Dedication

A beloved lady passed away last week. I just got back from a short trip to my home state to honor her life, and celebrate the ninety years she spent blessing people. She was smart, and funny, and gut-wrenchingly honest, but never cruel. To know her was to understand implicitly that in her eyes, you were enough. Children were dearest to her, and teaching and education were her passions, but it was the unconditional love she bestowed on every single soul she touched that changed lives. She was the closest thing to God I've ever experienced on this plane, and alot of what I have learned about giving came from her.

Her last request for me was that I sing at her memorial. As a little girl I spent hours singing for her. First, it was "The Sound of Music." Then it was "The Sound of Music" in Spanish. Then French. Of course, my four-year-old brain only knew English but that didn't stop me. I had, after all, a captive audience and a rather long rap-sheet of attention seeking behavior. But it never tired her. It seemed I could only bring her joy, and in doing so, she returned to me an invaluable gift. It would have been easier not to sing at the funeral. I barely made it through, as it was, and it's not like she was going to know if I didn't do it. But even beyond her last breath, she had one last lesson for me about love. Gifts are sometimes most beneficial to the giver.

With love,
Liz

Lullaby

There are episodes in our lives that change us. Some are obviously catastrophic. Others ripple by, veritably unnoticed except for that wrinkle in time which, matrix-like, alters the fabric of our core. If everything happens for a reason, for whatever reason, we are constantly being altered.

Last week I went to a nearby lake to meet with friends and be out in our ever-elusive summer sunshine. We never made it in the water that day. The beach was closed when we arrived, and I found my friend with her granddaughter, clearly shaken. Just a few minutes before, she was asked to identify something in the water. It was a woman. With a blonde pony-tail. She was wearing a watch. And she had very deliberately sunk her self to the bottom of the lake.

We watched the divers on the dock for awhile, go down then come back up. Down again. Making sure they didn't miss a thing. Yet somehow, we had already failed her. It's true, we cannot save everyone. But we don't know what kind of ripple we may be, unless we try.

Peace,
Liz

The Form

Thank you to all of you who have so graciously offered support and well-wishes for this new venture. Cheering sections are always welcome!

I am in the process of submitting Form 1023 in order to be granted status as a 501(c)3 corporation. Filing fees alone are $750, but if we want to solicit the Big Guns, it is a vital addition to our title. Who knew tax exemption would be so expensive?

Liz

Here We Go...

A wise woman once said "The best blush to use is laughter: It puts roses in your cheeks and in your soul."

I am not a make-over artist. Nor am I a fashionista. But I am a woman with a good eye, and in possession of talents which lead to well-dressed women. I am also a woman who knows what it's like to discover, in bemusement or dismay, that her plans for the future were shoved to the back of a dusty shelf. Whether a result of Providence or careless hands, each of us understands, through observation or personal experience, the black hole that a sense of powerlessness can create right in the middle of your soul.

Lord willing, most of us will never know what it is like to lose everything despite our best laid plans, to helplessly watch a loved one deteriorate, or to bury a child. Under these or similar circumstances, the blush of laughter can feel like a far off fairytale.

Out of the Gray is not about creating a flawless appearance. We are about meeting women right where they are, in their own space, and helping them to claim what they forgot they own: that rosy glow of a fine work of art.

These things should not be left to chance: nature abhors a vacuum and so do we (heh). So here's the plan: we will accept nominations for women in Western Washington who need some clothes, nice clothes. Cute clothes. (Not your grandma's lime green polyester suit, please.) Women who need some time. We'll do a little paperwork, and I will hand pick outfits for them from a collection of new and gently used clothing based on their particular needs, tastes, and shape. Each woman will also receive a selection of donated personal care items. We'll have fundraisers and those of you who can, will use the PayPal button to the right to make financial donations. If you have other talents or donations to offer, please see contact information also on the right.

Each of these acts, these gestures, is a small thing. Except they are not. The seeds of kindness, falling on fertile ground, grow into strong, healthy plants which go on to bear fruit in perpetuity. After all, healthy women are helpful women; their successes, their strengths, grow exponentially as conveyed through their offspring and contributions to their communities.

Blessings,

Liz Joseph
Executive Director