Dear Friends and Family,

Wow! On December 14th, Cecile turns 50! What a life of service she’s lived so far.

I’m writing today to invite you to celebrate Cecile, her work and her life.

If you know Cecile, you know that she works very hard and cares very deeply. She’s lived an intense question her entire adult life: "how can my work create a more just and humane world?"

And now she needs your love and support!

(Cecile and neighbor Ben, building garden hoop house 2015)

From her early 20’s she’s dedicated herself to efforts to build a more generative world. Organic farming and gardening, community living, practices for personal collective transformation, and her current work to transform business as usual with integrated and effective methods for collaborative leadership.

She’s started so many businesses (I’ve lost track of how many), all striving to bring more beauty, ecological balance, and human thriving into the world.

(making a point, leading Round Sky facilitator training, 2015)

Those of you who know her really well, may also know that she can throw herself into these efforts for a better world with such dedication that she forgets to rest. She’s very clear that if her life is required to transform this world, there’s no question that she will give all of herself.

Recently however, she’s had some health challenges, partly due to the intensity of her efforts over many years, and you know, this whole aging thing. It grows increasingly clear to those of us who live with her day by day, that Cecile needs more sources of rejuvenation in her daily life if she is to rebuild her energy to be a transformative change maker for the next 50 years.

So I’m writing today with two requests; ways that you can support and celebrate the life of this caring and ernest soul.

First, share how she has touched you.

Making change is hard, and one of the hardest things is knowing if we are making a difference.

So, one of the most important things you could do for her is to let her know how she has impacted your life. What is the difference that Cecile has made in your life or in ways that you can see?

The difference could be personal, professional, happened in a moment, or be the effort of years. Whatever the scale, let Cecile know the difference she is making with you and with the world.

Write a letter, give her a call, send an email, record a quick video...

You can send your submissions to me (daniel[at]roundksysolutions.com) or directly to her on her birthday or anytime after that. It might be nice to spread them out over time, just let her know.

Secondly, did you know how much Cecile loves hot water?

This fundraiser is to gift her with the means to rest and heal in her own hot tub.

One of the most rejuvenating, relaxing, and fun things for Cecile is to soak in hot water. When we lived in Ann Arbor and were running Heart & Soul, our landscaping and building company, we salvaged an old hot tub from clients who were getting rid of it. We fixed it up and Cecile painted the enclosure with left over paints in shades of blue and green. She loved that tub! nearly every evening after a hard day of digging in the soil or hunched over the drafting board, she would head out for a soak under the stars, and clouds, and rain, and snow, and freezing rain, and wind... you get the picture. Since we moved to Vermont we’ve been missing that old tub and dreaming of an upgrade!

(the old hot tub in our back yard in Ann Arbor)

One of the places we were house sitting here in Vermont in our “homeless” phase a few years ago before we got our current place, had a beautiful round cedar hot tub. It was heated with a wood stove that is immersed right in the tub itself, called a snorkel stove! It was so fun and truly healing to go out during the evening and stoke the fire and then have a soak before bed.

So we’ve been looking at how we could set up one of these tubs on our new property. We’ve got a spot picked out with views of Worcester Mountain (and near the wood shed!) I’ve been collecting more firewood this fall with hopes of still setting up the new tub this winter.

(Imagine Cecile soaking in here and really being able to rejuvenate every day!)

But we just have not been able to make this kind of spend while we are putting all of our time and money into getting our business off the ground.

Yet right now is the super stressful time when Cecile needs this kind of support back in her life!

So I’m asking for your help to make this big gift to her life and wellbeing possible. And sooner rather than later. I’ll get the firewood, set it up, and light many a fire for her to enjoy, can you help out with the money part?

Even small donations will add up, so please give something. 

If we raise the full $6500 that will provide an 8' diameter cedar hot tub, wood stove hot water heating system, Insulating cover, hardware, and shipping costs.

Any funds in excess of the goal will go to other ways to support Cecile that we can not currently afford, such as massage therapy, or a vacation to the ocean (Cecile hasn't been able to take more than a weekend long vacation for 8 years!)

(not likely the company we'll order from, this one's from the UK! but you get the idea)

Thirdly! This project is a surprise gift!!

I’ll present this whole project to her and reveal your gifts on her her actual birthday Monday, December 14th. On her birthday I’ll also share this project with all of her other friends and people I don’t have emails for on Facebook.

so, please don’t mention this to Cecile or share it in a way that she could see until after her birthday.

AND, Please do share, if you know people that may want to wish Cecile well on this special occasion, please do let them know. If you have any questions about how to do that let me know! my email is daniel@roundskysolutions.com.

With tremendous love and gratitude for all of you in our lives.

Cecile is so deeply dear to me, and I know you feel the same.  Somehow that makes all the difference in this life of pain and joy we are all living.

Thank you.

Daniel

(Daniel, Khalila, Cecile, and the Rainbow)