Actually, I do know where to start. With this: THANK YOU. Thank you for reading, thank you for caring, thank you for being generous beyond measure. You don’t need to care about my kid, or about a bunch of other kids you’ve never met, but you do, and you are AWESOME and PRETTY and I am inspired by you.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, go read about my possibly ill-named post on making tampon lemonade. In the face of learning that Chickadee’s hygiene items were constantly being stolen by other girls in the hospital, I’m not going to lie: I got angry. Anger is easy. So that happened first, and then I realized anger accomplished nothing, and instead maybe I—we—could do something, instead. I asked you to help me round up the supplies these girls need, and you responded beyond my wildest imaginings.
I rented my UPS mailbox on Monday, and put up that post, knowing that thanks to Amazon Prime, there would be packages arriving on Wednesday. I planned to go pick up at the end of the day, but around 2:00 I received a rather stern missive from the store.
“We have about fifty packages here for you. Is this going to be a regular occurrence? We really don’t have the space to be storing this many things. When are you coming to pick them up?”
Whoops. (Related: FIFTY PACKAGES??? On the FIRST DAY? Houston, we’re gonna need a bigger truck.)
I of course drove straight over to the store and found the manager and began apologizing profusely. I then ended up telling the entire story to him and the assistant manager, suavely prefacing it with, “Let me tell you what’s happening here so that you don’t think I’m just running drugs through your store.”
When I finally reached the end and took a breath, the assistant—who is probably older than he looks, but lemme tell you, he looks about 18—surveyed the towering stack of boxes with my name and said, “So… uhhhh… these boxes are all filled with… tampons?”
I’m guessing, but that could be a first for that store. Just a hunch.
They were kind enough to help me load it all into the truck, and I assured them over and over that THIS IS THE WORST OF IT, Amazon Prime, you know, it’s 2-day, and deliveries will surely taper off throughout the week, but you just go ahead and tell me what time the truck gets here and I will plan to come pick up right after that every day until it slows down, thank you so much for your patience with me and my little tampon charity project, you guys are great.
If you’re a fan of the Woulda Coulda Shoulda Facebook page (you already are, aren’t you?) you’ve already seen what that first delivery wrought:
Fifty(ish) boxes. Beyond my wildest hopes. And as I began unpacking and repacking (Amazon does love to toss one item in a box with seventeen airpacks and call it good, plus I wanted to pack like items together to make it easier for the hospital) I thought to myself, “This is incredible. And it’s not even all of it! But it’s most of it, I’m sure. Tomorrow there’ll probably be ten more boxes or something, and then a few more things will kind of dribble in. Still, this is going to be enough for every girl there for months.”
As I unboxed and repacked, Monkey came into my office and happily popped the airpacks for me and kept saying things like, “GEEZ, HOW MANY TAMPONS DO GIRLS NEED, ANYWAY??” (I think he found my response of “All of them” a little unnerving. Such is the cost of having me for your mother.) For fun I did some counting, that first day. 76 sticks of antiperspirant. 87 bottles of bodywash. 28 bags of pads and 34 boxes of tampons. An entire case of Stridex; 32 giant bottles of 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner. And more and more and more.
I went to bed Wednesday sore and giddy. I remember saying to Otto, “Even if nothing else comes, this is amazing. They are going to FREAK when we drop all this off!”
Yesterday (Thursday) Otto and I drove over to UPS at the appointed time and were greeted by… a stack even larger than the day before. “Whoa. This can’t be right,” I stammered. “Is this all MINE?” The manager laughed and nodded. We started loading the truck.
And then a couple of guys brought out two more stacks. The second delivery was larger than the first one. And y’all are still mailing me and commenting that you have items on the way. Many of the boxes came with packing slips that don’t tell me who sent them, so please consider all of yourselves thanked, anonymous or not. Some came with short messages of encouragement and love. A PR firm I haven’t worked with in forever sent a lovely note wishing Chickadee and the girls all the best and was signed “from your friends at Pantene and Olay,” and was a windfall of good-smelling luxury products. (The cynical amongst you might be tempted to see it as a PR thing but I tend to think they’re just being generous, and in a personal way, to boot.) There just aren’t enough thank yous to express how great this has been.
This was just partway through yesterday’s unpacking, as I realized that (duh) the two big boxes I’d initially pulled for the tampons weren’t going to be nearly large enough:
Ditto on the largest box, which I’d originally thought would be plenty big for all of the pads. Uh, no:
By the end of yesterday, in order to come sit at my chair at the desk here, I had to squeeze past EIGHT CASES of tightly-packed feminine hygiene products:
And yeah, maybe it was dumb to put it right next to my desk here, but see the problem is that the REST of my office is filled with everything ELSE—shampoo, conditioner, antiperspirants, lip balms, bodywash (OMG SO MUCH BODYWASH), lotions, puzzle books, and on and on and on.
Plus there’s the trash. I’ve managed to compress about 104 boxes boxes down to about 32, so far. Here’s the discard pile:
And here’s the rest of what we have so far:
YOU DID THIS. In less than a week, you filled my office with tangible love for a group of girls you have no obligation to think about, much less shower in the evidence that the world does care about those who struggle. I have been brought to happy tears more than once in this process. If this is what can be done in just two days of deliveries, don’t tell me that good people can’t change the world. You already have.
We’ll do another pickup today (is it wrong of me to hope it lets up just a little…?) and make our first delivery tomorrow. Then we’ll collect whatever comes next week and take that next weekend.
Know that we are certainly not in dire need of anything else, but if you WANT to send something and haven’t shopped yet, my contact told me that travel size items are nice for “incentive” items, and right now I only have one box of ethnic hair care items if you want to send more of those, too.
I was ready to be totally stoked just to play Santa and drop all of this off tomorrow, plus to do our customary 2-hour sit-in-the-cafeteria-and-play-Scattergories visitation with Chickadee, but we got one more little miracle: Tomorrow—after almost seven weeks in the program—Chickadee is having her first therapeutic leave. We get to take her out for a few hours, for the first time. It’s pretty much going to be the greatest day EVER.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Every single one of you has held us up during a difficult time, and I am so grateful that together we’re making the world brighter for so many of these girls, too.
Just so wonderful!!!!!! (excuse me, *wipes eye*, ahem, alergies :)
Love.
Rock on, Mir, and not to pat myself on the back, but YAY! to all of us. ! Hope you have a lovely visit with Chickie!
I’m crying. I hope those girls can feel just a little of the love we are all feeling for them.
Tears, you guys! Tears! Way to go. I hope the girls that receive these items feel the love that is being sent along with them. They deserve it.
This is so stinkin’ beautiful.
Gah, Mir, I’m crying all over my keyboard.
If that hospital should start to refuse to accept any of that (they’d be nuts to do that btw) I’m sure a women’s and children’s shelter would ecstatic to take it.
Is it wrong of me to hope that the fine people of every tampon manufacturer gets wind of this and makes a HUGE donation? If not to that hospital, any hospital with a teen long term ward!
The two boxes I’m taking over are all travel size!! Hip hip hooray!! Also, I have so much love for you and the Woulda Shoulda friends!!
No matter what else is happening there is a huge amount of love out there in the world.
This is the best post I could read to start my weekend!
I hope this gives these girls some faith and hope in the world and that they can pass it on someday when they are ready. I am inspired to continue doing this, but at a local level! Thanks Mir for sharing your story with us, no matter how hard and sucky it has been.
I am so freaking happy for you Mir. I got chills reading your post, its such a kind and generous thing we are all doing for these girls. And, as an added bonus, you get to make lots of Tampax references. You just can’t beat that.
I haven’t even had a chance to do my box yet. Sample size stuff and ethnic hair products it is.
Happy Friday! ;-)
This post just makes my heart happy … there is still good in this crazy, sometimes ugly world … and you have astringent and absorbent proof of that!! Sending sweet healing thoughts and prayers to Chickadee and your family!!
So amazing what one person can do. My favorite thing about this is that it is completely selfless. There are no politics or religion or any other sort of divisive issue at play here. It is simply one woman’s wish to do something for someone in need and give us all an opportunity to help out. This has made my day, week, month. So awesome! Thanks, Mir!
no you did this. Yay you!
wow! Just wow! And tears too! I told you you were changing lives! Do you believe me now? ;-)
Well I’m looking at boxes full of tampons and crying, so that’s…new.
what a lovely lovely lovely thing you are all doing! Lovely ladies indeed!
I’m all misty-eyed now, and hoping your first leave with your chickadee is the first of many BEST DAYS EVER.
Love, love, love.
Have a wonderful visit, Santa.
Crying at work. This whole thing has been on my mind the last two days. I woke up this morning with the words to express what I wanted to say. I hope that at least one of those girls sees some small part of this and realizes that there are people in this world that care, and that knowledge helps her heal at least just a little. Thank you for taking this on, and thank you for being willing to share.
Missed ALL of this because I was away but i’m FLABERGASTED and so happy for you.
Awww, so nice to have a GOOD reason to cry for a change. Yay for pretty people!
Awesome awesome awesome! This is the way the world should work.
Can we put you in charge of tax reform AND a new health care act? You and your tribe – we could change the world. Or at least keep everybody in tampons.
This all makes me proud to be human.
Enjoy your time with your girl; I pray it is incredible and full of love for all of you.
Soo exciting!!! Love the pictures.
Very happy that you get to take chickey on an outing this weekend. Let her know that we are all pulling for her :)
YAY!!!!!!!!
Wonderful. Just wonderful. In the best of all possible ways. So little to do (for the rest of us — you are doing a lot) to make such a difference.
:-) Just that, tenfold.
Oh, Mir, how wonderful! I have tears in my eyes over tampons. Who woulda thought? :)
I hope you have a wonderful “escape” with Chickadee tomorrow. :)
My wife rocks, doesn’t she?
-otto
I am totally crying right now. amazing to see all the love and goodness in the world, especially with all the bad things happening in the news. hope your weekend with chickie is amazing!
You did this. We just helped. : )
Tears!
Yowza. That is awesome. Maybe you’d like to create an Amazon Wish List? That would allow items to ship directly to you (or directly to the hospital), show donors which products are still needed, and the shipping address would remain private.
From Amazon Help: “People who purchase items from a Wish List can opt to send them to any address they want, but the default delivery address is the one that the creator of the Wish List provides when the list is created. Gift givers can see only the name, city, and state associated with this address. The street address remains hidden.”
Sending love love love to all of you. I can’t imagine how hard this must be, but you have managed to turn it into yet another miracle.
Wow. This is amazing. I hope the girls can feel the love that is out there for them. I’m all teary now…
I hope you have a lovely visit with Chickie this weekend! Yay for going out into the world!
holy crap…crying at work is so not professional! This is so beyond words, for you, for the girls, for the staff. I hope that the girls understand that these gifts came from the best possible spot of humanity.
Yay! This is The Awesome!
For those of us who cannot afford to buy and ship products to the girls, please know that we would if we could. However, I do think bringing this to our own neighborhoods is a great idea and can be done with little to no expense. How many of us have samples or hotel bottles of shampoo, cleansers, toothpaste, etc? In my area, local shelters for abused women LOVE to get those.
“Many small people, in many small places, do many small things, that can alter the face of the world.â€
Amazing. Just amazing!
Isn’t the weirdest thing that you and we did this to bless some others, and I am certain that we were all blessed by it too. Thanks for starting a fire. Much love.
Sweet!
Sending a few more ethnic hair care products. I think you are truly amazing! Yes, Otto, your wife does rock!
‘Way to go Mir! To readers out there who needed this post as a reminder to get this done, I found travel-size body wash at Bath and Bodyworks for 1.25 a piece.
Oh, man, that is REALLY TOUCHING. I’m getting irritated with my children for bickering while I am TRYING to CRY.
I don’t want to detract from the wonderful generosity, but,
Anyone who hasn’t given yet? It’s highly likely that there are girls like this, in a hospital like this, much closer to your home. Give the Mir’s UPS guys a break!
Don’t mind me, I just have something in my eye. :’)
This isn’t Woulda Coulda Shoulda…this is Doing, Did and Done!! Amazeballs!!
So. Awesome. Wow.
Now I need Kleenex. (Do the girls need Kleenex?). (;
Here is to healing and health for everyone. You are an inspiration Mir. As are your readers. So proud to be part of this. And tampons for everyone!
Otto…..agreed!
This makes me so so happy.
Enjoy your hours with your daughter!
What else can we do?? :)
The place is going to SH*T… literally. Oh to be a fly on the wall when you do that delivery.
I KNEW that you were going to get that reaction from the UPS store.. and I am SO glad it was a young(er) male that put 2+2 together…. its the little things that amuse me…
But its the BIG things liek this that make me happy… and one step closer to believing there is good out there someplace. Way to go!
Fantastic news on all fronts! Knowing that people care is one thing, but seeing the evidence laid out in boxes (LOTS of them) is something else.
:)
Smiling and tearing up a bit. Faith in humanity restored.
And I am SO glad to hear about Chickadee’s progress! So happy for you both <3
So awesome!
Oh my goodness. Tears. You and your readers totaly rock.
oh my gosh! That is just beyond awesome!! You have some pretty wonderful readers! :)
YAY @ Chickadee getting her first few hour break out! I hope you guys have a wonderful visit! Sending her love & strength to get thru this!
I LOVE people!
Just love this and so proud to be a part of it. Tears of joy for both the generosity of people and for your weekend ahead – I hope she enjoys her hours of mexican and ice cream!! I know you will savor every second.
Margaret Mead is grinning “I told you so….”
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
(Actually, turns out that attribution is disputed. Huh. Never knew that. Well, whoever said it, they DID tell us so.)
I love hearing the update, this is amazing,
I will get a couple of the ethnic hair items this weekend and some travel size stuff too. I can’t send it out until Monday though and it will come via Fed Ex.
Can anybody help guide me to what would be useful for ethnic hair products? I’m totally clueless and I don’t want the girls who need those products to feel left out!
Specific shampoo/conditioner/styling product recommendations would be ideal.
Yeah! And the best bit of all the best bits might be the day out you get!
Wheee!!!!
So much joy!!! Enjoy your day with C, I think that is great progress!!
Wait, did you say she gets to go out for a day? I think I’m going to actually cry, not cybertears, real tears….
awesomesauce. :) :) and remember, there’ll be another wave when the orders come in from those of us who don’t have prime and had to go through super saver shipping! ;)
Well, this post made my day. (And the line “All of them” made me laugh out loud!)
Makes me proud to be a blogger when I see what this community is capable of.
Hey, I think what you are doing is amazing!!!!
I live about an hour from Athens and would love to help out. I wouldn’t mind mailing it but since I live so close is there any way I can bring it to you sometime soon? I just moved to GA but I had to purchase extra toiletries due to boxes being unopened so I have extra toiletry items that are still unopened. Please let me know. It takes me an hour to get to Athens and if tomorrow is not so soon, I will be in the area for a friends’ gathering so I can bring you at least some stuff if not a lot!
Thanks!!!
KB
So, SO Awesome…but I’m still giggling over the “all of them” response. :o)
I just realized I hadn’t checked my tracking number, but the package arrived this morning! Yay! (And a special thanks to them if they have to sign for any of this stuff. Mine says it was signed by “Rogers,” so if you meet that person, give him/her a special thanks for me! ;~)
I love that they think that there are that many tampons going to your house on a daily basis. :~D
You are awesome! And pretty! And amazingly savvy! Thanks for organizing this.
So, so happy. So honored to help.
So excited and hopeful for Chickadee’s progress. I am still firmly holding the image of a happy, healthy Chickie and her happy, healthy family.
Tampon lemonade will forever make me laugh.
This is so great. And you made it so easy for us to help. Thanks for the fabulous idea and for giving so many of us the opportunity to do something tangible.
Wow. WOW! Fantastic (grinning from ear to ear here).
This put the biggest smile on my face. And I smiled even bigger when I read about Chickie’s leave. I hope you all enjoy your outing.
This is just awesome. I love every single thing about this post, but MOST of all I love that you get to take Chickadee out for a while tomorrow.
Methinks I need to do some research on ethnic hair products and pull the trigger on my order. I had tampons in my shopping cart, but I think I’ll take those out and just focus on the stuff you don’t have as much of.
Body wash, tampons, face wash, and pads should be delivered today!
And you buried that great news about Chickadee at the bottom! :) This is so phenomenal. What a wonderful, amazing thing. I love everything about it.
Wow. Amazing. I hope Chickadee feels the love and it helps her move forward.
I’m so happy that people have helped so much. I have my own family emergency happening here and so I am not able to help right now. But I think it is great what you have going here.
Talk about burying the lead…
I was overjoyed reading about the mountain of tampons but tears came to my eyes thinking your Chickadee earned a few hours leave and that you would get a bit of time as a family outside the hospital.
You asked yesterday over at OOC whether people could believe in whether everything works out in the end–I have no idea anymore– but my adjunct thought at the time was whether I could think that the forces of Karma exist in this world (seriously, if Karma exists, how can so many people be avoiding a major kick in the ass?)…and then I read this, Well, if Karma exists, the great tampon delivery of 2012 should bring you a lifetime of only good Karma.
I would love to send some ethnic hair products but I don’t want to send the wrong thing. I am a proud mama to a 7 year old with “ethnic” hair and I know what I use for her, but it may not be what the girls there would want. For instance: do they get to have hair gel & pomade to do protective styles/braids? Do they need small rubber bands to do those styles? Just shampoo & conditioner? Could they use coconut oil (we use tons of that). I know – too many questions but I have discovered in my journey of being a mama to this girl of mine that ethnic hair care is SUPER personal and specific.
SO excited and happy that you have had such a great response and get to have a leave this weekend with Chickadee.
Who’d have thought that what it took to restore my faith in humanity was THE INTERNET?
Thinking along the same lines as another commentator re: where to donate. Since your cup appeareth to run over, I plan on findin out where the Little Misses in my area can find in-patient mental health care and donate there. I will drop a line when I make the donation.
And, yes, there is a joke just waiting to be told in this first paragraph. For those of you playing at home, here are some words to choose from – “flow,” “tampon,” “insert,” “pad,” “cup” (as euphamism for uterus), “runneth over,” and “crimson.” Aaaaand…go!
I freakin love the internet sometimes. And you. You’re so pretty. And now EVERYONE’s hair can be nice and shiny, too ;-)
That is amazing! Perhaps some of it could go to the boys there? Obviously not the tampons or any too foo foo body wash, but surely they could use strides and deodorant as well?
I laughed. I cried. My husband was curious and came over. He was also amused.
Congratulations Mir for unlocking the hygiene-product floodgates. Knowing that these girls won’t run out for a good long time, I think I will be donating closer to home.
As someone with pin-straight hair, could someone email me with names (brands/types) of ethnic hair care products that teens would love? I’m sure I can search Amazon, but I’d love to grab something that teens are particularly fond of at this moment in time. . .
Mir, I hope this is so tangible proof of how much you are loved. Hugged By Tampons. Could be the title of your memoir.
Sorry, I missed the obvious thing– should have left a comment to let you know I’d ordered, so you could have had some idea what to expect. My small contribution should arrive Monday?
This is awesome! Also wondering if this is why the sensitive Stridex now takes 2-3 weeks to ship from Amazon. That’s pretty awesome if this project cleaned them out.
it was a privilege and an honor. Please do let us know what happens when you make the donations!
I just can’t stop crying. Thank you for bringing this out in us, this belief that we can make a positive change for a young woman somewhere. Gah, I just want to brandish this anytime someone complains about moms on the internet. “Look at what moms on the internet do!”
You are amazing. I hope this visit is wonderful!
Mir, you mobilized your army with amazing results! I am so happy for this and the great news about your outing.
But this makes me think bigger – how many people in the world are hurting and needing? How many people in the world are willing to help, if only a compelling voice reached out to them and gave specific suggestions on how they can help? (And convinced the organization to take the offered help – what was up with the first person you talked to at the hospital who turned you down??)
So what else can we do? (Since it seems like the girls at Chickadee’s hospital should be pretty good with tampons and the like for a while anyway…)
Otto,
Yes she does!
and so do you.
Hold the fort.
Re-enforcements are on the way.
So nice when love can take a meaningful, tangible form. Does a soul good to see that this is what ‘community’ is all about!
seriously the PR company’s addition and note sent me over the edge. okay it was tears over the rims of my eyes – pass the tissues please.
I AM PROUD TO BE A WOULD SHOULDA COULDA-ITE
Beautiful!!!
xo,
Shirley
Oh wow, this is amazing. Goosebumps. What people can do. How awesome.
I am just blown away. What an amazing thing.
And I agree with the person who said you should be in charge of health care. Love how the community cam together to support the girls.
I don’t even know the backstory and I’m getting all goosebumpy. I know it’s about your daughter and a hospital, so here ((hugs)). Just getting past that to doing something else to help others? Amazing.
I found your blog because I work at The UPS Store. I think that is possibly the most packages we’ve gotten for a single person in one day- so yeah, we were a bit surprised (as was our mail lady). On the plus side, they were all super light and after hearing the back story, it is possibly the most generous thing we’ve seen a box holder receive. Good job, internet!
P.S. Surprisingly, that is not that weirdest thing we’ve gotten. That would be a pallet of disposable underwear. (How much is a pallet? Next time you’re in Costco, look up at the pallets plastic wrapped with product. That’s a pallet.)
So much awesome. I love every bit of it. :)
Catching up on your blog after being without Internet for our holidays. Moved to tears by everyone’s generosity. Well done Mir! So happy to hear of Chickadee’s improvements. I hope your girl continues to come back to you!! Otto and Dad made me smile as usual. Reinforcements is the perfect word!
This is why I LOVE the internet and blogging more than almost anything else. Awesome.
So I was “wandering” around Amazon trying to figure out which ethnic hair items (not my area of expertise) to get and then I was struck by inspiration- Pantene was kind enought to donate, so why not reward it/them with my dollars? So, sorry to disappoint even more boxes coming your way. ;)
I was glad to read here that “Olay and Pantene” donated stuff, because it occurred to me that there are numerous companies that would probably be willing to do that. I think of the “GoodStuff boxes” we got upon arriving at our college dorms, containing various and sundry free things plus coupons. Also, I have been a patient (or mom of a patient) at more than one hospital that gave out travel sizes of Bath & Body Works shower gels. Of course, they are all hoping to get more customers this way, but who cares? Free stuff is free stuff.
I think it’s safe to say that the ripple effect is in full swing…the ripple goes far beyond the girls in need, hospital staff and young UPS employee…keep it going, folks!
Beautiful. Just beautiful!
Totally teary right now. This is absolutely awesome.
My next door neighbor is black and has a daughter this age. I picked her brain about the ethnic hair stuff cuz I was clueless and wanted to help. Here’s the list she gave me:
Motions hair care line. [fyi, Mir…I am sending 6 bottles each of the “Motions At Home Weightless Conditioning Shampoo” and “Motions At Home Moisture Plus Conditioner” today.] She said there is a spray on, leave in conditioner by Motions that is really good, too.
Small to tiny sized coated black hair bands for braids.
Luster’s Pink hair lotion.
Silk head wraps. She said these are better than silk pillowcases, are fairly cheap and help keep their hair from looking crazy in the morning.
She said there are a million different kinds of products for rich women or professionals who need their hair to look super straight or sleek, but the above list would be very basic hair care for a black girl to keep her hair from drying and breaking off.