High school art students were asked to submit their work for entrance into a silent auction to benefit Team Summer. The well-attended event also included live performances and prizes for the young artists.

We were stunned when we learned that the event raised more than $2100 for Team Summer! Not only did the patrons help kids with cancer, but they also showed kids that their art matters and can do good in this world. A fine example of kids helping kids!

Many thanks to Dana Munson, Summer’s former photography teacher, and Elizabeth Karp and all the volunteers for organizing the outstanding event!

Yesterday was six months to the day since Summer died. My heart has ached so much over the last six months that sometimes I don’t think I can bear it. Mostly, I have no idea when, or if, this sadness will ever leave me. I have no experience with grief like this.

But yesterday I saw something that gave me hope. It was a rose bush. This is a bush I thought I had eliminated six years ago. I had had a shed built in my backyard, and this rose bush was in the way — just a few feet from the new front door. I decided that it had to go. I cut it down to within an inch from the ground and covered the area with pine straw. I never gave the rose bush another thought.

So you can imagine my surprise yesterday when I noticed that the rose bush was back – in a big way. Stretching out into the yard, it was full of deep red flowers. I thought about how slowly it must have grown back, inching toward the sun, reaching out a tiny bit every day. Progress so slow that it had escaped my notice.

And somehow, that rose bush made me think of my heart, which feels like it has been cut down to within an inch of its life. Maybe, like the rose bush, my heart will grow back, too. Maybe with time – with grace – it, too, will bloom again.

Perhaps that’s just how the universe works — constantly recreating and discovering itself — and I am no exception. Perhaps my heart will heal as surely and naturally as the beautiful rose bush in my backyard.

This Tuesday night, April 16th, the Riverwood National Honor Society is hosting an art show and silent auction from 5:30-8:30p.  The proceeds from the silent auction will be donated to Team Summer.

One of Summer’s favorite classes at Riverwood was photography, and her teacher, Dana Munson, is one of the people heading up this fundraiser.

All the art work has all been created by the students and includes paintings, drawings, multi-media, and photography. Brenda Richterkessing, who took all those great pictures of Summer last year, is one of the judges and says there is some fabulous, creative artwork in the show!

Riverwood’s address is 5900 Raider Drive NW, Atlanta, GA 30328. Please join us! All are welcome!

We are enormously grateful for the support and look forward to a fun evening!