about the partnership
letter from cristina carlino
dear friends,
my life has been touched on several occasions over the years by women who were diagnosed with either breast, cervical or ovarian cancer. some survived and some did not. there is one story that i wish to share as it was the seed that became the project “she colors my day,” and it was my little girl grace who grew it.
the story begins when my friend annette, known also as anne, had just given birth to her fourth daughter. a year later at age 39, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. on may 11th, 2007, just four short years from her diagnosis, annette lost her battle and we all lost one of the dearest women in the world. anne was everything to her four daughters, ally, grace, kylie, shelby and her husband max.
i knew anne as a senior cosmetics buyer for nordstrom. anne had helped nurture the philosophy brand from the day we opened in our first nordstrom in 1996. for our tenth anniversary annette and her sister cathy made me the most beautiful anniversary album. she created this precious gift when she was in the depths of her illness, a time when she was all too aware that the day would soon come when she would have to say goodbye to her four daughters. in my lifetime i will never be more touched by a woman who with tired handand broken heart, summoned the energy and love to create such a memorable gift.
i received a second gift from annette in december 2006. it was a keepsake cd of beautiful music that she and her daughters had created and sung together. the gift was so amazing to me that it inspired me to give my daughter, the most colorful girl in the world, the same kind of gift, in case a day came when i did not wake up to greet her.
anne’s sweet gift of music became the inspiration for, “she colors my day,” the song that married my daughter’s art with a book and a sketchbook. it was my daughter’s favorite gift of christmas 2007. “she colors my day” was to take on a life of its own. like all miraculous things helped by the hand of god, “she colors my day” was quietly launched as a grass roots initiative to raise funds and awareness for women’s cancer research. it brings mothers and daughters together to help find a cure by singing, coloring and creating.
on mothers day 2009 the “she colors my day” initiative went out to the world with the help of kelly meyer, co-founder of the women’s cancer research foundation and friend of anne's sister colette, emmy award winning actress and founder of the joyful heart foundation mariska hargitay, who was anne's best friend growing up, and me, cristina carlino a girl who feels lucky to know such extraordinary women who quite remarkably, all knew anne. it is a true story of six degrees of separation as kelly, myself and mariska were all dear friends before we realized that each of us had a connection to this wonderful woman.
in life we are given angels to watch over us and anne is one of mine. on an early october morning during my annual mammogram/ultrasound, i sat in an empty waiting room with only one other woman. her name was annette but she kindly informed the nurse that she went by "anne." that same october i was tapped on the shoulder by anne’s sister cathy woolway, at a mariska hargitay joyful heart foundation gathering. it was the first time i had ever met anne's sister, cathy, and i had a message that could have only been heaven sent by an angel named anne.
believe in miracles.
with love,
cristina carlino