Thursday, June 21, 2018

Stop Everything And Come Cry Happy Tears With Me

I haven't mentioned FOE here in a while, but it's a bright spot of joy in my Facebook feed - often the ONLY bright spot for many of us members - and even though I'm just a lurker there, it makes me feel part of this community in a way no comment section ever could.

Case in point: Anni Welborne and her family are dear friends that John and I've never met. We've exchanged actual snail mail (gasp!) and her daughter Pinkie is a regular here in the comment section. In fact, John designed our My Little Pony 'Bot pin specifically for Pinkie; she got the very first pins long before we offered them for sale.

So yesterday when Anni shared this about her other daughter, Stacy, my heart soared. It's exactly the kind of thing I want to shine a spotlight on here on Epbot: the kind of joy and triumph and inspiration that makes me think maybe everything's gonna be OK in the world, you know?

Plus it involves The Greatest Showman, and you know how I feel about that. :D

Anni's given me permission to share this publicly, so here, come cry and sing and renew your faith in humanity with me:


 Anni's not the only one a bit soggy after that update. Oh my heart!

This morning Anni posted a follow-up, this time with video. I won't embed the video (YouTube will just yank it for copyright) but here's her update:



A little more about Stacy: In 2016 she won the title of Indiana Miss Amazing Pre-teen 2016, and she's recently been named a Miss Amazing Ambassador. I hadn't heard of that organization before, but it looks like they live up to their name in every way. Wow.

 Stacy is currently trying to raise $600 so she can sponsor 5 more girls to enter the pageant. If you want to help - or just learn more about how cool Miss Amazing is - check out her fundraising page.


So is your heart singing yet? C'mon, let's all join Stacy for the next round:



16 comments:

  1. I LOVED seeing her video today! Watched it all the way through and made my heart smile. At times I don’t have much to smile about....but Today.. I smiled!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ms. Bot (correct?) I am Stacy's aunt. I've seen her go through much, with great strength and love that often astounds. Anni posted the link to EPBOT and your kind words. I have not seen Showman, but to see even a still of Stacy dancing to that song made me weep for joy. Thank you. (I must sign anonymous as I have no Google account.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Such a cool story. Thanks for sharing, Jen and Anni... I love this ray of sunshine in such a dim and awful week. Now I need to go watch The Greatest Showman again!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looks like her campaign has been funded!

    Thanks for brightening my day!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am jumping with joy over here!!! This thing has EXPLODED and you only posted it 4 hours ago! Thank you so, so sooooooo much!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Greatest Showman is amazing and I LOVE "This is Me", too! It has such a wonderful message and as my eyes leak while I type this - I LOVE the video and what Staci is doing :) . Thank you SO much for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jen, thank you for this post today! Anni, Stacy, and Pinkie -- you ladies are all amazing and wonderful (and Pinkie, I LOVE your Blogger profile!). Thank you all for introducing me to a very cool organization.
    -Martine

    ReplyDelete
  8. I saw the FoE post with the video first, without the backstory. Now this. <3 I LOVE IT! And this group of the most awesome peeps! Stacy - you're amazing! Keep doing awesome stuff!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. THANK YOU for posting this! I hadn't actually seen Greatest Showman until you put up this beautiful video. So of course, now I'm IN LOVE with the music!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm, I'm just a bundle of happy tears over here. How amazing is she and how wonderful is that?!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a wonderful story!!! Thanks so much for sharing this. Stacy, you are indeed Miss Amazing! I'm a special ed teacher for students who are blind and visually impaired and my kids are always doing much more than the doctors said they ever would.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have a 16 yo daughter with Down syndrome, who also loves watching musicals, singing and dancing her little heart out. I know exactly how she feels. No matter how many times I've heard High School Musical (and it must be in the thousands by now!), I still can't help but smile when I watch her :-).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Where are you located? Would your daughter be interested in the Miss Amazing pageant? It's spectacular in a million ways. Several girls with Down Syndrome have won different titles. There are six age categories from 10-35, so your daughter would fit right in. Whether she's "girly" or not, Miss Amazing is all about shining as one's true self, proving to the world that even those that others see as "less" are truly AMAZING! Please let me know if you'd like more information. The web site has a ton, though. www.MissAmazing.org

      Delete
  13. Anyone interested in an update?
    WE PASSED 300% OF THE ORIGINAL GOAL THIS WEEK!

    ReplyDelete

Please be respectful when commenting; dissenting opinions are great, but personal attacks or hateful remarks will be removed. Also, including a link? Then here's your html cheat sheet: <a href="LINK ADDRESS">YOUR TEXT</a>