The Careys: Honoring the Strykers

Our friend Alicia Stryker asked me a while back if she could include me as a reference on an application for an Autism conference they hoped to attend (for parents with Autistic children). She had to submit an application requesting to go to the conference.

From Alicia's blog: "WinShape is an amazing retreat center located on the grounds of Berry College in Rome, GA. An organization called Myles-a-Part sponsors a weekend each year at WinShape for parents of autistic children. Tina Dula started Myles-a-Part after her son Myles was diagnosed with autism. She, along with Cynthia and Faron Wiseman, read through countless applications each year and then select 6 married couples to participate. The weekend is free and it includes all meals, snacks, sessions, lodging, and even a 30 minute massage. :-) All of it is paid for by Bubba Cathy, the son of Truett Cathy (owner of Chick-Fil-A)."

She and I both thought it was odd that they never contacted me, or the other friend Alicia listed as a reference. About a month before the conference, I was finally contacted by Tina. She asked if I (along with the help of Alicia's other reference friend) could contact any of their friends, to send some notes of encouragement, cards and small gifts to them, to surprise them at the retreat after dinner on Saturday night. I was told that a basket with the notes would be left in their room, for them to find after dinner on that Saturday night. I thought it might be a daunting task, but was up for the challenge. At first I started Facebook-stalking them, to determine who all of their close friends might be (who I might not know). I sent numerous messages out to friends, telling them to send letters, cards and any gifts our way. I collected somewhere around 15 cards from numerous friends and family. People were so willing to send things in the mail. That made my heart smile. I couldn't wait until Joe and Alicia opened the basket of cards, notes and gifts.

I took the job seriously and tried to find as many "just perfect" things for the occasion. I didn't want to slack on this job! The basket included quite a few things. I wanted to keep with the "retreat" and relaxation mentality, so everything was about some serious chill-time and being pampered.

Card / Gift bag (may be picture frames in the bag?) sent from someone ( “Keep Calm and Carry On”
Card/wrapped gift, looks like it could be a decorative word of some sort “Family” (or something like that?)
14 more cards from others
Sparkling cider (red grape) / two glasses
Eiffel Tower matchbox with matches (they've visited Paris, so I thought they would appreciate these)
Scented candles from Melissa Baillairge
Fancy schmancy coffee from Melissa Baillairge
Fancy schmancy soap from Target
Fancy schmancy bath fizzie from Target (It’s called “Honey Please”, so I thought that might be cute)
Fancy schmancy lotion (called Cloud 9)
Andes mints (Alicia loves chocolate and mint)
Reeses wrapped in the shape of a football / football foil (with them being sports buffs, I thought this would be perfect!)
George Winston’s “Summer” cd (instrumental piano – hey, It can double as a nighttime cd for their kiddos, if they’re not into piano).
“I Love You” coupon book (nothing risqu?, but cute)
“Cup of Comfort for Parents of Children with Autism: Stories of Hope and Everyday Success” book

That Saturday night, Alicia called me in tears at about 8:00. She could barely talk, she was so choked-up and touched. She couldn't believe the outpouring of support and love from family and friends. She wanted to thank us for putting everything together. She had no idea that the "reference" would be put up to something like this. :-)

Other than those gifts, I dreamed up / thought it would be ENTIRELY fitting if we gave them a gift of a nice shadowbox with a world map inside. We gave them a fancy box of stickpins that they could use to pinpoint the cities / countries they've visited together. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to find a nice map of the world that was large enough to show U.S. cities! I know I would love a gift like that, and with all of the traveling they do, they can now make a memory out of adding new pins to the map. Alicia mentioned that when they got home that weekend, Joe put the pins in the places they had visited.

Doug helped me mount the map to some foam board with sprayment, cutting the foam board down to size, so it would fit in the shadowbox. It took some searching to find a shadow box big enough, nice map, right stick pins, etc, but I think it was well worth it. Check out the pictures of their swag below! It made me happy to be the one that got to organize / shower them with love from all of their friends. We know they appreciated it!

Here is a picture of the basket that I took at our house, before delivering to Tina. (Tina was the retreat organizer who then took the baskets for the couples to the retreat center).