{Peyton Thomas Ricker passed away this morning, December 15th, 2009. Please continue to pray for his family. All of our thoughts and prayers are with them.}
I think Craft Hope rocks. I am standing on top of a mountain and I am shouting it. Can you hear, hear, hear, hear me, me, me, me? The crafters of Craft Hope rock, rock, rock, rock. That’s an echo by the way. Just in case you haven’t had your morning cup of coffee and aren’t awake yet.
I received a comment last week from a sweet lady who is the aunt of a little boy with cancer. Peyton was diagnosed with Pontine Glioma, a very aggressive tumor in the middle of his brain stem. She told me that he loves manatees and would love it if someone could make him a sock manatee. She said she’d pay for it. WHATEVER. That is out of the question. So as fast as my fingers could type I sounded the horn. I twittered, I Facebooked, I emailed. Can anyone make a sock manatee for this little boy. It’s urgent. And not more than five minutes later emails started coming in.
A day later, I had my first picture of a sock manatee. He was whipped up in a day by Cheyenne. Thank you so much Cheyenne!
A few days later, a picture of a manatee quilt. Carin, of Margaret’s Hope Chest, made this lovely manatee quilt. Thank goodness for fast fabric shipping. She is a mama that dropped everything on a Saturday (before Christmas mind you) to make this quilt for this sweet little boy. What a wonderful example of the Christmas spirit. Giving of oneself, of ones time for others. And what a lovely organization that we are grateful to be partnered with, led by a woman with a heart as big as Texas.
They are all now on their way to his home in Houston. Merry Christmas sweet Peyton. We all love you and are praying for you.
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We are requesting prayers for sweet Peyton and his family as they go through this difficult time. You can follow them on their family blog. And he’s also written a sweet book about manatees. You can buy it here.
If you would like to know at a moments notice the needs of people who have called upon Craft Hope please follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook group.
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This site warms my heart! You are doing such great work! We are praying for Peyton and his family!
The Lord will bless you and your family so Jade. I sit here at my work desk with tears….heartbroken for this family and child….yet they are so upbeat and happy! Thank you for all you do. Peyton is a special boy and my family will be praying as I will share the blog with friend!
your work is unbeliwable!!I wish you a lot of happiness in new year
Thank you so much for using your talents to be beautiful shining lights of God’s work in us!
Jade, you and Craft Hope are just too much to bear!!! Your Kindness, thoughtfulness, generosity, and love for human kind is palatable and overwhelming and almost takes my breath away, literally, especially after reading the post about Peyton and the sweet manatee crafts. I am Peyton’s aunt and it is heartbreaking to watch his health deteriorate, but you can’t help but be uplifted at times like this when people such as yourself and the others of Craft Hope set aside precious time from their busy schedules to warm the hearts of others. You all are in my prayers and I will always support craft hope. I’ve added a link on my blog and all my followers know exactly the awesome work that its about!
Sincerely,
I just wanted to say that my 13 year old daughter Zoe made the sock manatee by hand, not me. She makes wonderful sock animals and was excited to make a manatee for Peyton.
I just visited the blog and Peyton passed away this morning. Please keep Peyton’s family in your prayers.
Wow, what an unbelievable act of quick kindness. My heart goes out to the family dealing with this loss. I wish I would have known about his story earlier.
Beautiful projects made by beautiful people. Bless you, Jade and all you do!
tears………….. keep up the good work, friend.
Oh my. This is so touching. I’m happy his last little wish came true.
[...] story of her plea for a sock manatee for a little boy with cancer who passed away on December 15. See how many offers came pouring in. Check out the beautiful manatee quilt someone made. The kindness of strangers is astounding on [...]
Thank you. Our little Peyton didn’t make it long enough to see these sweet gifts but they are a beautiful reminder of him. We will treasure them always.