My daughter, Erin and I started this blog, when we first embarked on our journey around the world, creating a film about individuals making positive change.  It was then, and continues to be a journey that the two of us share intimately – together as mother and daughter.  Our trip was filled with memorable experiences as we circled the globe.  Our film has been a journey for our audiences, who were motivated to “do something”, inspired by individuals like Maggie Doyne who has changed the lives of thousands of children.  We formed a very strong bond through this experience, and that has become be part of our legacy.

The great news is that Erin is getting married next month, to a wonderful young man named Bryan.  My husband and I feel blessed and happy that Erin and Bryan have found one another to experience life together  – the joys and sorrows and everything in between.  And so another chapter begins in her life and ours.

As I look back, my most cherished memories are about Erin. It’s usually the little moments that resonate the most – like the time she greeted me at the airport after I had been away for a long period of time. She was probably about 5 or 6 years old, and she ran up to me, arms outstretched with exuberance and joy, laughing as she called out “Mommy!” after spotting me in the crowd. I’ll never forget that moment. It was pure love.

Love and relationships are what makes a life worth living.  These days, it is easy to lose sight of the simplicity of that thought, because we are all distracted by other things in the consumer culture we live in. I am grateful that Erin and I took time in our lives when we did, to make time for one another. I know that both of us were incredibly humbled by our journey and witnessing what the power of “love” could do, on a global scale.  We formed a bond and we will have that bond forever.

So I say to Erin, “Be happy on your wedding day and all the other days that you and Bryan get to spend together.  Cherish each moment.  It’s what life is made up of – every precious one.”

This photo was taken when we were in Uganda, working on the segment in our film about Wrap Up Africa.  This tailor is sewing to be able to pay for her child’s cancer treatments. Founder Letha Sandison established Wrap Up Africa to help aid cancer patients and their families in Uganda.  She has also created jobs for artists who design and make buckles and buttons for these garments that reach markets all around the world.  In essence she has created a foundation that can sustain itself.

The day had an ominous look to it, with a dark foreboding sky and choppy water on the great Amazon River.  Erin and I were staying at the APECA base camp upriver from the town of Belen, one of the poorest towns along the river. We were planning to go there that day, by boat – everything is done by boat – there are no roads.

Pablo, Gina Low’s partner at APECA, assessed the situation and decided to go as planned, but he told us it was going to rain and to prepare for it.  The trip to Belen took about an hour if my memory serves me well.  It was open water with just a few villages along the way and aside from the sound of our motor and those of other boats off in the distance; there was an eerie silence.

When we got to Belen, the skies let loose.  Pablo quickly navigated our boat to one of the shacks along the river. We took refuge in this machine shop and watched the storm play out.  We were thankful for the cover over our heads and grateful to Pablo for knowing exactly what to do.  I think that is what continually impressed me the most about the people in our film, like Pablo.  They were all incredibly independent and resilient in difficult situations. They were people you could trust and that says a lot.

Some of our fondest memories from our journey were from our visit with Maggie Doyne and her children in Surkhet, Nepal.  All the kids were such a joy to be around.  This young boy at the Kopila Valley Primary School glowed with enthusiasm.

Most folks don’t realize that when Erin and I went around the world in pursuit of people creating positive change – we weren’t just shooting a movie – we also shot over 5000 still images.

When we planned our itinerary, traveling and shooting on six continents in the summer of 2010, we built in some  “free time” to see the sights.  It also acted as a buffer in case things didn’t go according to plan.  As it happened, everything did go according to plan and we had some wonderful down time in Moscow, Istanbul, Bangkok, Melbourne and Sydney, Australia and India.  We shot still images in all of these destinations in addition to the stills that we shot on the movie set, and ended up with a nice archive.

I’ve been editing this archive over the last year and am going to make them available for prints.  You can see the first gallery of images, and there will be more to follow over the next few months.  A print would make a beautiful Christmas gift for someone special.  If you order before Dec. 17^th – the prints will arrive before Christmas.

Happy Holiday.