time.
the concept stifles me sometimes. hell, i have been on this site almost ten years. i have seen people come and go. i have seen the evolution of the site. followed some people. watched their lives change. i have never been super active on here. comment. observe.
this weekend is the culmination of my charities seventh annual campaign. a buddy and i were sitting on barstools at another friends' wine bar on a sunday and starting jawing back and forth about growing beards. soon there was talk of a competition. shortly followed a fundraiser. within forty-five minutes, Beards BeCAUSE was born. with it being a masculine effort, we thought it would be nice to raise money for a women's cause. we chose the local battered womens' shelter.
we honestly thought we would get a dozen guys and raise about $5k the first year over the course of the two month long competition. our friends took to it and we got 36 guys on board. we knew we had to take shit a little more seriously when we ended up raising a little over $22K.
as we progressed, i became more active in the community and learning about domestic violence. the advocacy eventually became more important to me as i recalled some things from my childhood. also, my number because the contact for the charity. so, i would periodically get a phone call. and by phone call, i mean a woman in a situation that she needed to get out of. to be someone's lifeline...
so, saturday i will take the stage to emcee our seventh finale. a couple of bands, a DJ, a silent auction, a beard trimming competition, and an awards presentation. i hand paint the awards after a buddy and i weld them up. if we raise another $12K this week, that will put us at $250,000 in seven years. i guess, that is a legacy. i don't know.
this has become a large part of my life. every year, by the end, i say this will be my last year. but i can't. i won't...