Studio Stella

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Studio Stella's www. Travelogue :: Sites to See, Day 4

Let's not forget the souvenirs!  The cheesier the better, right?!

First, one must pay homage to the granddaddy of road trip potty stops, out in South Dakota where the jackalopes roam, Wall Drug.

How about a site named 'Pinky's'?  

Check this one out!  A whole website devoted to tacky living!  Does Martha Stewart know about this?

And last, but certainly not least, is my favorite tacky website of all, the aptly named, Tacky Fabulous. I was looking for something with Florida souvenirs, because every spring we all go to Sarasota to see Grandma (in her double wide trailer, of course!), and there are probably more tacky souvenirs per square mile in the state of Florida than anywhere else in America.  Our favorite, and we visit religiously every year, is the Green Turtle Gift Shop on Anna Maria Island.  They don't have a website, unfortunately, so I can't share it with you here.  You'll just have to take my word on that one.

Uh, oh.  Look what I found:

This would look so great in Stella!  www.elvis.com.

Valentine Time Thanks Giving

Love this. It's a candy tin I found while thrifting for Valentine things last week. Look at that cutie on the right; poor thing is being upstaged by Miss Many Roses! So adorable.

But the best part of this little treasure isn't the darling photograph, it's the story on the back of the tin. I didn't even notice it until after I got home. Here's what it says:

"65 Roses" is what little children suffering from cystic fibrosis call their disease. (As the following true story illustrates, the words are much easier for children to pronounce.)

...Mary G. Weiss became a volunteer for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in 1965 after learning that her three little boys had cystic fibrosis.

Her duty was to call every civic club, social and service organization, seeking financial support for cystic fibrosis research.

Mary's four-year-old son, Richard, listened closely to his mother as she made each call. After several calls, Richard came into the room and told his mom, "I know what you're working for."

Mary was dumbstruck because Richard did not know what she was doing, nor did he know that he had cystic fibrosis.

With some trepidation, Mary posed the question back to Richard, "What am I working for, Richard?"

"You are working for 65 Roses," he answered so sweetly. Mary was speechless. She went over to him and tenderly pressed his tiny body to hers. He could not see the tears running down Mary's cheeks as she stammered, "Yes, Richard, I'm working for 65 Roses."

For years, 65 Roses has been used by children of all ages to describe their disease. But making it easier to say doesn't make cystic fibrosis any easier to live with...

...the ugly fact is that cystic fibrosis is the number-one genetic killer of children and young adults in the United States today.

The 65 Roses story has captured the hearts and emotions of all who have heard it. The rose, appropriately the ancient symbol of love, has become the symbol of the Cysitic Fibrosis Foundation.

That story just breaks my heart and makes me think of a billboard I passed the other day that said, "Give thanks for the healthy children in your life," of which I am blessed with three. So this post is a little bit of two holidays: one-half Valentine's Day and one-half Thanksgiving. Every day should have a little bit of both love and thanks, don't you think?