Sometimes in
life, you meet the coolest people and make the craziest connections and it's as
though they were just meant to be a part of your story from that day forward.
(I
will acknowledge that this happens a lot in the two places I tend to spend the
bulk of my time: New York City, as you might expect, given the sheer number of
lonelys and loonys; and Moshi, Tanzania, a town about the size of my graduating
college class.
So, while I might be slightly better poised than most for meet-cutes, platonic and otherwise, I really do think it's true that if you open your heart - and your mouth - and get to know new people, you find out, a lot of them are just like you and pretty damn interesting to boot!)
So, while I might be slightly better poised than most for meet-cutes, platonic and otherwise, I really do think it's true that if you open your heart - and your mouth - and get to know new people, you find out, a lot of them are just like you and pretty damn interesting to boot!)
That
said, this past summer while still in Moshi, my friend Deus (a Tanzanian
national living in California with his American wife, also a good friend of
mine) returned to Tanzania with a group of folks intent on "climbing Kili
for a cause." This cause was Parkinson's disease as Deus's
mother-in-law suffers from the illness and the people he brought over have all
been touched in some way or form by the disease. For a refresher on how
their trek and trip went down, check out this blog entry: http://toanafasi.blogspot.com/2017/08/team-fox.html
Now,
back in NYC, while finishing up my fundraising marathon and miles away from
Kilimanjaro, I was recently reunited with a bunch of these Team Foxers for
dinner in early December and then again last week when my mom and I trained out
to Larchmont, NY with former Toa intern Kaitlin to do a little "shopping
for a cause."
Meet
Dawn and her husband, Chuck.
They are
pretty awesome.
After taking
them to Msaranga and spending time with them in Moshi town in August, it was my
pleasure to reunite and catch up. Well, not just catch up but get to know
each other even better.
Turns out
when Dawn isn't climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, she is curating her gorgeous shop,
Peridot Fine Jewelry (named after the bright green semi-precious stone), just
outside NY city. After visiting one of the Toa school sites on her recent
trip to TZ, she was inspired to share what she learned with her client
community. So, in lieu of sending the usual teas or chocolates for her
top clients as a holiday gift, she chose to make a contribution in their name
to Toa, and designed a holiday card around the donation.
The
card, below, went out around the holidays and I just love the way Dawn
"winterized" our Toa colors for the holiday theme. I also love
the word-of-mouth publicity that she has engendered for Toa and hope I can do
the same for Peridot!
Of course,
while we were there, we also had to check out the goods, so Carla, Kaitlin, and
I shopped for several hours before finally settling on our purchases and going
for lunch. The great thing about Peridot is that while of course there
are some amaaaazing pieces (with likewise amaaaazing pricetags), there is also
some really cool funky stuff like the "ear hugger" earrings that
Carla gifted me with and the raw quartz pendant that she bought for herself.
Kaitlin, unusually frugal, didn't buy anything, but she did put her mom's name
on the mailing list. ;) I guarantee Sally will be coming by for
some retail therapy shortly....
Check
out Dawn's catalog and my new earrings (the bottom set), and for more
information, visit the Peridot website here: https://www.peridotfinejewelry.com/
Also, be sure
to see the "Brave" collection which all the Team Foxers now wear.
The silver lettering on these cord bracelets spell "brave" in Khmer,
and I'm pretty sure wearing one guarantees a successful Kili climb!
And,
do check out the Michael J. Fox Foundation dedicated to furthering Parkinson's
research at https://www.michaeljfox.org/
and Deus Haraja's tour company, Beyond Adventures, which is organizing further
treks for Parkinson's but can also create safari, beach, or mountain packages
tailored to your individual needs, https://www.basafaris.com/
Remember,
BE OPEN-MINDED! Climb mountains! Shop for jewelry! You never
know when you'll meet your next new friend!!
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