First Purple Stars

It was a very personal story that needed to be told to try to help other abuse survivors. The outpouring of support from the Squidoo community has been amazing!

I made this lens about my Father a few days before Memorial Day (the last Monday in May in the USA) as a tribute to him and all he did for our family and our country. I think the lens speaks of many of the reasons why he was our family's personal hero as well as one of many unsung heroes of many wars.

I made it partly for my children, so they would have a written record of him, too. My whole family really loved it: cousins, aunts, children, etc. Squidoo has many uses and this was one way I was able to use it, as a Memorial to him.

With my Cancer Warrior lens, I wanted to share my fight against cancer with others in order to encourage and educate. I also wanted to honor my dad, who is now cancer-free, and my brother, who continues to fight the good fight. In the lens I speak of my faith, which is what gives me strength for the fight. As lens of the day, not only did I gain supporters for my battle but lots more people were exposed to the message. That really meant a lot to me.

I wrote Surviving A Heart Attack as part of the Get Cracking challenge. The challenge had to do with changes you have made to improve your health. Having a heart attack sure makes you change a whole lot of things.

So many things happened to me during this time. I felt compelled to tell my story. As a nurse, my job is to help others. I wanted to help other people learn about heart attack symptoms and, hopefully, avoid having one themselves. It is not an experience I would recommend.

This was one of my first lenses and I think that it stirred up the most local interest. I loved hearing from people I had not heard from in years offering to contribute to this lens of Old Photos of Pendleton. Thank you for all the hard work you have done to recognize the Purple Star lenses.

Doing the RocketMoms Help For Haiti lens meant a lot because it was done to benefit others, and was a joint effort by many. There is still need in Haiti. It is a wonderful thing to be part of something that helps others. Thank you for the opportunity to add this lens.

This is a recipe among many that I have done many times from my head. The Chicken Noodle soup recipe has varied until I had perfected it. It was my daughter who asked me to write this down so she could have it. This is the same daughter who never wanted to do anything domestic growing up, including cooking. I remember her telling me that her guy would be doing the cleaning and cooking. Now that she is in college, she is always calling me up for recipes.

Since I never wrote it down before it was a little different. I had to make the recipe while thinking of the ingredients and writing them down. I thought it would be a nice touch to make a video about it. This is the one time that my family got involved. It is the only video that I have on Youtube, since my daughter has the camera and I wouldn't know how to edit and upload a video anyway.

Right from the beginning I had hoped for a LOTD. Finally received a purple star and at the beginning of this year a LOTD.

Celebrity Ebayers is an especially meaningful lens for two reasons. One is that it was my first purple star so it's got a special place in my heart. Two is that it's the first lens that I wrote with my tongue in my cheek and I worried all night (when I should have been sleeping) about whether or not people would appreciate my sense of humor - it turns out they did :)

It's easy for me to choose, since I only have one purple star. Like Norma's, mine came right after I'd just become a Giant Squid.

I remember thinking that, of all my lenses, in that one I had revealed more of my family's life and struggles through the years than in any other, and I had also gotten more comments from visitors who seemed to have been helped by reading it.

Almost all of our friends and family who knew of Sarah's death came to read it, and for many people, it was the first they knew of her death. For me it was a way to put Sarah's life into perspective - as I remembered the good and the challenging times; it was a way to deal with my grief as I prepared to lay her to rest. I am pleased that this one got the purple star.

Random Acts of Kindness Day means so much to me because I really believe in showing kindness to others and encouraging kindness in others. It's something I focus on when I'm teaching (e.g. character education, celebration of Random Acts of Kindness Week); it's something that I believe in from my gut (that all people and everything in the world should be treated with love and kindness) and something that I try to live.

I really like the lens as well, and I was just really proud that it was awarded a purple star.

Tears flooded my soul, then spilled through my eyes, before the sobbing began. He had been one of my best friends in the world, though I had never met him in person. I could share anything with him and he never once judged me for my thoughts or feelings about anything, or anyone. We had hoped to meet in person but it never worked out. We could never embrace each other with a hug, though we sent many back and forth through cyberspace.

We shared poems, we shared laughter...we shared what life was truly about: making memories with loved ones, near and far.

I loved him and he knew it; I also knew he loved me. Thankfully, we both exercised the practice of telling people how we felt about them; we often wondered what would happen If Tomorrow Never Comes for us and we failed to tell people how much we loved, and appreciated, having them in our lives. As such, nothing was left unsaid between us.

I hadn't heard from him in quite some time. He wasn't responding to any messages or e-mails. He didn't send his customary Christmas message nor ask for recent photos of us, and I was becoming extremely worried ... so I began a search that would change my life forever - a search that would tell me that one of my dearest friends had passed away.

He passed away on July 18, 2009 and I didn't learn of it until January 15, 2010. He became ill (Emphysema) and never told me; deep in my soul, I know he wanted to protect me, though I wish I could have been forewarned.

Perhaps now you may have a better idea of how I felt when I received my purple star - my first purple star - thanks to the online memorial I created in tribute to my friend.

Every lens in my Purple Star Series can be found here. The series has gotten so big that a lensography was in order.

There are over 20 lenses in the series. Enjoy!