Dear lovely and generous friends and family,

Life is full of the unexpected, but here is something on which to depend: Autumn, the most beautiful of seasons, is coming, and with it comes my annual tradition of bewiggedly raising funds in honor of my beloved friend Carla Zilbersmith. As many of you know, Carla was a stunning redhead and a brilliant artist, musician, mother and friend; ALS took her from this world more than a decade ago, aged just 47. She still turns up in my dreams now and then, and occasionally I could swear I see her bright hair in a crowd. Wherever Carla is now, there is laughter (and snorting)

But here on earth, ALS is still with us. Every 90 minutes, according to the ALS Association, another person is diagnosed with the disease, for which there is still no cure. 

As always, I know that there are so many worthy causes out there, and that generous people like yourselves may be feeling tapped out -- do know that I completely understand. But, should you be able to help out with a donation, you'll be helping people with ALS to get the home health care and mobility aids and support that they need — and you'll be helping fund the scientists in research labs so they can find that ever-elusive cure. And besides, I made a solemn vow to Carla (in the manner of Anne of Green Gables, a book Carla and I loved to read together when we were little girls), not long after she died, that I would do this until it wasn’t needed any more. So this year, I'm going to once again put on my red wig* and take a stroll in my high heels** , and I'm hoping some of you will be able to help with a small donation. I’m deeply grateful for any amount.

Some day, there’ll be a cure, and I’ll hang up my wig (may that day come soon; that wig is looking ratty). But in the meantime, thank you for your generosity, and for helping me remember my amazing, beautiful redheaded goofball friend by helping others with ALS; something Carla did right up until almost her last day on earth. I suspect she knows I'm doing this, somewhere.

Love,
Moira

 

*red wig: in honor of Carla, and because the idea of me walking around in public in a red fright wig would have totally cracked her up. 

** high heels: just because I like them. (And it makes the walk more impressive, right?)