dani, the birthday queen

a woman after my own heart, she celebrates her
birthday all month! i am totally behind her in
that thinking! and today is her actual birth DAY!

i'm not even sure how long we've known each other.
seems like we always have. she's a shop owner out
in wisconsin who has become a friend and a mentor.

more than once, when i needed help/advice/thinking
thru something, she's been there for me. most recently,
stepping into memories that had to hurt to help me
figure something out. i knew it when i asked her, i
knew i was going to a painful spot....it seemed
important enough to ask...and we both agreed it helped
take a bad thing and put some good in it. when you
hit a person open like that, and so generous like that,
you have found gold. and that's what i've found in dani.

she's wise, funny, generous, so articulate it's beautiful,
and quite a writer.

she's one of the shop owners i work with who feels
that her shop is more than a business....she's offering
a sanctuary to people, a place of peace and healing.

working with a fair amount of shop owners, i see quite
a range in attitudes towards their businesses. dani's
way of doing business is one i whole heartedly want
to participate in.

so in honor of her birthday, i want to send you over to
her blog and her shop site.

and i also want to do a plug for small shops all around
the country. i don't think i realized how precious they
were before i started bone sighs.

i always like boppin' in them. but never really thought
a whole lot about supporting them because they mattered.
sometimes i am so thick headed.

they so matter. we should pay attention to them. they're
the places trying to offer something unique....and many
of them are trying to do more than that...they are trying
to offer a place of peace in the midst of craze. they are
trying to offer a tiny little bit of healing for those who
are hurting. they are offering a place to go in to and be
a customer that they care about.

so on dani's birthday, i want to encourage everyone to hit
a small independent shop next chance we have. we can do it
in honor of dani! wouldn't that be cool?! if you can't afford
something, go in and tell them you're glad they're there!
that they matter! you'll be glad you did.....it really does
matter.

happy birthday, dani! you add so much to the beauty of the
world!