Once Upon a Time…

This story begins with a woman staring ahead at yet another pivot in the road called Life.

At the end of 2019, I found myself at a crossroad recognizing it was time to start a new life for myself and my daughters.

Have you ever just taken a leap of faith? It’s always scary to a point. Now make that leap of faith holding on to your only two children.

Scary becomes quite the understatement.

Not too long after we moved to Miami, FL to join my mother in my childhood home, COVID struck. Dum dum dummmmmmm…. Worldwide pandemic time. Seriously? Yes. Quite seriously.

So the world shut down. The rambunctious city whose traffic once slowly killed my soul with my twice daily commute to and from work now was eerily calm and still. I started to look around wondering if I was indeed in my own twisted version of “The Truman Show.” I know I’m not the only one who felt like this in 2020 and I am not the only one who felt like she was alone, but in recalling these moments, I just remember how raw and real and oddly quiet I felt.

I would venture out to get groceries for us all, but the last thing I wanted to do was cook or be healthy. I just wanted to sit in a dark room and cry.. I wanted to scream to the sky at a God I thought had abandoned us all. I wanted to just sleep until it was all over.

UGH!!!! Can we skip to the good part?! Am I right?

Let’s do just that. Shall we?

I mean we all went through it together already. We all saw the buildings being burned. We all cried over the lives lost. We all tasted the bitterness of a world that just couldn’t sit still long enough for anyone to catch their breath. Why rehash it here?

Fast forward and it’s now August 2022. My life looks so different than it did just two years ago. The light is sparkling in the eyes of my two quickly growing daughters. I feel stronger than ever physically, mentally, and emotionally. Life is not what I pictured it would be, but when does it ever turn out that way? Besides, in many ways, it’s actually turned out even better than I imagined.

I had a lot to think about in the last two years. One of the many things was building something long lasting for my children. I wanted something they could carry with them and maybe even pass on to their own children one day.

I want them to know the spirit of adventure. I want them to feel the excitement of watching your dream become a reality. I want them to see how we can’t truly ever skip to the good part, but we can sit back and enjoy the ride as much as we can until we get there.

I really want them to know that the good part is just like an oasis in the desert. We get to stop, have a respite and a much needed drink, but at some point the ride will begin again and we will be faced with yet another challenge. This isn’t to say that the desert ride can’t be fun and full of excitement, but if all we are looking for is “the good part,” then I think we are missing out on all the things that make us ready to truly enjoy it.

One of the things I picked up along the way is how easy it is to lose it all. While we can’t always prevent a tragedy from happening, we can try and be prepared somehow. I started to think of what I could do to prepare us and set us up for a future full of possibilities.

And this is how Violet Grace Fiber Studio came to be.

Violet Grace Fiber Studio is named after my daughters. They are budding fiber artists learning the art of crochet along side me. They have inquisitive minds and hopefully embrace the entrepreneurial spirit one day too.

Violet Grace Fiber Studio is a place where someone can shop for a unique piece to compliment their style and taste. Other fiber artists of various skill sets can come and find a new project to create for their own needs too. One day I hope to be able to expand and do things like teach classes to all ages both in person and online. My list of ideas for “one day” seems to just keep expanding. I think we will leave that all for another post on another day.

This wonderful fairy tale dream come true started with “Once upon a time” so it is only fitting that we end this with…

And they all lived happily ever after.