October 1, 2005 Alex's Lemonade Stand.html

I had a feeling the day was going to be wonderful as soon as I woke to

be greeted by bright sunshine, clear blue sky and a peaceful morning.

I thought of you, and wished we weren’t about to have a fund-raising event to honor your life, continuing your wish to raise funds to help the doctors and nurses who were trying to help you and other kids like you, to raise funds for research for pediatric cancer. I wished you were outside instead, enjoying the beautiful day, riding your bike, playing with your siblings or friends, eating ice cream, laughing—just being a kid.

Instead you were chosen to be an extra special person to bring our attention to something other than ourselves, to be a shining example of how we should conduct our lives, and while your life may have lasted a very short period of time, maybe you didn’t get to play like other kids, your spirit continues to grow and touch many more countless lives. Your spirit of strength, courage, and a kind heart prevails to leave an indelible impression continuing long after you passed away.

Your work here being done I know you’re in a better place, and I hope you’re playing and having lots of fun, no more pain, no more suffering, no one can hurt you anymore.

There’s on old saying “Getting old is not for sissies!” I tried to imagine what it would be like being a small child like you, being diagnosed with a deadly disease, imaging the terror you must have felt, the suffering you went through, the fun times you missed, how difficult it would be for your family, and all those close to you. Especially those doctors, nurses and other health care professionals trying desperately to find a cure for the disease, to eradicate it so no more children have to suffer, especially you.

Instead you chose an adult-like decision to make a difference and instead of giving up and allowing the illness to dampen your spirit, you turned the lemons life had given you and really made lemonade for us to drink and continue your dream of making a difference. What a brave and wonderful example you are.

My friends Barb and Erin and I left early in the morning, dressed in red hat attire, traveling south to Oswego. We set up the table, lemonade stand, decorations, bracelets, bandanas, and a beautiful photo of you, in a red hat frame. We even brought a big white red hat bear, to sit by your photo; she plays “Girls just wanna have fun.” And, YES, we did bring Elvis with us too, he was a big hit.

Focusing on the task at hand I hadn’t noticed our surroundings. With a few minutes to ponder, I looked around, searching for photo ops. One of the first things I noticed was a lone van directly in front of us—very few other vehicles were parked any where near us. The license was “ALEX 16”. “Wow, look!” I said to my friends.

Diane, from Elmer Fudge, the store next to Maggie’s closet, came out of her store with bunches of balloons tethered in her hands, Yellow, red and purple. She handed Erin three big yellow balloons. Erin tied them around our lemonade set up. Just when I was about to take photos of them, all three of them released from their tether and went directly straight up into the sky. Erin, Barb and I just looked at one another.

Glancing at the table to see if everything was in place, I noticed a white butterfly with the slightest tinge of yellow veining in its wings. “Look, a white butterfly!” (Okay maybe it was a moth, but it looked like a butterfly to me). It kept coming back all the time we were there, too.

Some might consider all these actions to be mere coincidence. I on the other hand choose to believe them to be signs to let us know we were being blessed with special reminders that what we were doing was the right thing to do, that the day was going to be special and unique. Indeed it was.

We each poured a cup of lemonade, toasted you and wished for a successful day and hoped you would be proud of us.

Not knowing what to expect, we waited for people to arrive. One of the first was a young man 13 years old—very cute, on his way to the candy store.

“What’s this all about, who’s Alex” he said, acting like a typical teen, trying to be cool, charming the old women.

“We’re raising funds for a little girl whose name was Alex, here’s her photo. She died of cancer when she was 8.”

His entire expression and demeanor transformed into a young boy who felt touched because of you.

He came back, with his mom. They each had a cup of lemonade and placed money into the box, took some of the literature, some of your photos and stopped, looking directly at me, gave me the most beautiful smile and winked. He’s going to be a heartbreaker when he grows up. I don’t think he’ll ever forget about you Alex.

Okay I came here to sell lemonade and raise funds—I never suspected I was going to be given the opportunity to talk to people and touch their heart. You never mentioned that would happen.

But you knew, after all you’re the one who thought these stands would help, and you were right.

More people started arriving to shop and look around Main Street in Oswego. Red Hatters, wearing big smiles, greeted us warmly, some knew about you already but a lot of them didn’t, they were so touched by why we were there and especially because of you. Who knows, they may have a grandchild your age, maybe they lost a child. They won’t forget you either.

Two little girls and a boy riding around on a red wagon stopped, they were on their way to the candy store too. They stopped to talk to us. One wasn’t wearing shoes, she was so funny. She had a dollar in her hand and asked if she could buy some lemonade, looking at the dollar and probably thinking that it wouldn’t be enough to buy a cup for each of them, she whispered to her friends “We can all share one cup, okay?” Of course, they each got their own cup of lemonade—that was a special dollar.

A burly man with lots of tattoos walked up and stood in front of the table looking around.

“Hey, I know about this little girl, she’s the one that had a lemonade stand at the Derby, and that horse Afleet Alex (http://www.afleetalex.com/) has something to do with her, right? Yeah, I know about her—is she okay now?”

He said: “Oh, I’m sorry; I guess I don’t know about her. Hey I thought you red hat women went around having fun, enjoying yourselves and doing silly things—what are you doing this for?”

“We are having fun. We are acting silly. Just because we’re red hatters doesn’t mean we don’t have feelings, can’t do something special to help people,” I responded.

“Hey, you’re okay! I’m gonna remember this, and next time I see you red hatters I won’t think you’re a bunch of silly women dressed funny. Thanks!”

One of the last to visit us was “CODY” a beautiful dog, just like Mattie Stepanek’s guide dog. She seemed to smile at us—that’s silly huh? Imagine a dog smiling at us. She brought her owner with to visit. Cody didn’t want any lemonade though, I think she just stopped by to say hi—maybe you and Mattie are friends now, both of you having fun together.

Those that were left, quickly cleaned up the area, put the tables and chairs away, took the decorations down, loaded trucks, and just before we left for dinner (we went to Culvers—had a great time there—we were so hungry, and yes, of course, I had lemonade with my dinner)—each of us took one of the balloons, made wishes and let the balloons go. We all stood there watching as they traveled along, this time traveling away from us on an angle as if they were leaving us. Farther and farther they traveled toward a beautiful delicate white cloud. Even though the balloons were red, purple and yellow, just before they disappeared, only the yellow balloons remained visible. It was a beautiful ending for a wonderful and blessed day.

Many people that visited brought lots and lots of donations for hurricane evacuees, that made us very happy too.

Maggie told me to tell you: "As the sun poured down from Heaven (your place) bottles poured into Maggie's Closet. Shampoo, conditioner, soap, lotion, perfume, and boxes and boxes of feminine products (woops, you don't know what those are!) I don't think there was a Red Hatter that showed up empty handed. We collected them in a basket, transferred them to a box, filled up the basket again and stacked on the floor around it. It was wonderful to see how generous everyone was. We even had some mailed to us from ladies who couldn't make it. These products will be sent to our beloved Southern states to help the victims of the recent hurricanes. They may even end up in the hands of a sister Red Hatter, or a Pink Hatter like you!"

Well, Alex, this letter is getting really long and I need to get busy putting up the photos on our site so people can see them and see how much fun we had. I just had to tell you everything, I hope you don’t mind.

Alex, did you know how many people helped with your stand today? I almost forgot to tell you, I know you would like to thank them:

Pat, Joe and Alex Gagliardi (Alex is my Godchild—I think I already told you about him—he’s the same age as you)—they helped make that great big colorful poster in front of the stand.

Barb Eakin and Kathy Fowler for making the lemonade angels, and for bringing the little lemonade stand where we put your photo and did lots of other nice things.

Erin Sharp, Paula Haley and Barb Eakin who helped with the lemonade stand and stayed with me all day. They were really funny. And "Flat Kathy" our friend from Galesburg, that's the one you see in the photos, the little photo of a red hat woman. People got a big kick out of seeing her.

Maggie and Doug (Maggie’s very handsome husband) Howe—who owns “MAGGIE’S CLOSET” you remember me telling you about them--she’s the one who makes me laugh so much, who just turned 50, remember I told you she cuts her hair for “LOCKS OF LOVE” (http://www.locksoflove.org/) every other year—did I tell you she’s going to do it again next spring and we’re going to have another lemonade stand that same day? (Maggie’s Closet, 100 S. Main St., Oswego, IL, maggiescloset@comcast.net).

Tom Birmingham, the man that draws those beautiful caricatures. tomtoonist@sbcglobal.net

Diane—the balloon lady, that makes the best fudge everyone adores—she’s from that darling store right next to Maggie called Elmer Fudge—isn’t that a cute name? I always call her Mrs. Fudge, I’m so silly. She made really pretty balloons and helped us decorate.

Diane—the fancy lady across the street from Maggie’s and Elmer Fudge, stores. She owns that beautiful store—The Marmalade Tree. I know I was bad—I bought too many things while I was in her store, but you know me—I can’t resist buying jewelry, elegant scarves, beautiful decorations for the house, and even a few presents. What a lovely store, your mom would spend a lot in there too.

Kim Marsh, a pretty woman who helps people create beautiful photo albums, who gave a class in Maggie’s store. (Creative Memories, 1000 B. State Route 25, Oswego, IL 60543, (630) 896-3595, kim@psltd.biz, www.creativememories.com)

All the great folks who drove so far to visit, like Paula Haley, she’s the one that sings and dances; and Wendy, she lives near my house and belongs to the Queens of Hearts Red Hat Chapter, and a friend I hadn’t seen in 18 years—Jim Benton and his little grandchild. And lots of others too, but I didn’t get a chance to meet all of them.

All the representatives of Red Hat chapters that stopped by, they really enjoyed the lemonade! (I wasn’t the only one spending too much money by the way—you know us red hatters love to shop!) Here are some of the groups that visited:

Okay I’ll close for now. I’m always thinking of you. Keep watching over me, and make sure I’m NOT behaving myself. I hope you were proud of us.

Hi from Tom and William (who says Woof, Woof and wags his tail for you), I’ll be talking to you soon.

In the event you weren’t able to join us at the lemonade stand and would like to send a contribution with us, please email me at: redhattersmatter@hotmail.com. Checks should be made out to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.