*just added a beautiful picture of the "Potvin Girls" Grace, Amy & Ellie
There's a story behind every button. But sometimes the buttons themselves become part of the story. If you'll bear with me I'd like to share a story of how making buttons leads to so much more.
I received what seemed to be a normal order for seven buttons and one hope stand ~ Ellie Potvin ~ "In It To Win It" buttons. Hailey Arthur, my customer called me to say the buttons were beautiful but I had forgotten to include the hope stand. Hailey's in Charlotte so I decided to run the hope stand out to her - she recently opened PigTails & Crewcuts the place for kids to get their hair cut!
If I've learned anything writing Behind the Button ~ it's this ~ there's a profound story behind every button ordered - and Hailey's is a powerful one. When I stopped in to give Hailey the stand I knew right away this was much more than just an order for buttons. The hair stylists were all wearing Ellie's button on their smocks bringing to life Hailey's idea to support Ellie Potvin who just happens to live a stones throw from the shop! I asked Hailey why she felt moved to do this...
"We are glad that we can help spread awareness of this family and Ellie's courageous fight. If anything, I just hope the Potvin family will get additional prayers sent their way. As I
mentioned to you, having a child with special needs is so hard**, I can not even begin to imagine the pain and difficulty they must be experiencing. I also have two year old boy/girl twins, so I see that twin bond as well and feel for little Grace (Ellie's sister) in this situation too.
My sister, Mary Claire Busby, in Greenville, SC works with Tim (Potvin) at Merck. She does not know Tim personally, but is aware of who he is and has always heard wonderful things about him. She forwarded me Ellie's Caringbridge site in early October and I have been following them ever since."
**Talking to Hailey I learned that she has a six year old son Shep with special needs - Shep's fight with cerebral palsy was the inspiration for opening Pigtails and Crewcuts - a simple haircut can be a traumatic experience for children with special needs - Hailey wants to help other families in this situation. (I will be writing a post with more details about her shop and special mission) more about Hailey here at Charlotte Smarty Pants To some this might not be a big deal - but think about it for a minute - those little buttons can be pretty powerful and a surprising catalyst for great things! From these seven buttons people will ask Who's on your button? learning more about Ellie, I learned (and now you did too) about Hailey's shop and her mission and Hailey shared with me some promising treatment ideas for my nephew Jack Vaden who suffers from mitochondrial disease ~ all this from a simple button, a simply powerful button! **So DID seven buttons change the world? You tell me!

