The airport security guy last Friday asked me to open my bag. "Looks like you've got some batteries in there, and some metal stuff. It's in the middle of your bag. We need to take it out and inspect it." We did. And found a tidy stash of UK coinage - one and two pounds apiece - tucked into a little pocket of my camera bag. "There you go!" said Mr Security. "You'd lost all that money and now it's found again!" I gave some to Rotary at the gate, and the rest to Unicef on the plane.

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Today marks the fifth birthday of a very special little girl, Lissa Poppy. Lissa Poppy was born on March 8th, 2002, and mere hours afterwards she died. Lost, you might say. I know a lot of people don't like to use that word when speaking about death. It makes it sound as if one day, going through airport security, some guy might say, "Excuse me, ma'am, can you open your bag for us? It looks like you've got a five-year-old in there." And of course that's not how it is. Not how it is at all. Yet it's hard to know the right words to say, and so many people get it wrong.

That's why Jenny, in the aftermath of her recent loss, has set up the Sensitive Subjects website in the hope of helping out. She says, "I've read so many times that someone has been hurt by something someone says without thinking, and I know that explaining your side of things is often a really hard thing to do, especially when you're hurting. It's extra hard when we're faced with infertility, miscarriage, or anything like that and we just don't want to keep having to explain what's going on or how their comment was really upsetting." The idea is you can redirect those with good intentions but poor word choice to this site, and perhaps they'll gain an understanding of what to say. There are many categories - from abuse or addiction to infertility and loss. There's even a plan to provide business card templates for downloading and handing out to family and friends - or to anyone you wish.

So there are two important places you might visit today. First of all, Lissa's site, where you can wish her a happy birthday. Then, if you think of the right thing to say, don't just tell her parents - tell Jenny and the rest of the world. Perhaps we can all start feeling just a little less lost.

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Treasurer's Report: I just checked ad.sense, and there's $33.57 in the account. I'm almost a third of the way through my Fifty Good Deeds, and about a third of the way towards the $100 you need before ad.sense will release any payment. I haven't decided where to send the money yet, but keep clicking - perhaps we can all decide together at Deed Fifty.


7 Comments

Carly said...

Oh how honoured we are to be mentioned in your blog!!
Thank you muchly Bea.
Also, thanks for the links to Jenny, it seems her & I have some things in common. I'll read her stuff & then contact her in the near future.

Lollipop Goldstein said...

A third of the way through the project! Congratulations, Bea. That is fantastic.

Good thoughts go out to Lissa Poppy's family. And Jenny has a fantastic idea!

Anonymous said...

You are inspiring Bea. We should all do more good deeds.

My thoughts are with Lissa Poppy's family.

beagle said...

I agree, you are inspiring.

Jenny said...

You are awesome, by the way. You are so caring and just altogether wonderful.

Aurelia said...

Yes, you are so good for spreading the love around.

I knew about Jenny's idea and said I'd write about it, but have been caught up in my own stuff, and didn't.

Must remember, hmm.

ColourYourWorld said...

I'm clicking ! I keep forgetting.

Well done on getting this far.

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