BFRIN Philadelphia Library Breast Cancer Event 2014

Last night we attended an event “What you don’t know about Breast Cancer” hosted by                                                                              BFRIN.

A beautiful location the skylight room at the Philadelphia Main Library.

 The presenters talked about how they were affected by breast cancer personally or through a family member or friend. One of the ladies lost an aunt, several sisters & nieces all to this epidemic.  Sometimes hearing another survivor’s story can help you see how your live could be a whole lot worse. We are only dealing with one case of breast cancer in our family.  Meanwhile all the everyday struggles and stresses of everyday life keep going on as well.

There is a bible account that talks about Hannah Who couldn't have children.  After praying to god about the problem she when off to get busy and she became self-concerned no more. She shifted her focus.

This is what I am attempting to help Jessie with. I want her to stay busy making bags. When this is happening she is self-concerned no more. Then the knee pain is not so overwhelming. And the focus isn’t on the place she is in her life. The negatives don’t over take us. Oh we have our moments but they become more manageable.

One of the things we do is go to nursing homes and senior centers to get the residents to help us make parts of Jessie’s bags. This helps us put our issues in perspective. On One visit to a nursing home, as Jessie was complaining about her pain in the knee we turned a corner and came face to face with a woman in a wheel chair who had no legs.  I looked at her and she looked at me. Later when I said well it could be worse. She agreed and realized her pain was manageable. This was the day we found out she had another blood clot. So the pain was real and intense. But the lack of legs was also real and intense. No matter how painful her walk was, she was walking and moving independently.

A lot of things we go through are all about perspective.

I’m trying to view the changes and the negatives in my life as positively as possible. It might take a few minutes to find the positive but it is there.

 If we look around at others and not just ourselves it can also help to change your perspective.  Just for a minute be self concerned no more..... stop taking SELFIES ....   take a look around and see something a different perspective. 

 Look around, you may see something spectacular, and you might actually enjoy the view!

See Our Viewpoint!

Beauty is all around us!

A Positive impact

There is so much negative news in the world today.  I rarely watch the evening news because it is so depressing. If I watched it every day and worried about all the possible threats I would never leave the house.

We need to have a daily news report that only reports the good things that are happening. In your city or neighborhood every day there are people doing good things for others, being nice and neighborly.

Today these events are used as filler pieces, so you can tell when it’s a slow news day.

Here at Jessie’s Bags we want to share only positives and good news. We go through difficulties and hard times don’t get me wrong. We try to find the positives even through these adversities. There always has to be a positive even if it is a small thing.

Faith and Hope are positives. It is being so sure something is going to happen that you can see it, taste it and feel it. The bible describes Faith this way at Hebrews 11:1 “Faith is the assured expectation of what is hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities that are not seen.”

We are sure someone will benefit in a positive way when they receive one of our bags. It may be because a friend or family member thought about them and gave them a bag, or it may be because of the encouraging bible based note they read that we include

.

We hope that Jessie’s Bags will always have a positive impact on others. If you are a volunteer who helps us make the bags you share the joy of giving to others. If you receive a bag, know that others share your pain and are thinking of you, Also know that our heavenly father cares about you and is there for you whenever you need him, and that is the best news we can share.

( 1 Peter 5:7 “you throw all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.”)

Stay positive!

                                                                                           Stay positive!

all about the bags

Changing seasons of life

Where we live seasons change and the views around us change every day.

 In the spring you see the foliage wake up and come to life. You hear the birds singing and feel the restoration. As colors pop you get a renewed vitality. You want to get outside to be in the beautiful surroundings. Everything is fresh and new. This is the time of year I want to be outside, I want to go go go. This reminds me of new babies and children. They are full of vitality and energy and the energy levels are high. I watch friends with their young children chasing them as they learn to walk. Stopping them and slowing them down so they don’t hurt themselves, And the kids straining at the bit to go go go.

Its fall right now and the leaves are changing colors.  Look at All the gorgeous hews red, gold, and brown. Everything that was green changes, and the view outside my windows are beautiful. But as this starts to happen you start to nesting. You lay in supplies for the winter which you know will be here soon. You pull out the winter clothes and pack away the shorts and light weight clothes. You begin to stay inside more and more. I feel like this is where I am in life. Not so young anymore and not as old as mom. I am what they call middle age. If I live to be 100 I am middle age or a little above. I feel like it the fall time of my life. I’m not so rush in life now, I don’t want to run around and work. I want to slow down a bit and enjoy the views. We like to take our vacation time in the fall of the year. I love going to the beach when everything calms down and all of the tourist are gone and it’s a sleepy little town again.  A ride on the highway when trees are changing color is beautiful.  I feel like I've mellowed like those leaves. I see a lot of the changes in my life, I’m much more reflective. That’s why I’m writing these pieces.  I use to spend a lot of time reading books. My favorite authors were the ones who made me live it with them. I was right there in the room as the events were happening. I hope that’s how I write. I hope you can see what I see. Our lives changing and  changing leaves. 

one hour of Jessie making bags... October Breast cancer month

Jessie has been sewing most of her life. She has made wedding gowns, costumes for plays (dramas) and clothes for people without a pattern. She worked in a factory making children’s clothes 6 months to 6 X. She even worked in a bra factory and a tuxedo factory. Most of those jobs are now out of the country.

She makes the bags for breast cancer survivors like she still works in a factory.

This means if I put fabrics together when she is feeling good I look around and she has sewn up everything in sight in just a few hours. I can hardly keep up.

These are the bags she just finished in the last hour.a group of friends will be wearing our bags the week end at a Breast Cancer Walk! 

 she put handles on all of these in 1 hour <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

 I have never been a person who sews. I could mend a hole or hem my pants but I never made stuff.

As a child mom and I made doll clothes... well mostly it was mom.

Now I find working with the fabric is like therapy for me. It relaxes my mind. I love to be up early in the morning the house is quiet and I can create. I enjoy the colors & textures juxtaposed and positioned just so. Each bag is a new creation since we make our bags out of recycled materials. Someone just gave me an old awning. I look at the scalloped edges and I see pockets for bags. All of our bags are one of a kind. We may never have this fabric again. We often get people who ask can you make me one like this a little smaller or bigger. I usually say no, sorry folks it is what it is. When you see a bag it is unique. And we don’t have them long.

You can’t buy our bags. We don’t have them for sale anywhere at the moment. If you want one of Jessie’s bags you can make a donation through pay pal on the web site and we will give you a bag.

You will usually meet Jessie or her daughter when you get a bag. We tell you about how we started and what our plans are. 

 You can volunteer to help us work on bags and we will give you a bag for helping. We go to senior centers and people volunteer to work with us.

So if you and a group of your friends would like to help us make Jessie’s bags we will hold a build a bag workshop. Contact us to set one up.

Jessiesbags.com or #jessiesbags 

The family fabric...

Families are like fabric interwoven, interdependent, stronger together. Each one adds a different shade or tone or texture to the family.

When you deal with a death in your family you notice the individual pieces and threads that make up a family.

When one of the threads is no longer there you feel the void. There is a hole in the fabric now. How to fix it this is the hard part. Everyone has to step up do a little more take on a bit more of the responsibility, help with the restructuring of the organization that is the family. Some respond willingly some are forced to make changes they don’t like, but you come together and patch the void. Or you cut the fabric up and create a new patchwork style family. At times the pieces don’t seem to fit but given time they start to function as a new fabric working together for the greater good.

While all of this is happening you still grieve for the one you loved who is not there anymore. I think it helps to remember everybody is feeling the loss. Some are affected more than others but all see and feel the hole and know it needs to be patched. As we keep patching and plugging the holes we appreciate those around us who are still here working side by side for the greater good of the family. You see their true color shinning brighter as they pick up the slack. You see how strong they are not easily broken. You can see their flexibility and willingness to make changes.

So whoever you are in the family. Maybe you are the the strong one or the organized one or the sensitive one or the stubborn one or the tired one or the sad one or the jealous one or the scared one or the worried one or the angry one remember we need each one to create the fabric of our family. And together we are stronger than alone. Remember we have help putting the pieces together and making them fit. We have help to  keep the family together and like scotch guard protects us through the rough times. The bible tell us what god promises at Isaiah 41:10 “Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be anxious, for I am your god. I will fortify you, yes I will help you, I will really hold on to you with my right hand of righteousness”. It may take some time but we will persevere and get the holes patched and we will create a new family fabric we won’t notice the hole so much but we will remember where it was and the way things used to be.