Flat Stanley SHINES

Shine Project

I went for the "Let Love Shine" challenge this week!  My sweet niece in Idaho sent us a Flat Stanley who was in need of an adventure.  Lucky for her and Flat Stanley, I was going to New York this week.

I spent some time after my meetings helping Flat Stanley see New York.

How am I tying this back to the Shine Challenge this week?  

Well, I'm a firm believer in everyone needs those moments when it is all about you.  Not the kind of daily "all about you" that tends to make one selfish and snotty .. but those moments when you feel special and cool and confident!  This belief generally results in birthday parties that are slightly out of control, but we'll talk about that later.  This project gave me the perfect opportunity to do something special for my niece.  I put together a box from New York and a letter from Flat Stanley to send back to her to report on our adventure.

I hope she gets to report to her class on her adventure with Flat Stanley.

I hope she feels cool when she wears her t-shirt and tells the story over and over again.

I hope she knows how much we love her.

Most of all, I hope she wears her necklace and tells everyone what it means and that it reminds her regularly of the light she can share with others.

Here is the letter:

Dear XXXXX,

I had a great time, but I am really happy to be back with you!  After you mailed me to Texas, I got to ride on an airplane to New York City!!  I met the nicest people on the plane.  I even took a picture with one of the flight attendants.

In New York, I got to see some AMAZING things.  I went to one of the biggest toy stores in the world – FAO Schwarz.  It was HUGE!  The Lego section was so cool.  They had giant people created from Legos.  My favorite part was the mini racecars.  I got to pretend I was driving!  I got my picture taken with the toy soldier that stands in front of the store every day.  He told these nice people from Paris, France all about me and my story.  They were very impressed that I had come all the way from Idaho to Texas to New York!  The toy soldier was so nice.  He was one of my favorite things about New York.  I got you an ornament for your Christmas Tree so every year you can remember me and my friend, the toy soldier.

Did you know they have people on the streets in New York who sell food?  You can just walk right up to their carts and buy a drink, or a pretzel or other snacks.  That was so cool!!  I had to take a picture of that!

Do you remember that movie “Home Alone”?  I got to see the hotel that Kevin stayed in all by himself.  It was so fancy!!  It sits right next to Central Park.  I couldn’t go too far into the park because it was raining really hard.  Central Park looked really big and really pretty!

Guess what else I found in New York?  A whole store dedicated to M&Ms!  How cool is that!!  You could get M&Ms in every color you could think of.  The green M&M was even dressed up like the Statue of Liberty.  I thought that was pretty funny!

On my last night in New York, I went down to Times Square.  We were trying to take a picture when all of a sudden this group of men came over and started calling my name.  They made Aunt Heidi get in the photo with me.  It was great!  It is like everyone knows who I am no matter where I go.   It really made me feel special!

You really helped me feel special by sending me on this great adventure … I wanted to do something to help you feel special too!   You are such a great friend.  I think you are super cool and really fun to hang out with.  Sometimes when you smile really big, it is like you are glowing with love!  This necklace will always help you remember the light inside of you.  It shines even brighter when you smile, give hugs, and try to be a friend to everyone.  I know I felt your light!  Just like the necklace says … Always let your light SHINE!!

Thanks again for sending me on a wonderful adventure!  I hope you like your t-shirt.  We can wear them on the same day and be twins!!  :)

Love,

Flat Stanley