| Subject: Subject: An IMPORTANT (IMO) message from Stephanie Griggs (mother of Adrianna Jadyn (AJ), Kennedy, and Isabella Griggs): |
Author:
Anonymous
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Date Posted: 04:41:13 10/10/04 Sun
First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone who has prayed for and thought about my daughter Isabella. As many of you know, she was born 4/21 with a severe congenital birth defect called an esophageal atresia. To make a long story short, she spent 3 months in the NICU at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, has gone through 8 surgeries (3 major and 5 day-surgeries) already with the 9th one coming up in less than 2 weeks, and she will continue to have lifelong issues because of this. However, she is a fighter and she is doing very well all things considered. She is now 10 lbs (she was 4 at birth due to prematurity) and starting to hit some major milestones (sitting, rolling over, etc). We still have a very long road ahead of us, but rest assured that Isabella is going to do very well thanks to all of the wonderful doctors, nurses, and other staff at Children’s. The support of our wonderful family, friends, and even strangers is helpful as well. I have received many emails and read posts on boards in support of Isabella. I apologize for not responding to many of them, but please understand that having a child with special needs is very trying and time consuming. Additionally, I was trying to keep my name and that of my daughters off the boards so as not to cause this controversy which I now believe must be addressed.
I have sat back and waited as long as I could, but now I’ve hit my boiling point. It is with a heavy heart that I write this because I honestly want to believe that everyone is a good person. However, I feel that this must be said. I will no longer be entering any of my children in pageants, Adrianna, Kennedy (who never had an interest in them anyway), or Isabella. It saddens me because I truly enjoyed the time I spent with Adrianna when I took her to pageants and regret that I will not give that opportunity to Isabella when she is older. My reasoning behind this is simple. I have met many people in the pageant world that I felt comfortable calling my “friends.” However, it seems that even my “friends” are willing to lie, cheat, and steal from me if it means entering their daughter in another pageant. I know that not everyone is like this and to be honest, most aren’t. But I will not even take a chance at exposing my daughters to people like this again.
Soon after the birth of Isabella, Marcie Phillips, director of Crowning Beauty IL/IA, took it upon herself to conduct two events at which she asked for donations to help with the costs associated with Isabella’s birth, hospital care, and our family’s expenses during this care. I am forever grateful to Marcie for this unselfish act. The first event was a 50/50 raffle. The raffle raised approximately $75 for Isabella after the winner of the raffle donated his winnings back to us (Thank you to everyone who donated!). This raffle was held at a pageant which Kellie Adams (mom to RH) entered her daughter in. Kellie had told Marcie before the pageant that she couldn’t afford to enter RH in the pageant. Marcie, being the kind person that she was, told Kellie that she could pay her for the pageant after it was over, so as to give her more time to get the money together. The approximate cost of the pageant was $75. After the pageant was over, Kellie volunteered to bring the raffle money to me, telling Marcie that she had planned to come see Isabella in the hospital sometime soon. Instead of giving Kellie the $75 cash, Marcie told Kellie to pay me the $75 that Kellie owed Marcie for the pageant. Kellie agreed to this and Marcie assumed that it was done. I assure you that I have never received even a single penny from this raffle. After receiving and email from Marcie telling me that Kellie had the money from the raffle, I asked Kellie if Marcie had given her the money. Kellie initially denied that Marcie had ever given her any money. I then spoke with Marcie on the phone and got the “whole story.” I then confronted Kellie with Marcie’s story at which time Kellie admitted that she did owe me approximately $75 and that she would have to “make 3 payments of $25 each” because she didn’t have $75 all at one time. I agreed to this, and gave Kellie my mailing address, sat back and waited for a check to arrive. It never did. I spoke with Kellie on more that one occasion, each time reminding her to send me a “payment”. I have still seen no money.
Why such a big deal over $75? Honestly, under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t even have brought it up. Due to excellent insurance coverage, our family is handling our hospital bills and other expenses associated with Isabella without having to pinch pennies. However, there are many charities that helped our family out tremendously during the time Isabella was hospitalized. One of the most helpful was the Ronald McDonald House, which provided us with a small apartment, kitchen, and many other “comforts of home” so that we could stay right across the street from Children’s Hospital. When I heard about the fund-raising that Marcie was doing, I decided that any monies raised would be donated to Ronald McDonald House. I really would have loved to donate that $75 to Ronald McDonald House.
Additionally, since the time that Kellie has told me she was going to make payments for the amount due to me, she has entered her daughter in at least 1 pageant and several photo contests. Pageants aren’t free as we all know. Not only are their entry fees, but hotel, food, and gas all add up to an expensive weekend. Now I know that Kellie is entitled to enter her daughter in whatever she wants, but I do believe that she should have paid me the money she owed BEFORE paying to enter another pageant. Correct me if I’m wrong, but when Marcie ran that 50/50 raffle, I’m pretty sure she didn’t ask people to donate their money to pay for RH’s pageant fees – which is where it has ultimately ended up going. The straw that broke the camel’s back was this afternoon when I saw that RH was entered into not just one, but 3 Hawaiian Tropic Photo contests, at a minimum cost of $10 EACH. (That would have covered more than the first “payment” promised to me) And here’s the real great part: Kellie’s daughter, RH, won the Hawaiian Tropic Program Book cover model contest with a picture that I personally took of her with MY camera and Kellie does NOT own the copyrights to it. So now we have someone who owes me money using a picture that I took to promote a pageant system that I do not like. (I have my own reasons for this which have nothing to do with this incident so I’m not going to even bother getting into that). I would like to request that Vonda Barden, director of Hawaiian Tropic, NOT use the photo that I took of RH as Kellie has no rights to it. Please use a different photo of her because I do not want MY photograph on your program book cover.
To all of our pageant friends: Adrianna and I are truly going to miss you. We have enjoyed all of the pageants, regardless of their outcomes. Adrianna continues to ask about many of her “pageant friends.” It saddens me when I have to tell her that she most likely will not see many of them again. Thank you for giving us 2 years of good times and great fun. Thank you for your support of AJ during her pageants and for Isabella during her hospitalization. God Bless you all.
To Kellie: I wish it hadn’t come to this. I gave you every opportunity to send me the money so that I could give it to the charity of my choice. You claimed that you didn’t have it, yet you continue to spend money to enter RH in pageants. I am hurt and offended that you lied to people about me, and even lied to me. You told people that you had visited Isabella and me on several occasions, when, in fact, in Isabella’s 5 ½ months of life, you have NEVER seen her in person. You said on more that one occasion that you would be sending me the money. I even confirmed that you had my address. And yet no money has arrived. Please do me a favor and lose my phone number, address, email, etc. I considered you a friend – a good friend at times – but you are not my friend. You apparently will do anything to enter your daughter in another pageant. Even if it means stealing from a charity or lying to a friend. If your conscience ever gets the best of you, send a check for $75 to Ronald McDonald House or Children’s Medical Fund or another charity. God Bless You also as you need it the most.
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