The Beginning

August 5, 2020. Our family was faced with a challenge that I don't think anyone mentally prepares for. We planned for straight forward and instead got twists, turns, and bumps. There is still a lot to learn in life, but one thing is for sure, there are very few straight paths. As cliche as it sounds, its all those twists and turns that make things interesting, sometimes fun and sometimes not so fun, and lead us to an even better destination. The road I'm on today led me back to a passion project that I started a while ago and pressed pause on. The timeline below gives you a high level view. I'm sure as I continue down this road, I'll share more. Three BIG years in one blog post would be a bit much.

January 5, 2017. Milton James was born. I had spent the summer and fall of 2016 thinking I was going to open a boutique. Named after my grandfathers, I was inspired and invigorated. I had lived in Chicago, New York (for a summer), LA and Dallas and wanted to bring pieces of all those places to my original home, KC. I wrote the business plan, established an LLC and was well on my way. I started looking for spaces. As I searched, I wasn't finding anything that said "this is the spot." I decided that in the interim, I would start building my brand online, through a blog. If you've ever wondered why ShopMiltonJames, now you know. A few months in, I started to find my voice, tinker with my business plan, and ponder what will make me different than all the other stores and blogs out there. And then some great new. I found out that I was pregnant. Duke William Parse was going to join us at the end of the year.

January 6, 2020. Bode James Parse was born. We were so excited to be welcoming baby boy #2 to our family. I'll never forget how that day unfolded and maybe I'll share more specifics in the future. The short is that a few hours after Bode was born he was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. He was going to be taken to Children's Mercy Hospital. After a week in the NICU, we left knowing that we were lucky. Lucky because most babies with Bode's diagnosis need surgery immediately after they are born. Lucky because we got to take our little guy home and let him grow and get big with us. Lucky because we knew he was coming home to us, a family that was going to smother him in love.

August 5, 2020. Surgery. We had been prepping and talking about this day since the day Bode was born. We knew it was going to happen within the first year of his life. We also knew that his surgeon had performed this type of surgery hundreds of times and he was confident this should be pretty straight forward. Six weeks later, five spent in the PICU, two surgeries in the books, the process wasn't anything like we planned. What did go as planned is getting to bring home a little guy with a fixed heart.

October 5, 2020. I knew it was now or never. I also knew that if I didn't do it, I would always have that "what if" in the back of my mind. When we were in the hospital, I kept asking myself, how do you say thank you and show your appreciate to the team of people that spent six weeks getting your little guy back to health? Every Friday while we were in the hospital, we would bring the doctors and nurses cookies. I started to realize there isn't enough sugar to express how grateful we are. What else can I do? Me. One person. And then I had this thought. Milton James is a fun and creative outlet for me. I have a full time job that I love and don't see this replacing that. Rather, I want Milton James to be fun, creative and charitable. Lets shop and give back.

With that, Milton James is back, with a twist. 50% of any proceeds earned through the blog will be donated to Children's Mercy Hospital. I know we will start small, but dream of days with big donations in the future.

Over the coming weeks, I'm going to update the format of the blog. Incorporate a way to see how much is being donated, making shopping (and in turn donating) easier! Giving the phrase, you wear your heart on your sleeve, a whole new meaning.