My name is Lorilee Lucas and I'm on a mission to support my best friend, Christina, from nearly 3000 miles away.  

                                                The Friendship

Christina was involved in an intense hit-and-run accident several days ago.   It is unconscionable to me that someone would flee the scene like this, not only avoiding the personal responsibility for their actions but to be devoid of the humanity to ensure Christina was alright.   I'm grateful that she will recover in time and I hope that we can flip the negativity of this experience into an overwhelming outpouring of love, community and support for Christina and her family in this time of need. 

                                                   The Woman

Since this was a hit and run accident and the liklihood of finding the perpetrator is slim, there is a very high chance that Christina will be strapped with the financial responsibility of this incident on top of having to heal both physically and emotionally.  All donations from this campaign will go to Christina and will be used at her discretion to apply to medical bills and replacing her vehicle.  Sadly, insurance is not going to be of any assistance in replacing the car.  Most likely, it won't even cover the full cost of what she owes on the vehicle.  Time will tell.

                                          The Wreckage

I know times are tough. And geez, its the holidays. Money is tight for everyone right now. My commitment to you all: I'm asking all my friends and families to refrain from giving me gifts this year. I don't need a thing. And the only thing I want is for my best friend to rest assured that we've got her back. My many thanks and gratitude go out to each and every one of you that can donate to this cause. I'll be working double time to put together the gifts for each level of donation. Its the very least I can do to express my gratitude.

May the holidays find you blessed with health, happiness and bountiful feelings of love.

Lorilee Lucas

If you want to read more about who I am, who Christina is or a bit about our history together, read on, my friend. 

Christina is a ceramic artist and the Ceramic Studio Manager for Columbia Art Center.  You can check out a great article on some of her past work here.  She lives in Baltimore with her loving husband, Jason and wildly talented son named Zen.    I'll post links to some of the necklaces she's created that are part of the rewards program soon.

I'm Lorilee.  I'm the small business owner of Ten-O-Eight Designs.  You can check out what I'm up to, "like" my biz page here or see some of my projects on my website.   I provide apparel design, technical design and product deveopment services to a variety of fashion businesses.  I live in San Jose, California with my hubby, Luc.  

Christina and I are cut from the same cloth.  Here's the story of how we came to be friends.

I moved from Berkley, Ca to Baltimore, Md in 1998.  It was an impulsive decision of a love-sick 20-somthing year old - made only 3 days after falling for a handsome, PhD that was starting medical school at Johns Hopkins.  You can read between the lines here if you like...I was basically an idiot.   A few weeks later, the prince turned into a frog and hopped away.  And I was stuck.  I didn't know anyone, didn't have a job and didn't have the funds to move back home.  I was determined to get myself out of the mess I'd made and found a job at Port Discovery Children's Museum before it had even opened its doors.   There was a LOT of down time in those first few months on the job while engineers and technical staff tested equipment to ensure the exhibits functioned properly.  So people like Christina and I spent a lot of time sitting in exhibits like "Miss Perceptions Mystery House" and the dark coridors of the Egyptian tomb ready with our radios to give feedback if they needed our help.  Mostly, they didn't.  I have no idea why we were paid to be there.   But it didn't matter to me.  I saw it as a glorious opportunity to get paid to write in my journal.  Poems, ideas, essays, philosophies...I was figuring out who I was and what I believed in and got paid to do it.  One day, I saw this freckled tomboy of a girl carrying a similar journal out of her exhibit and I had the audacity to ask her about it.  She shot me a look like I had violated her deepest, darkest personal space and reluctantly informed me that yes, it was a journal.  (Perhaps some of you know what look I'm talking about...Scary, right.  But oh so harmless). 
                                                 The Scowl

I ignored her brashness and continued along my line of questioning and shared what I was doing with my journal.  Somehow, in spite of ourselves, we managed to develop a deep trust.  Over the weeks we came to give eachother topics to write about and eventually started swapping journals with permission to read and comment on each other's entries.  We pushed each other in our writing in those passing breakroom moments but mostly our friendship grew in the gigantic spaces of aloneness we were comfortable giving each other to work on our own writing.  I don't think either one of us realized we had let our guard down and were in the midst of tricking ourselves into the deepest friendship of our lives. 

When I finally made enough money to move back to California, I set a date for my departure, put in my notice and started to pack.   I'll let Christina tell you the story of how she weaseled her way into my car on that trip back to California.   Because I can tell you one thing for certain, she wasn't invited.  Ha.  But thank goodness she did.  That trip sealed the deal for us on a lifelong friendship.  Whatever forces conspired to put us together in that car are the very best things that the universe is made of. 

My 4 day power trip to beeline home ended up taking many weeks.  We laughed so hard.  We had so many adventures.   We were two peas in a pod.  Totally in sync.  We just got each other.  And we still do. 

                                      The goofy adventure

When you find a friend that sees you for exactly who you are and not only accepts you without judgement but genuinely adores you for your off-beat, kooky ways...  That's love, people.  And Christina is pure love to me.

                                The adventure continues

As a small business owner, I've invested every last cent back into my business.   If I had the money to cut her a check, I would.  Unfortunately, I don't.  But that doesn't mean I can't do something significant to help.  I have motivation.  I have a purpose.  And by gosh have I got the drive.    And, praise be, I have the internets, the humility and the voice to ask for your help.  Through love and creativity, I know that we will find a way.  

If you find yourself in a similar position as me...with more love than money, I am completely OPEN to any and all suggestions for how you can contribute to this master plan of communal love. If you have something you'd like to donate to sweeten the deal for the folks that have money to spend, that's fantastic. Reach out. I can add a level of giving and add your donation to the pot.   Or do your own thing.  I am soooo appreciative to the troops on the front line who can be there day to day to make sure she is eating, resting and letting others pick up the slack.