History behind Hats of Hope

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><script type="text/javascript" src="http://hb.lycos.com/hb.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ratings.lycos.com/ratings/lycosRating.js.php"></script> <script type="text/javascript"><![CDATA[//><!]]></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://scripts.lycos.com/catman/init.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-start.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-middle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-end.js"></script> <noscript> <img src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/img/common/ot_noscript.gif?rand=427893" alt="" width="1" height="1" />  <iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="728" height="90" src="http://ad.yieldmanager.com/st?ad_type=iframe&ad_size=728x90&section=209094"></iframe>  </noscript> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=140 BGCOLOR="#9966CC" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04200a20ezthtv.gif"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hats Of Hope"><U><B>home</b></U></A><B>     |     </b><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#330066" FACE="Arial" ><B>Hats Of Hope</b></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our Mission"><U>Our Mission</U></A>   |   <B>History behind Hats of Hope</b>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Past Events"><U>Past Events</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Coming Events"><U>Coming Events</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Meet some faces"><U>Meet some faces</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Related Links"><U>Related Links</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Donations"><U>Donations</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A></div> <div> <B>History behind Hats of Hope</b></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#CCFF66" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <IMG SRC="09591cd0.jpg" border=0 width="145" height="205" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=340 BGCOLOR="#FF66FF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> I'll never forget the day I went to Carissa's house to bring her the outfit with the matching hat I made her.  Carissa had just gotten out of the hospital after being diagnosed with a relapse of her AML (leukemia) and was once again on chemo. As I walked up the the door, I was greated by a cheery little 3 year old. She was smiling from ear to ear as she was hanging out the door waiting for me to come up the steps. As I came up onto the porch, Carissa looked at me and said, "Don't mind me I'm having a bad hair day." I figured that it didn't seem to bother her much yet that she had no hair at all, but I pulled out the outfit and hat I made her. Carissa was ecstatic! She wore it for a week straight, refusing to take it off so her mother could wash it. </div> <bR> <div> So a month later, I decided to make her 2 more hats for her upcoming wish trip to Disney World from the Make-A-Wish Foundation of NH. </div> <bR> <div> Carissa wore her hats all the time. And she was pretty proud of them. So when I was assigned to do a demonstration speech my senior year of high school, I decided to demonstrate how to make a hat. I decided to make a few extra hats as well, and donate them all to the Make-A-Wish Foundation when I was done with the project. But a few weeks before we were supposed to do our speeches, our teacher who was pregnant got put on bedrest and I never got to do the speech. </div> <bR> <div> So in the spring of 1999 I donated the Make-A-Wish Foundation of NH about 30 hats. </div> <bR> <div> Shortly after, in April 1999 we found out that Carissa had relapsed for a final time with her AML. The doctors couldn't do anyting more considering she had already had a bone marrow transplant. </div> <bR> <div> I had grown up going to church every Sunday, and I knew a lot about God, so shortly after Carissa's final relapse, her family decided to take her to church with me. They wanted her to know about God and heaven. It was something they had never taught her, and her parents felt it might make things easier for her if she knew. Carissa loved church. But she was always disappointed the weeks she couldn't go when she was too sick. On those days Carissa would sit in her room alone. When we questioned her about what she was doing, her reply was simply, 'talking to God.' I could see there was something different about her. She was very at peace about going to heaven. I realized she had something I lacked. But it took me a couple of weeks before I could figure out what it was. </div> <bR> <div> We were sitting in her room one day when she picked up my Bible and started flipping through the pages. I knew she couldn't read so I asked her what she was doing. Her reply was, "Just looking." I couldn't understand, so I let her 'look' some more as I cleaned up the toys she was playing with. She looked at me with tear filled eyes as she said, "I like to look. It's God's Book. I love God." It was then that I realized what she had. I had 'head knowledge' about God. I knew my Bible like I knew my History book. I knew the answers if you quizzed me on Bible stories. I could quote lots of verses from the Bible.  Carissa couldn't quote any Bible verses. She didn't know any Bible stories. But she knew God loved her and he would make her better when she got to heaven. And she loved him. What Carissa had that I lacked was a person relationship or a friendship with God. I only knew about him, but I really didn't know him personally. Several days later, I decided to give my whole heart to God, just as Carissa had done.  </div> <bR> <div> About 2 weeks later, we were sitting on the floor one afternoon playing Barbie's when she suggested, 'let's play heaven.' I didn't quite know how to 'play' heaven so I asked for an explanation. She picked up Ken and asked me to dress him in his suit. 'Ken is God,' she stated, 'and these are the angels,' she added as she picked up the girl Barbie's and put them in their best dresses. Finally she picked up a baby Barbie and added, 'this is me.' I didn't know what to say at first. I didn't know that playing heaven meant Carissa would be there. She continued talking. "When I get to heaven, God's going to give me a hug, and then he's going to introduce me to all the angels. I'm going to have hair and I'm going to walk again, so the angels can take me for walks on streets of gold." She sat there for a minute looking out the window.  She had tears in her eyes as she added, "You and Mommy and Daddy and baby Ryan are going to be sad, but remember, I'm in a better place with God,"</div> <bR> <div> It was the end of August 1999 and I was preparing to leave for college out of state. I went to her house the day before I left to say goodbye to Carissa. We both knew it was going to be the last time we would see each other. We sat in her bedroom saying nothing. I didn't really know what to say, or how to say goodbye to someone who had taught me so much. I explained to her that I was going to school. I was a marketing major with a computer minor. I told her that I was going to learn about business and computers so I could get a job when I'm older. But Carissa just sat staring at the floor. Finally she looked up. I could tell she was deep in thought. After a minute with tears in her eyes she just stated, "You don't need to go to school to learn about working in a store or computers, You need to tell the other sick kids like me about God, so they can go to heaven too when they die." I didn't know what to say. I just held her as we both cried. </div> <bR> <div> Just a month later, on September 29, 1999 God saw fit to take Carissa to heaven. I'm sure she got her hug from God and she's probably running around on the streets of gold, her blonde little curls bouncing in the breeze. She isn't in pain anymore. She's in a much better place. </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> It wasn't until after she died that I really thought about what it was Carissa wanted me to do. But in summer 2000, Hats of Hope began. Our goal is to reach the 'other sick kids' like Carissa wanted by giving them hats- something we knew Carissa loved, and at the same time, sharing with the families of these children that they a do have hope because God loves them, and he wants to have a personal relationship with them if they will let him. Each family is given a Bible in memory of Carissa as well. Because it was Carissa's desire that the other kids learn about God. </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>   <center> <p> <a href="http://titan.guestworld.com/wgb/wgbsign.dbm?owner=HatsOfHope" target="_top">Sign My Guestbook</a> <a href="http://www.guestworld.com/" target="_top"><img src="http://www.guestworld.com/GuestWorldbutton.gif" height="31" width="87" align="absmiddle" border="0" alt="Guestbook by GuestWorld"></a> <a href="http://titan.guestworld.com/wgb/wgbview.dbm?owner=HatsOfHope" target="_top">View My Guestbook</a> </center>   </div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>