Buy me a pig for my birthday. Seriously.


Here is why:

In my 50 years of planetary occupation (yes, I’ll admit it, I'll be 50 this May!) I have learned it is not about me.   I have met many people during this half-century, and I have discovered I am a very blessed person.  There are people who are without a home, so they do not have a warm, comfortable bed at night or the simple luxuries we take for granted like showering or washing our clothes when we want.  I own a car, so I do not need to walk or bike in difficult weather conditions in order to travel to work, to the grocery store, or to enjoy coffee with a friend.  And if I am hungry, I walk to my fridge and find something to eat, fix food in my kitchen, or hit the Wendy's drive-through and buy a grilled chicken sandwich.  When it comes right down to it, I have a nice roof over my head, plenty of food and clothes, and a cute, little red car that runs well and gets me where I want to go.  I am very blessed.

However, I am not blind to the fact that there are many who are not so blessed.  And after 50 years on this Earth and a brief fight with thyroid cancer, I know my days on this Earth are numbered.  As I think about celebrating this milestone birthday, I’d like to do as the Boy Scouts do and, “Leave it better than I found it.”  Please help me leave this Earth better than I found it.
Through some friends, I found an organization that is helping families in Africa who sometimes only eat a handful of food a couple of times a week.  On the “Africa Family Rescue” website it says, “Buying a pig for a widow or orphan-led family quickly leads to self-sufficiency. Manure for planting season. Pork for feeding the children. Breeding the pig brings an instant business and long term self-sufficiency. Our families are also coached to share their blessing by giving the first born pig to a widow who is not in our program.”

So forget all those “over-the-hill” presents you were planning to buy me for my birthday J please join me in celebrating my 50th “Buyin’ Bacon Birthday Bash” by purchasing a pig for Ugandan widows and orphans families.  My goal is to have 50 pigs purchased in 50 days.  Please visit the website (link below) and consider buying a pig or two in celebration of my planetary occupation!  Please feel free to pass on the link to anyone you think might be interested, and by all means, check back on my Facebook page to see how I’m doing with this monumental, half-century goal. 

I bought the first pig.  I plan to save money from avoiding those money-sucking Illinois tolls!  Even though it already takes me 35-40 minutes or longer to commute back and forth to work, if I drive an alternate route it will take a little bit longer but I avoid the tolls.  So, a little extra time on my part (and patience!) and I can save money and NOT donate money to the State of Illinois!  I am buying the first pig with my time!

And if you can’t do one pig—then please consider joining with someone, or a group, and purchase a pig.  Give up that Starbucks coffee or that Dunkin’ Donut for a month and pitch in to buy a pig.  If you really just want to send a few bucks, send it to me and I’ll add it to someone else’s or match it myself and buy another pig.

It’s all about the bacon.  To donate for the "Buyin' Bacon Birthday Bash" go to http://www.africafamilyrescue.org/ and buy a pig today! Go to the website and click on the "50 Pigs/50 Years" page.


I plan to celebrate on May 23, at the Penny Road Pub in Barrington, while kicking back and listening to the Black Roses play.  I hope you can join me!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In the Toilet, Part I: The hardest part.

Image
  I moved into a little house on my property. It was in the back, and when I say "little", I mean little ! The entire house was 480 square feet.   In the bathroom you could literally sit on the toilet and wash your hands and move the shower curtain. You know those rugs you buy for around your toilet? Mine doubled as the same rug I stepped on when I exited the shower. There was no floor space for any other bathroom rugs. None.   My husband and I purchased the property with the two houses about 15 years earlier. After he passed away, with both of my kids grown and out of the house, I thought the little house might be a good place for me to "land". I knew the bathroom was in bad shape, but the previous tenant never complained. Which meant in reality, I had NO idea what I was moving into!   The bathroom floor had divets in it, where moisture had caused the particle board to sink in. And yes, the floor was apparently particle board. The rust in the shower had been
Read more

October 21, 2017

Image
                  Ed’s bad knees are what catapulted him into wanting knee replacement surgery. However, Ed, with his usual zealousness for what he believed in, wanted to do both knees at the same time. I felt like it was too much, but he felt like he wanted to reduce the time he would be laid up in recovery if the knees were done separately.                He needed permission from both his cardiologist—due to a heart issue he had the previous year—and his regular doctor before the surgeon would sign off on the procedure.                I was surprised when he let me know that his surgery was approved, and it was scheduled for October 11th.                I took the day off so I could be there for his surgery. It was most of the morning that day, spent sitting in a special waiting room just for me. I did have a friend stop by, but for the most part I sat there contemplating our life of 29 years together.                Funny how you never know when you are about to enter a tim
Read more

The Parade of Plaid

Image
Frank and Janet The whole thing with the plaid shirts started naturally a few days before the funeral from someone's idea to wear a plaid shirt at the funeral. The reason evolved from Ed VERY often sporting some kind of plaid, button-down shirt. I have no idea who thought of it. I wish I did. Someone called me and asked if they could borrow one of Ed’s shirts. When I asked why, they explained they needed one because some of the “Questers”, or people who were part of Quest Church, were wearing plaid shirts to the funeral. I don’t remember who it was, but they didn’t own a plaid shirt. I said it was fine. I thought about it before the person arrived. I had no use for those shirts other than memories of Ed wearing them at certain times. Some of the shirts he wore more than others, some he grew out of and could no longer wear. Personally, I liked the red ones and the green ones. I thought they looked especially good on him. Reflecting on it, I realized he DID own a huge number of
Read more