us to help other children growing up in orphanages.
As we visit the museums and memorials in the nation's capital, we are grateful to have the opportunities that this country gives to us. As we walked through the WWII memorial, we honored Paul's dad who bravely fought in and survived that war in Europe. As we traced the names on the Vietnam Memorial, climbed the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and listened to the Park Ranger retell the story of Lincoln's assassination at Ford Theater…. we are grateful for the stories that inspire us to do great things.
My brother works as an architect here, and he just got back from installing a huge fiber art sculpture in the new wing of the San Francisco Airport. His company has worked on some big famous projects here such as designing the Spy Museum, Hilton headquarters, Natl Geographic TV studios, embassies and government buildings. I am so proud of him! He works a few blocks from the White House so it is convenient to stay in this area so we can walk to the sights, and visit with him nearby. Sophie and I visited his office yesterday, and met an enthusiastic quilter among the staff. We even ran into quilters as we strolled around the Tidal Basin viewing the blossoms yesterday! Quilters are everywhere. It is just amazing.
So I'll be posting photos of this trip over the next several days, and then I leave April 12-22 to Bali.
Our * 1000 Quilts for Japan* project is rolling – see the latest updates on the project page.
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