Happy Heavenly 24th Birthday Shane
Wow, what a celebration we had. I am not sure even a day later if I am ready to put it into words but I need to at least start to unpack some of these emotions.
Yesterday, June 27th would have been Shane's 24th birthday if he was still alive. Last year Mike and I celebrated Shane's birthday with some of Mike's relatives in Ireland- that was a pretty amazing way to celebrate. But I think we may have topped it!
Yesterday we held our 1st Golf Tournament and first official fundraiser for the McCarthy Brothers Bond Foundation. The event was held at Thomas Memorial Golf Course in Turners Falls, Ma- this is a course that Mike is a member of and plays weekly in the Knights of Columbus League on Wednesday nights. Mike was persuaded to join the league by a friend of his, Kent. It was the spring after Shane died and it truly was a great way to get Mike out of the house , doing something he loved and gave him the opportunity to hang out with some wonderful people. He needed this to get him thinking about something other than the devastating loss of our youngest son.
Fast forward to this spring when his crew decided we should hold a golf tournament. The planning and organizing began with first choosing a date- when the club had June 27th available it became a no brainer and was a wink from the universe that it was meant to be. Thomas is a 9 hole golf course so we thought if we could get 9 teams of 4 to play in a Scramble style tournament that would be a good start- if we could get 18 teams well that would be even better.
Our 18 team spots filled in just over a week. Now it was on to getting some sponsors to help cover some of the costs. My goal was to get 9 companies or businesses to sponsor the holes- when we quickly had that covered the guys suggested we try to get 2 for each hole a tee box sponsor and a green sponsor- when we filled those we moved into sponsors for the closest to the pin contests on 2 par 3 holes and a closest to the line contest on a different hole. In the end we even had a sponsor for the beverage cart.
Next it was onto looking for prizes for an Irish Auction to raise some additional funds. Holy Moly! We ended up with over 40 amazing prizes from smokers, coolers, handmade quilts and table runners, homemade jams and jellies, charcuterie board, local maple syrup, gift certificates to area businesses, themed baskets like BBQ, beach, movies, coffee, red white and blue themed to name a few. We had a beautiful sea glass piece and greens fees for 4 at 2 other local golf courses. The generosity of the sponsors and donors just blows our minds. I do think we had something for everyone. Ticket sales were booming that day.
When you plan anything for outside there is always the one thing that you have no control over - the weather. Well when I saw the sky that morning - I knew that Shane was letting me know he had it covered. If you are new to our page- purple in the sky is one of the ways I receive signs from Shane. The photo makes it seem more grey but man was it a show to start my day.
The hustle and bustle at the course with folks arriving all at the same time wakes you up in a hurry. The excitement for a day on the course was felt by all. I loved that the range of teams were from former school mates of my own and class mates of the boys as well, coworkers, relatives, friends of Shane's from all the way on the Cape, lifetime friends of Mike's from Georgetown and Mashpee. Teams consisted of friends, spouses, fathers and sons, uncles and nephews, dads and daughters, coworkers. People out for a fun day with people they cared about. People out making memories. People here to celebrate our boys and the foundation we created.
When all the golf carts headed out to their starting holes followed by Mike teeing up his ball on the first hole my heart was already over flowing - you'll have to come back tomorrow to read more about the day.
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