Yesterday sent me stumbling, then mumbling, then bumbling. Clever rhyme, but that’s really what happened. I struggled yet again with the social media links because they boggle me with their breakage, and trip ups, and “save” then not save. But while in the midst of all of that, I saw bids coming in, so I knew that something was working. I kept working on the day’s pie, one of my favorites—the aroma of rosemary and balsamic marinated steak with a garlic, mushroom and onion cream sauce just bursts my olfactory senses. I get a little high from it. Then the social media issue, and messages coming in saying my links aren’t working had me miss the sweet spot on my onions becoming transparent. But I figured caramelized onions was actually better for the recipe so I went with that and ignored the broken links for awhile. At least until I had one more person ask me about the links, so I sent the right link, and then stepped away from the stove while I went to see what the bids were at.
$1000 had come in for this Rosemary Steak and Gruyere in a puff pastry. That’s three zeros, I kept saying. I repeated it to myself as I wandered about my house aimlessly not sure what to do with myself. I wanted to cry and to jump up and down, and my dog wanted to go for a walk, so we did that. The whole time, while she was pooping and peeing, I was thinking, $1000! For a pie!
I get it. It’s not for the pie, it’s for the kids at Ocean Discovery Institute, but still, my little fundraiser has always felt like that—like a little fun fundraiser. I did it on a whim, and the donations come in on whims from people who want a yummy pie and want to contribute. But wouldn’t it be wonderful if the fundraiser grew to a bigger pie?
I love these kids that the money goes to. I see them as hope for a future we don’t know yet. I know they will struggle and have to persevere, but I also know many of them will achieve things I could never dream of—like becoming a world-renowned scientist. I never believed in a cure for cancer, but these kids make me think it could happen. Over the years I’ve watched some who are already changing the world as PhD students at Scripps, scientists in molecular biology, graduating from UCLA, UC Berkeley, reaching for the stars, and touching them.
A thousand dollars goes a long way to helping Ocean Discovery Institute have tuition-free programs. I’m getting all non-profitty here and spouting all the right words. But $1000 does go along way. It makes their dreams possible.
The stumbling was me climb over and around the social media obstacles, the mumbling was me cursing every one of the technological mishaps, and the bumbling was me wandering around the house repeatedly saying, “I made a pie worth $1000.” That’s a big pie.
I asked the kids on Friday “Why do you like to write?” Here are a couple of examples. (I also tell them that they can tell their stories through drawings).
I have a dream, and my dream is that their dreams come true. It sounds sappy, but it’s true. Thank you, Deb & Dan for your contribution to NaNoPIEMo and ultimately Ocean Discovery Institute kids.
