THIS ORGANIZATION IS ABOUT HOPE AND GRACE.
Hope drawn out of tragedy. It seems like it should not make sense. How can hope and tragedy reside together? The truth is that I still do not understand it. I understand that I live in a world where those two words do not make sense together. I also understand that in real life amazing things happen when hope is part of the equation.
Grace was a great kid. She was an innocent nine year old. A big sister. She still loved playing with toy horses, didn't know boys existed and snuggled with her dad. She loved the little guys and animals. She was doing what she loved most in life when she was taken from us. She loved horses and that brought her great joy, confidence and satisfaction. She was killed while riding in a horse cart while her sister and a dear friend were seriously injured. We loved her dearly and miss her profoundly. The sadness will not lift, it only shifts slightly to ease the heartache.
The Foundation for Hope and Grace is about hope because we've learned that dwelling on life and focusing on grace is far more healing than dwelling on death and anger. There are a lot of people who need grace. Grace was one of those people and I am glad that we had the chance to know her.
My wife and I are no strangers to the highs and lows of disappointment and joy. We started our life with great joy and then struggled for years with the ebb and tide of infertility. Infertility is a great trainer for learning how to experience sadness, frustration and anger. Our freedom from infertility came from the miracle and hope of adoption...that is where Grace came in.
Our first five and 1/2 years Grace and her sisters were about incredible joy. Grace and her sisters brought so much to our home and solidified our families in so many ways. I can not let her loss take away all that we had as I learn to continue bringing joy and happiness to my wife and other daughters. It will never be the same and we all know that.
We hope that for us it will be better in some ways. We hope for those around us it will be better. We hope that for vulnerable children all around the world that it will be better. That is the hope.
The hope that we will be defined, not by our tragedy, but by our response, our actions, our risk and our sacrifice. The hope that Grace's life will not lie in a grave but be a shining example of hope for all those abandoned, weak, oppressed and needing of hope and grace.
I hope you will join us.
Bill Legere
Founder / Director