As a young child I was fortunate enough to have my grandmother around to help pick up the pieces while my parents--who had divorced when I was two--were busy doing other things. In my eyes, my grandmother was a giant among giants, my angel from Heaven, a woman whose being shined everywhere she went. She made others smile. She made people laugh with her knock-knock jokes and funny faces. Soft spoken and caring, she didn't really say much, but I was never at a loss when it came to feeling her love.
It was the simple things like a hug or waking up on Sunday morning and finding the comic page spread out on the dining room table with a tall glass of Tang (my favorite) waiting for me that made me feel so special. Then there were other times when we would just sit around her piano singing songs for hours on end when I probably should have been fast asleep. I will forever be grateful for those years I spent with her.
My grandmother has since passed, but her spirit lives on with me, and so do her words. You see, she was an accomplished songwriter and poet, and her love for the written word eventually rubbed off on me--I am almost certain that at the base of PROJECT CHILDHOOD is a part of my grandmother who taught me to speak up for those who couldn't speak for themselves. And this wasn't merely a lesson on the chalkboard. No, she taught me about integrity and courage through her daily actions.
I can still hear her continually reminding me that every person in this world had something special to offer. And sometimes, she would say, people fall off track and lose sight of what's important. It was her belief that rather than judge those people, we had a moral obligation to help them find their way back. In essence, we had a obligation to make others happy. We had a duty to love one another, to show love, to be love, to live love.
I have a framed collage of my grandmother's poetry hanging in the hallway, and one verse that continually stands out to me goes like such: "To love is the reason for living."
That, my friends, is the underlying basis of PROJECT CHILDHOOD. It's so simple, yet so powerful, and with our art and all of our effort and generous donations to various non-profit organizations around the world, and all of the love we share for one another, we have to believe that we can make a difference in the lives of so many children--an investment that will last a lifetime and pay itself forward. Thank you so much for your willingness to even consider PROJECT CHILDHOOD.
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