Babette Holland - The Strongest Woman I Know
When I first started going to New York City and had my place there I was introduced to an amazing woman I called my fairy godmother - Babette Holland. She lived in Tribeca with her husband Tony, and Babette was the animal rescue person the NYC police would bring abused animals to that needed saving. Plus she also made a difference in quite a few of the local kids buy giving them jobs and direction. I became a Lifestylist and started the Lifestylist Brand because of all of the mentoring and support she gave me, as well as being the best role model anyone could ask for..
Babette is the artist behind Babette Holland Design and made all of the really cool copper and aluminum pcs that we have in our home. Her company is a woman owned company and all of her work is made in the US - even though she was offered huge amounts of money to sell her company and take production overseas she believed in supporting the local economy and doing the right thing. We hadn't heard as much from her lately and I just found out why. I'd like to share what she just shared with us:
I went to ICFF in May of this year - beautiful trade show. After 3.5 years of fighting, I was able to get my wonderful - here goes - Quickie 2 Ultra Lightweight Wheelchair. I got it just in time for The MS Walk, which I thank you all supporting again. I was thrilled to have it at the show. We had a great booth - 10 x 20, however, if I sat in my Quickie 2, no one would come near the booth - or me. I don't have words to tell you how terrible that was. Those shows cost a fortune, so I spend the next 5 five days, standing with only cane, two canes even bugged people and drugged to the gills to kill the pain.
I've been home since that show, trying to get better as it took a huge toll. What's worse is that I was shamed into hiding once again. I've been hiding for 10 years and I can't do it any more. I don't want to, either.
I'm asking for your help - to get to the finals for one real reason. I want to show as many people as possible what the face of MS really is - it's me. MS in the US has fewer than 400,000 people, so everyone is confused and frightened about us and the disease.
I'd like to be there, in my beautiful Quickie 2 Ultra Lightweight Wheelchair (which by the way, the only way I'd get it from the Insurance company was for ME to buy the wheels! Otherwise, they were happy to 'give' me a wheelchair) and show everyone I am the face of MS: a woman, a designer, a manufacturer who has been in business for 2 decades - before I had MS and after. And here I am and there are about 399,999 others of us in the US and more around the world. Maybe I'll help everyone I know who cannot tell - for so many reasons and help others who know so little about MS.
If I change one mine or make someone aware, I've done a great thing. And it's so surprising how everyone knows someone with MS, they just know nothing about it.
So this is why I'd like your help and ask you to ask a few other friends for their help, too - here's the link, you can vote 6x a day from today - the 22.
Click my link to register. Put in your email and password - remember them, please. Trying to get AmericanMade to re-send them to you new is more difficult than winning a lottery. De-click the box if you don't want extra 'stuff' from Martha Stewart. Now go vote - it will send you back to my page. It allows you to vote every 24 hours, 6x each time. Keep the link and next time you'll just sign in.
Thank you for all you help and support - and here's me, at the MS Walk, with Ruby and Hanky at the Walk, where it's OK to be sitting. Thank you for giving me a hand in this, I really want to right this wrong. xoxo Babette
After everything Babette has done for me, I would really like to help her win this competition so she can proudly wheel herself on stage and show people what the face of MS is - it could happen to any of us. It won't cost a dime, we just have to go to the site linked above and vote for Babette. No one deserves this win more than her.
Please feel free to share - and thank-you more than I can ever tell you!
November 25, 2013