SAVE THE DATE!  Thursday April 19th!  Come and eat at Chili's!  If you mention Bella Bowman Foundation for lunch, dinner, or takeout, 10 % of the proceeds go towards our foundation!  This will take place at the College Drive and the Millerville locations.  We will be out there for dinnertime selling t-shirts and passing out her story.  Also coming soon there will be a flyer you can print out and bring with you and you get free chips and salsa!  April 19th is Ependymoma Awareness Day.  This was the type of brain tumor Bella had.  Come and eat that day and support the foundation!

My nephews are wearing their t-shirts proud for Bella!  Love You!!

Here is part of our Bella Bowman Foundation Team!  Thanks for you hard work!  Especially you Millie!

Please come if you are dealing with childhood cancer or send this to someone you know who is.  We need a support group like this and we need a good turnout so we can continue to help families!

Do you have a child with cancer? Join Cancer Services for a night of peer-to-peer support. There will be fun activities for the kids and a light dinner will be served. Call Lindsay at 927.2273 or email lwilson@cancerservices.org to register.

Good days and Bad days

This week has had its ups and downs.  My plan for Bella's room is to make it into Bella Bowman Foundation headquarters.  So many auction items are coming in for the Ball and our wonderful friend Court Smith made me the most gorgeous desk for the foundation and I am running out of room.
So this week I had a very good friend and my mother help me clean out Bellas room.  Packing her clothes was the hardest thing but it needed to be done.  I would have many nights of sobbing and weakness in there holding all her beautiful dresses!  But now her room still has a lot of her still in there but more room for all the great things to come with our foundation!

So that was the down but the up was I have been asked to be on the board of the Cancer Services of Baton Rouge.  Also I went to a Sponsor dinner this week and I met the most heartfelt people who really want to help our community with families battling cancer.  So this is a hugh honor for me and I feel like this in all in Gods plan to make a difference.  I love getting reminders what my purpose is.  I hope you find your purpose!

Angola Prison

About a month ago I had a women call me and tell me she had become friends with a inmate at Angola / Louisiana State Penitentiary after she bought some of his artwork. She told me he saw a picture of Bella from her obituary and painted a picture of her, and he has asked her to try and get in touch with me so he could give the picture to us.  I was very taken back because my first thought was identity theft.  But then as I continued to talk to the women I felt like this could just be a nice jester?  I talked to Trey and after he investigated everything he arranged for us to meet in the Warden's office and have the inmate artist Marlowe Parker present the picture he painted for us.

We went Monday and I couldn't believe the picture Marlowe had painted.  All he had was a black and white picture and he painted everything in color.  He had Bella's eye color perfect! He had a red rose sticking out behind her back, like she used to do to pretend she was hiding something from Baylor.  And a red rose was her favorite flower!  There is a part of the picture where she is sitting in Jesus arms and her hair is darker and pulled back just as it was in the hospital. He told us that Jesus and the Holy Spirit gave him the will to this.  Im not sure if he had some outside help with this picture for all the colors but he swears that it was only the black and white picture.  He showed us his room where he paints and we toured around where he lives.  A warden gave us a first class tour.  We had a fabulous lunch with her also.  I was blown away how well that prison works.  It was a great day!

Many of you have asked how you can help, and I truly appreciate each one of you! In preparation for Bella’s Ball, we are currently seeking auction items. If you are interested in donating an item, please contact our Auction Chair, Leah Barbato at leah.barbato@bellabowman.org. 

Mass at OLOL Hospital

Today we went to Our Lady of the Lake hospital for a mass given for children who have passed in the last 5 years.  There was a nurse that works in PEDS 1 who told her story about her child who had cancer and passed in 2000.  The hurt never goes away. Everything she said I totally got!  It was the first time someone I talked to knew exactly what I was thinking and feeling.  She told me she noticed I keep a smile on my face and thats what she did but she knows how I really feel behind the smile.

They guided us put a butterfly on a tree with Bella's name on it.  Then they played Somewhere Over the Rainbow.  It was so special but I definitely could not hold back the tears.  Thank you for honoring and remembering our children.

I have to say it gets harder and harder everyday that goes by and I'm sad to say I can't imagine it getting any easier.

Thank You!

Thank you everyone for coming last night to Bella's Market! It was a huge success!  We sold out of bows and necklaces!  Many people have been sending me messages on where to get the t-shirts and necklaces and bows.  We are selling the items at the salon I work at, SOHO Boutique Salon.

It was great seeing friends that I haven't seen in awhile and meeting new friends!  Again the support is amazing and I thank each and everyone one of you for helping me and encouraging me.  This foundation is going to do great things!

Bella's Market

Tonight at the Market we will have some great things for sale that were made special for the foundation!
Hope to see you there!!

 Thanks Julie, Rachael, and Mrs. Linda

Bella's Market

Please come and join us tomorrow for some fun shopping! 

Crying makes you feel better!

So I was at work today and sitting back in the break room with three of my dear friends and I lost it!  The tears just wouldn't stay back.  As I am crying and telling them my ridiculous story they tell me FINALLY!!!  ITS ABOUT TIME YOU CRIED!  It felt so good.  I felt like a weight was lifted off of me!  So the moral to this story is its ok to cry and it probably will make you feel better!

Bella's Story on 96.1 The River/Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital Radiothon

Below are the links to listen to Bella's story that 96.1 The River created for the Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital radiothon this past Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Thank you for all of your support and contributions.

Bella's Story 96.1 The River
Live Broadcast #1
Live Broadcast #2
Live Broadcast #3 (also includes Bella's story)

Radiothon with 96.1 the River

Thank you everyone who made the phones ring off the hook yesterday while Trey and I were at the Radiothon!  They will be playing Bella's story again today so please listen to 96.1 the River and if you haven't donated please donate to help Our Lady of Lake Children's Hospital.  It is very comforting to know that if we ever have to bring our children to a hospital that we have a place with amazing doctors and nurses who will take care of them like they were their own.

Radiothon 96.1 the River

Please listen to 96.1 the River today and Friday and Saturday!  They are raising money for Our Lady of the lake Children's Hospital.  Become a Miracle Maker!  $15.00 a month!  Give back to the community!  They are a great hospital and took great care of Bella and our family!

They just played Bella's story and will play it again throughout the next 3 days!  Trey and I will be there tomorrow live from 7:00 - 8:00 am live!!!