Gratitude Giveaway Starts Now!

It's time for another "GRATITUDE GIVEAWAY" and we are really excited about this one! This giveaway is for women AND men!!! We know that there are so many amazing unsung hero's out there and we want to hear about them!

This is how it works: Send us an email along with a photo of someone special you know, who you would like to show your gratitude towards. Tell us the story about this person and why you would love to show your gratitude. That's all you have to do! We want to help you pay it forward, so the unsung hero of the GRATITUDE GIVEAWAY will receive either a man or woman's GRATITUDE bracelet from our DINA MANZO LOVE ROCKS collection! We will also share your story along with the photo, right here on our blog!!!

So, come on! Join the GIVEAWAY and show your GRATITUDE!!!

Email all entries to: info@mypeaceandlove.com by July 30th. The awesome person will be announced July 31st!!!

If you would like to see the bracelets up close, you can look here and here.

Gratitude Giveaway Round Two Winner!

We'd like to thank you all once again, for sharing your stories with us about the beautiful and amazing people in your lives that you are grateful for. It's an honor to get to read about everyone. There are so many awesome people in the world!

The winner of the Gratitude Giveaway is Francesca Scopelliti! We didn't pick Francesca for our usual reason which is a person who gives more than they take. We chose Francesca because despite the fact that she had disabilities that she needed to overcome growing up, she had to do so while facing bullies who simply bullied her for reasons that were beyond her control. That's enough to make anyone want to give up on life, but she didn't. Francesca persevered with grace. We think that Francesca is the type of person who we could all learn from. Congratulations, Francesca! We're grateful for learning about you!

Here's the letter that her sister, Antonia wrote to us:

 I want to nominate my little sister for the gratitude giveaway. Her name is Francesca and she isn’t so little anymore but being 10 years older than her will always make her little. My little sister is 20 years old and has been through so much adversity in her life. I often wonder if I could have handled half the things she has been through.

She was born in November of 1990, 2 and a half months premature. She weighed 2 pounds and 1 ounce. She was tiny and it was sad to watch her be fed through a tube in her nose and then watch them shave her head and see all the wires on her. I honestly thought if she could make it through the first couple of months, she’d be fine. My older sister was also born premature and she turned out just fine so I didn’t really worry that much. She stayed in the hospital until the week before christmas. A few days before she came home, the doctor told my parents that she had suffered a brain haemorrhage shortly after her birth. They weren’t aware yet of how much damage had been done and as she grew they would monitor everything. The haemorrhage had cause cerebral palsy; a mild form that affected the right side of her body. It took her longer than most children to learn how to walk and the right side of her body was very weak. She needed to sleep with a machine attached to her leg and arm so that they would help strengthen her.

 When she entered school, we realized she wasn't learning as fast as the other children. She was diagnosed with a learning disability and everything became much harder. It took her double the time to learn things that her peers were learning. She had friends but was bullied because ignorant children didn't seem to understand that not everyone is the same. Through it all, she persevered. In high school, she faced similar challenges but managed to work through them.

 In 2005, she was walking home from school and hit by a car. She had to be home schooled for much of 10^th grade and this caused her to go into a depression. There were moments when I found myself crying constantly because I couldn't imagine everything she had been through her whole life. This poor child had faced the unimaginable at such a young age.

 She began university in 2008, obviously, it was difficult at first because she realized she had to push much harder than the other students. She spent many nights crying herself to sleep and wanted to quit so many times. She never gave up though. She has been this way from the day she was born.

 Today, she is in her 3^rd year of university. She has plans to attend law school once she graduates. We are all so proud of her and all her efforts.  I am thankful to have her in my life and to remind me every day that if you want something bad enough, it is attainable. J

Attached is a picture of her and I and our older sister (Francesca is in the middle and I am on the left). She is a true survivor and will always be the most important person in my life. 
 
 
Thank you,
 
Antonia
xoxoxo

Gratitude Giveaway Round Two!

Just when you thought Thanksgiving was over, we decided to keep it going. We are kicking off round two of our GRATITUDE GIVEAWAY!!!

Please join us in keeping the attitude of gratitude going strong. We were so moved by the entries of the last giveaway! There was such a huge abundance of love in those emails and it really is an awesome way to show someone special that you recognize their giving heart!

All you have to do to enter the GRATITUDE GIVEAWAY is send us an email to info@mypeaceandlove.com telling us about a special woman that you know of, who deserves recognition for all of the good that she does. In the subject box, please put the word "Gratitude". All entries must be received by 12PM PST, on December 22, 2010. Along with your story, please attach a photo of her. We will share the winning letter and photo right here on our blog. Along with sharing her story, the winner will receive this Gratitude bracelet from the DINA MANZO LOVE ROCKS collection. Retail value of $125.00 

For any of you who entered the last giveaway, feel free to resubmit your letters. They were wonderful! You never know, it might win this time around:) 

Winner will be announced on December 23, 2010. Good luck!  

And The Winner Of The Gratitude Giveaway Is...

Deciding on a winner for the Gratitude Giveaway was much harder than we expected. Much harder. All of the entries were beautiful stories and many brought tears. Thank you to all who entered. Your words were beautiful!


The winner of the giveaway is Jill Kincer. Her daughter, Elizabeth wrote in and here is her story...

 I am writing to nominate an individual for the gratitude giveaway. I guess I will begin by giving a little background information on myself and my nomination. My name is Elizabeth Kincer, I am an 18 year old Senior attending Seymour High School, and I have 2 brothers (Kyle who is 16 and Cameron who is 9). I have been accepted to attend Indiana Business College and intend on pursuing a degree as a Veterinary Technician, a passion I have had since birth. 

My brother Kyle is an excellent student, and he has had a passion for music his entire life. He can play any instrument that you put in front of him, and he will play it well! (Not that I am jealous or anything) He has been a drummer in a local teen band "7 Car Pile-Up"  for about 5 years and hopes to "make it big" someday, and I have no doubt with his talent that he will.

My other brother, Cameron, is our "baby". He was diagnosed with Autism several years ago. He is the smartest little boy I have ever seen and I truly can not wait to see what amazing things he might accomplish in his life. I love to just hang out with him and watch cartoons, teach him new things (the kid is like a sponge for knowledge), or help him with "I Spy" books. He is just so much fun! Which brings me to my person for nomination...

My mother, my best friend and absolutely most amazing strong woman I have ever met. She is a single parent, and when she was really struggling with Cameron's issues I saw a change in her and it really scared me at first. He was in full medical meltdown several years age prior to his diagnosis. I didn't know it at the time, but later found out, that she was probably having a nervous breakdown herself. Her child was sick, very sick, and she didn't know why and she couldn't "fix" it. She couldn't "kiss" it away or hold him until he felt better, and this made her feel like a failure as a parent. This made me so sad because my mom has always been our rock. She kept this family as stable as possible, she made everything flow, and was and is our everything, and for her to feel like a failure was a life altering state of being for all of us. I saw, what could have easily been a family's demise and ultimate breakdown, this woman pick herself and her family up, stand up tall on two very strong feet and that was "it". She was determined not to let this get any of us down. She found out everything she could about Autism. She made changes and adjustments in our everyday lives that would better Cameron's life, but she did it in a way where there was very little disruption for the rest of us. She worked with Cameron constantly to better his health and living conditions, and she sacrificed so much to do so. 

My mother is constantly giving to and for her children, family and friends. We are always in the forefront of her mind in everything that she does. I have seen her buying food for a family with four small children that had no food for them, even though we barely had enough for ourselves, and at first I was so angry and I asked her, "why are you doing that when we don't have that much for ourselves?" Her answer to me was, "Well, we are ok and if I have a little to help then thats one child that won't go to bed hungry." I felt so overwhelmed with emotions and at the same time inspired! She has given people rides to work when they couldn't get there when she had no idea how she herself would cover the next gas fill, but never asked for a dime from the people she was helping.  She can not keep jobs for very long at a time due to Cameron's needs. It will often cause her to miss work because she is the only one that really can deal with his emotional and social issues. She has searched long countless hours for grants and assistance, but has had no luck. At this point both of our vehicles are broken down, and my brother doesn't have a car yet (it isn't looking good for him anyway) so I am not quite sure what we will do about the working situations and getting Cameron to his medical appointments, but I want her to know that we appreciate her. We realize how much she does, how much she has done, how much love she pours out to us. We don't have anything at all, no vehicles, house is old and falling apart and way to small for us, we never get to go "out" and do things other kids do, Cameron has never been on a vacation and he always asks mom to take us to Disney World (which I know rips her heart out to know she will never be able to take him), she struggles to put gas in the tank, keep the lights on, and  put food on the table  (I often worry how Kyle and I will make it to college) I know this causes countless sleepless nights for her, just knowing that she is doing the best she can but not being able to provide the basic needs. We all feel so lucky though. We are all together, we are in good health, and we have a roof over our heads, and that is 100% due to this amazing woman! I love you mommy!

There is really so much more I could go on about this woman, but I think you probably get the idea. Her name is Jill Kincer, she is (as I mentioned) a 35 year old single parent of 3 awesome and amazing children (we get that from her!). She currently attends Hair Force Beauty Academy to get her license for Cosmetology. She is currently unemployed, but hopefully if we can get transportation and gas that will be a temporary situation.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this e-mail. I think this would be the most amazing way to show her how much she is appreciated. She would never think we would do anything like this.

Thanks again,

Elizabeth Kincer