road map
Follow my journey. Find out more about these wonderful people and organizations.
01. OTRFG trailer
“We’re looking for people and organizations doing good things, being kind, rolling up their sleeves and making a better world for all of us.””
02. Life Advice
“You should be kind even though it’s hard sometimes because it’s the right thing to do.”
03. The shepherd’s crook
“No one will ever get wealthy doing this. It’s a labor of love as much as anything.””
04. behind the lens - ‘The shepherd’s crook’
Video tutorial and a look behind the scenes while filming the Shepherd’s Crook.
04. unbounded
““Rather than trying to regain what you’ve lost, celebrate what you’ve become.” ”
05. the healing
I spent decades hiding it around the house - under the bed, on the highest shelf in the linen closet, behind boxes of old photos and Christmas decorations. I even sent it to my mom's house for a while, so I wouldn't accidentally "find" it.
It’s more than just a dress.
When I look at it, I think of sunflowers, bare feet, and the smell of ocean air. I hear laughter, steel drums, and my dad whispering, "Honey, I've never danced a day in my life." I remember the smile on his face as I took his hand and we stepped onto the dance floor.
When I look at my wedding dress, I feel overpowering love and a deep sense of loss.
Marriage isn’t easy, and neither is divorce. Five years after getting married my husband and I were living separate lives. I no longer had the man, but I still had the dress. I tried to get rid of it — consignment stores, online resellers, Facebook Marketplace. I even tried to donate it to a local non-profit. Nobody wanted it.
As a last-ditch effort, I turned to Google. I found The Angel Gowns Project. They shared the story of a young man in Ghana, rushing to the hospital to welcome his new baby girl into the world, only to learn that she didn’t make it. He and his wife left with their baby in a cardboard box. The Angel Gowns Project turns old wedding dresses into beautiful burial gowns. The gowns help families cope with the loss of a child — giving them the gift of comfort and dignity.
That’s when I knew.
My dress wasn’t meant for someone being married. It was meant for someone being buried.
I packed up my wedding dress and sent it off. Angel Gowns sent it to Guatemala, where a seamstress named Dianira created nine beautiful burial gowns for nine grieving families. Dianira is one of the many women who work for Angel Gowns around the world, empowered through education and employment. She sent me a picture and a video thanking me for the dress.
It’s me who should be thankful. My dress is exactly where it should be, not hidden in a closet behind candles and washcloths but part of a new memory. As is mine, one of overpowering love and a deep sense of loss.
And maybe, just maybe, it can be part of the healing.
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost,
to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”