Of Needed Prayers and Bill’s Birthday Food Drive

Friends,

It’s hard to believe it’s already time for the food drive in honor of Bill’s birthday. I’ll explain more about what we are doing for that in a minute, but I wanted to take some time to update you on how things are going here. I know there are some people who aren’t on Facebook who ask from time to time how things are going, and since I haven’t had time to really write, I thought this would be a good opportunity. I’m not even sure where to start, except to say that we continue to be thankful for the amazing village we have been blessed with. Things have been very overwhelming lately, and I truly wouldn’t be standing if it were not for the people who continue to encourage and walk alongside us. I keep thinking that four years into “life without Bill” should mean that things are easier… but just when I feel like one “fire” is starting to burn itself out, another one pops up. Out of respect for the “Peas” privacy, I will just say that one of them is really, REALLY struggling. I mean, if I’m being honest, each one of them struggles at different times and to different degrees, but one of them is really having a hard time right now. And I am having a hard time knowing how best to help her. I’m not going to lie. Being the only parent and not knowing if I’m making the right decisions is very overwhelming. Everything rests on my shoulders… for all three of them. (And yes, my amazing Christian friends, I know that ultimately I need to give it over to God… and I have, but I am still the one that has to make and carry through on the decisions about school, friends, appointments, homework, activities, etc…) The weight of it all has gotten very heavy. It is impossibly hard to watch your child struggle and not be able to fix it. I’ve actually gotten used to the littles crying for Daddy. It happens almost every day, so I’ve had to become numb to it. I’ve had to uncomfortably apologize when one of the Peas asked a friend’s dad if she could call him “Daddy.” I’ve had to compartmentalize the “Why are we the only ones without dads?" and Why didn’t God want us to have a daddy who was alive like everyone else” questions after the girls go to Daddy/ Kid events with the amazing men who love them in Bill’s place. And I have had to accept that all of these things have become part of our normal life. But when something out of the blue pops up that causes one of them to struggle, it is really hard. They’ve already had to endure so much, I just want things to be easy or at least “less hard” for them. And maybe I want things to be “less hard” for me too. Bill was my rock. He made me feel safe. When I felt overwhelmed or scared he could hold me tight and I would know that things would be ok. It’s a really lonely place to be having to do this all on my own. And it’s exhausting. I feel like I am constantly fighting. And I'm tired of fighting.  So, if you are a person of prayer, I would really appreciate you praying for us. For strength, endurance, wisdom, and peace. I keep reminding myself that everything is temporary and that God has it, but it’s still really hard.

Because I try really hard to focus on the positives, though, I thought I would share a few of the highlights as of late. This year, Leah has been dancing her little heart out on her studio’s competition team. And next year, Zoey thinks she might like to try it. Leah and I have had two special weekends away together for her competitions which was really cool (thank you to the friends and family that watched the other two). Zoey is a total ham and has recently decided she wants to go on American Ninja Warrior (ha!). Kaleigh is now THIRTEEN… enough said. J She continues to be a tender-hearted, bookworm just like her Daddy. 

Ready for the Daddy/Daughter Dance with Mr.
Dave and his awesome girls     

Leah before her first dance competition

Casting Crowns concert in Richmond

 And speaking of her Daddy, today would have been his 44^th birthday. So, in honor of the day that gave us Bill, we are kicking off our annual food drive in his honor. The girls look forward to this every year, and they are super excited this year because we are focusing on providing snacks for the kids at the elementary school that our church supports-which means kids their age will be benefitting from the food drive.  Bill would be so honored to know that children in need will be provided for in his memory. So if you feel so inclined, please feel free to donate anything from the list below. Please note that items should be individually wrapped so the snacks can be distributed to students.  

Our address is 26028 Pembrooke Circle, Chantilly VA 20152. We will be collecting items until May 10th. 

Oh- and here's a link to the video from the girls and some friends gathering and delivering the items you were so generous to donate last year!

                                                             2018 Food Drive- Thank You!

Thank you so much!

Love, Dana and the Peas

Guilford Elementary School Snack Donation List

** All items should come in individual packs

Go Go Squeeze Apple Sauce

Granola Bars (no nuts or peanut butter)

Goldfish

Fruit Snacks

Pretzels

Kraft Crackers ‘n Cheese

Animal Crackers

Cheeze Its

Veggie Straws

Pirate Booty

Of Creative Friends and Bill in a Comic!

It’s been a really long time since I’ve written. As you can imagine life has been hectic as usual. There have been so many times I wanted to update and then time just slipped away from me. I have so many things to write about but first I want to thank all of you for your donations last year to the food drive in Bill’s honor. We plan to do it again this year, but I’ll send out some more info on that later.

It’s so incredibly hard to believe that Bill has been gone for four years. He is so present in our everyday lives that the time has just flown. We continue to be so thankful for the village of people that God has provided us with. Which brings me to this post. I know I have said over and over again throughout the last five years how amazing our friends are. Not only are they amazing, but they are so creative and they come up with ways to honor Bill that just blow my mind.  

If you knew Bill you knew that he had some childhood brothers that he carried with him throughout his life. Also, if you knew Bill, you knew he liked comic books- a love that he shared with Kaleigh. Well, three of Bill’s brothers (Dan, Mike, and Jimmy) reached out to me to see if I could get the word out about a project they have been working on to get Bill written into a comic book. When they told me about it my jaw hit the floor. What an incredible way to honor Bill. And when I told Kaleigh about it… well… you can imagine how she reacted. Daddy IN a comic book?!?!?! What could be more awesome?

I am super sick right now, so rather than me explain it, Dan was awesome and wrote for me to post.  

From Dan:

I came across Ben Bishop, the comic book artist, a few years ago while on Instagram.  He was posting great pictures of teenage mutant ninja turtles that I really liked.  I especially like when he draws characters like the turtles, transformers and GI Joe from my childhood.  He had recently completed a choose-your-own-adventure style graphic novel called The Aggregate that was funded on Kickstarter.  Ben went on to do covers and eventually art for whole issues of the ninja turtle comics.  His work on the turtles linked him up with Kevin Eastman, co-creator of the turtles.  The two of them, along with a writer and a few others started a comic on Kickstarter called Drawing Blood.  This was the first time I had even sponsored a Kickstarter and the comic turned out amazing!  Ben did a large portion of the art for that comic and it really is beautiful.  

Linked Ben Bishop Covers for a TMNT macro series

Just this month, Ben started a new campaign for The Aggregate 2.  Having read The Aggregate 1 and been a supporter of Drawing Blood, I was really excited to be a part of this one.  When the campaign kicked off, I went to the site to check out the levels of sponsorship.  One thing I like about Ben in addition to his art, is his sense of humor… which comes through the books he works on.  His campaign included lots of ways for supporters to become part of the comic, including having your cat drawn into the book and making you a character that dies a horrible death.  The one option that caught my eye was having a supporting hero or villain in the story.  For some reason, I thought to myself, man it would be cool to put Bill in this comic.  So I sent a text to Mike and Jim and said: “Hey, I want to put Bill in a comic, do you want to chip in?”  Of course, they said yes… because who doesn’t want to read comics with their friends in them?  For me comics aren’t just stories and art, they are ways to connect with things that are important to me.  Comics have had a special place in my life and part of that includes connecting me to important times in high school, sitting at Jim’s house reading comics and playing video games.  Bill would usually take a prime spot on the bed with a Dark Knight comic while the rest of us took turns rotating between reading and playing on the Mac.  It doesn’t sound like much, but for me it was probably the best place I could have been at that time.  Those times and people are rare and I don’t ever want to forget that.Things have changed in life and I can’t just hop on my bike and ride to Jim’s house to read comics anymore, but I can still connect back to those moments.  So, I guess this is what it’s all about for me.  I can’t say what seeing Bill in a post-apocalyptic comic will mean for everybody, but I hope it will make them smile and connect with something that Bill meant to them.  

There may because specific questions about the comic and Kickstarter in general.  I can’t answer a lot about The Aggregate 2, as it hasn’t even been written yet.  But I’ve read The Aggregate 1 and it a science fiction story set in a “Mad Max” like future.  It does have graphic violence and adult language, so I won’t be sharing it completely with my little guys.  The choose your own adventure style is unique for comics and makes the experience another throw-back to my childhood (make sure you save your page just in case you make the wrong decision!)  The Aggregate 1 took about 2 years to complete so I suspect that this will be about the same.  Ben is a hard worker, but also a one man show for this project (he may have another artist do colors).  I’ve reached out to him and let him know that we wanted to include Bill in the comic and he is excited and respectful about what we are trying to do. 

If other people want to own a copy of The Aggregate 2, starring Bill, the easiest way is to support the Kickstarter. 

$25 will get you a signed copy of the book as soon as it is finished and can ship out.  There are tons of other options (including a $10 digital copy only).  If they directly support the project, that will help them get all updates on the project which is one of the fun parts of Kickstarter.  If people don’t want to directly support the project, I can add copies to my current pledge for the same price of $25 each, but that will mean more logistics and shipping for me to take care of at the end of the project.  Kickstarter does take a little bit of faith, but Ben has a track record of good projects, so I am confident that he will see this through. 

The Aggregate 2 Kickstarter Campaign: (runs through the end of March)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bishart/the-aggregate-book-2-the-split-decision-comic-cont?ref=user_menu