Tea of Thanksgiving

First, I would like to apologize for taking a surprise vacation. And on WORLD DIABETES DAY! That wasn't intentional. I could give legitimate excuses, but I will skip that and just share with you how me and my family "celebrated" World Diabetes day. If that day can be celebrated.

My church does an annual "Women's Tea of Thanksgiving." At this event, 40 different women will decorate a table in their own way. It reveals the creativity of the women and it is absolutely beautiful to behold. Because the Tea was held on November 14th this year (National T1D Awareness Day), my Mother, Autumn and I decorated our table in blue and silver--it was a Diabetes awareness table! (Blue and silver are the colors that show support/raise awareness for T1D.) We had blue ribbons on the table and I got to hand them out to the women at the Tea. Most of them already knew what the ribbons were for, but I was able to spread awareness anyway. Some of the women were also able to spread awareness after the event, because people asked about their ribbons.

Below are some pictures of the tables. The pictures are not very elaborate and they do not capture the beauty of the individual tables, but they do show you the variety. This year, there were 40 different tables. It covered the entire gymnasium in the church. Photos are courtesy of Aschlii Ryerse (my big sister), and they were taken in the upstairs balcony that wraps around the gym.

Below I have included pictures of my centerpiece (also taken by Aschlii Ryerse). I was very proud of that! Before I show you the centerpiece, I feel like it is necessary to explain what the blue candles mean. Whenever a diabetic loses their battle against the disease, the rest of us light up a blue candle in their honor. The candles on my table were in honor of all of the diabetics that have lost the battle. My centerpiece, and the candles is still sitting on my dresser as shown below. The candle in the center is not blue yet, because that one is me. I am still fighting. The photo shown immediately below this paragraph shows the display on my  dresser since November 14th.

Now, I can show you the centerpiece! Two of the centerpiece images were taken in the dark, to show off the candles, and two were taken with a flash or light on so you can see the colors on the centerpiece.

The above images were taken in my kitchen, while we were still playing around with the centerpiece and finishing up with the details. I have more pictures of the completed table below.

The first few pictures were taken from the same balcony above the gymnasium. That is why they look so dark. But I am fascinated by how the silver plates light up...

These pictures also give you a good idea of how the blue candles worked out. They looked pretty and I was very proud of them.

 The ribbons had a sticker on them ("Take 1 please!") so that people knew that they could wear one.

 Like I said, the centerpiece, candles and ribbons are still on my dresser. I put them there to remind me how loved I am. I was given the opportunity to share my story in a very creative way. Neither my family nor my church had to offer me that opportunity, but they loved me enough to support me with that. I am very blessed, and when I look at dresser I am reminded of that.