Bahahahaha! I got through the last two weeks of school… a trip to the lake… finally have a moment to breathe and log in to do some serious blogging… I mean this is prime shit right here… and I find 700 spam comments from people advertising sources in china… so there you go…. I dedicate this to them…. because they obviously really know me…..
Whew! I am not really sure where to start…. I think I have finished with my fairy doors…. I say I think because even though I am 100% positive at this moment…. things change with the direction of the wind … emotionally… mentally… spiritually… and even physically….. I will however leave the door open (ha! see what I did there) by saying… I am now a fan of street art magic like that… and am sure there are a million and one more shenanigans inside of me…
Highlights of the project:
I moved more… a lot actually… which is sad that my physical exercise was getting in and out of my car 20 times a day and stooping down to fix doors or place doors… some of them required a bit of walking…. so there is that.
I got some of the coolest responses from everyone… and the kids fairy offerings were my favorite
I painted… so much!
I improved someones quality of life besides my own – Now that is a bold statement… thinking fairy doors could improve someones quality of life… I think it is indisputable however that the children finding them had an improved outlook on life… but there was someone else watching me the entire time that I was unaware of until the day I went and gathered the doors for the summer…. Infact… I think she might have been the reason I woke up that day and decided to start this crazy project… I just didnt know it yet… This is the story of her… and at some other point I will tell you my other stories… because so much is happening…and I dont mean fairy doors LOL… I digress…. Her story:
I believe I have mentioned that the first time I went to check on the very first fairy doors I put out that I saw this woman behind the public library… I had a feeling she was living there… but there was no proof of that… she was clean… kind… and quietly reading a book… as someone who had spent sometime living on the streets though… I knew the value of finding a place like that… where you could really sleep and not worry too much about others… and I wondered then why I had never thought to sleep there in my youth… I told my son about her… asked him as we left the restaurant across the street with leftovers if we should go over and see if she was hungry… but he convinced me upon seeing her that there was no way she was homeless… that she was just relaxing there… and that we would be insulting her to offer her our leftovers…. so we didnt….. over the two months that I played fairies… I saw her at least 85% of the time I was on that path… and many times we exchanged pleasantries as I worked up to an entire fairy realm behind the library… I was finding stacks of leaves in front of the doors… and hearts made out of rocks in front of them… and I loved the location… (See Previous Posts for examples of some of the fun book quotes I was using there) … But as I decided to take the summer off of fairying… I realized I needed to clean them up… so they didnt lose their magic… and Mr. Amazing and I went down the path on Memorial Day…. By this time I knew my original instinct about this pretty lady had been right… and on this warm evening… she was there again… tucked back in a corner… I greeted her again… and told her what I was doing…. She shocked me by looking quite broken hearted … telling me how much she had been enjoying them… I told her how fun they had been and why I was doing them… and that I would be back in the fall with something magical again… She looked downright sheepish when I told her about the hearts made from rocks… and I realized right then and there that I had set out to bring magic back… and I was meeting my fairy offering giver… not a child at all…. So I sat down next to her… which scared her honestly… and told her that I wished I had thought of staying back here when I was living on the streets…. and I told her that I didnt have much… but that I would like to help her some how… and gave her a few options… I had a budget I could live with… It would cover either one night in a hotel… so that she could shower and sleep soundly… or a very nice hot meal and a gift card…. or I could take that same amount and go get her some things that would last a little longer…. She was very spooked and very embarrassed… but admitted that as nice as the first two offers sounded she really could use some supplies… So I explained to her that I had a few more things to take care of… but not to leave… and not to worry… that we would be back with something that would help…. So we went to the local rite aid… and we got some socks… and a small first aid kit… some foot cream… some wisps for her perfectly straight (and recently cleaned) teeth… that I cannot get out of my mind… she had not been out long… and she had come from somewhere that she had access too great dental care and health care …. We got some very sensible protein… beef jerky… almonds… tuna pouches…. and we got some candy items… chocolate and gummy butterflies… we got as much as we thought she would be able to put in her backpack… and then we bought a trac fone…. with a card with some minutes… and we took our haul back over to her… we sat on the stairs with her and made sure the trac fone got activated and worked (we looked like complete idiots trying to figure that thing out) they come with a full charge so she would have it through the night and I knew she could go in the library during the day and charge it… I asked her if there was anyone I could call for her… she shook her head… I tried asking a few more things… but she was very tightlipped…. and I told her it was okay… she didnt need to talk to me… but if she ever wanted too…. I would answer… I took one of my doors and I wrote my name and phone number on the back of it… as well as the YWCAs phone number… and gave it to her… she whispered that it was her favorite door as I did… I had selected that one… suspecting it was what she needed to hear the most… and hugged her and left…. I have had to resist going back… I just wanted to take her home with me… I searched the missing persons database… I just know she is someones loved one… I dont know what she is running from… if she is afraid of being hurt… I just know that I do not believe in coincidences… and that my fairy doors were in the right place at the right time…. for both of us.
I have so much more to say… and so much more art to show… but I am just going to leave this here… for now… and remind myself in years to come that this story happened in the middle of my avoiding finishing my book… which is about a homeless girl…. thats all
OH! … Here is the door I left her… excuse me while I go clean up my mascara from blubbering like an idiot through this.
Feel free to comment… unless you want to tell me about this great source in China you have… then fuck off.
You are my idol. Thank you for being such an incredible example of all that is good!
YOU! You are my 1000th comment on the blog… that isnt spam… real comments! and I love you btw.
Love that a project for beauty and inner magic really really touched a few people in ways they needed!
It was a lot of fun đŸ™‚ thanks!
You are, as usual, amazing!! And I love you!!
Right back atcha beautiful lady.