the best thing since sliced bread
{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.
jade on December 14th 2009 in kindness of strangers
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Missy5ft2 responded on 14 Dec 2009 at 12:52 pm #
This site warms my heart! You are doing such great work! We are praying for Peyton and his family!
April responded on 14 Dec 2009 at 1:18 pm #
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!
vesna responded on 14 Dec 2009 at 2:36 pm #
your work is unbeliwable!!I wish you a lot of happiness in new year
Kate Eschbach responded on 14 Dec 2009 at 6:31 pm #
Thank you so much for using your talents to be beautiful shining lights of God’s work in us!
America Ririe responded on 14 Dec 2009 at 8:31 pm #
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,
Cheyenne responded on 15 Dec 2009 at 1:22 am #
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.
Katrina responded on 15 Dec 2009 at 11:58 am #
I just visited the blog and Peyton passed away this morning. Please keep Peyton’s family in your prayers.
Kaitlyn responded on 15 Dec 2009 at 8:41 pm #
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.
Rebekah responded on 18 Dec 2009 at 4:38 pm #
Beautiful projects made by beautiful people. Bless you, Jade and all you do!
marjorie responded on 20 Dec 2009 at 9:58 am #
tears………….. keep up the good work, friend.
dana responded on 22 Dec 2009 at 9:20 pm #
Oh my. This is so touching. I’m happy his last little wish came true.
From Grief to Action « Mama See Mama Do responded on 30 Dec 2009 at 10:42 am #
[...] 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 [...]
Jenna responded on 06 Jan 2010 at 10:54 am #
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.