My friend Avril's auctioning off this hand-carved, painted egg, to help with the vet bill for Kai. Bidding is open until Tuesday, March 30. If the donations exceed the cost of the vet bill, I'll donate the excess to the Inland Valley Humane Society, where I rescued Kai from.
The egg is absolutely gorgeous; I'd asked for it to be in the colors of Kai's fur, and she did an incredible job of making the egg glisten just like the sun did on Kai's fur. It's a labor of love, and the opening bid price of $50 is far too low to even begin to cover Avril's time. [EDIT: Kai's egg is now at $125, as of Saturday 11 PST -- which is beyond awesome. Thank you all!]
I don't know what I'm more touched by -- that she took it upon herself to do this to help me, or the kind words in her post. It's true that I've done a lot of things for free for many people over the years to help them out. Most of my charitable donations come in the form of pro bono work for good causes. I don't publicize them, because I believe that you should do that sort of thing because it needs to be done, not for self-aggrandization. But that also means that the contributions to others I make tend to be conveniently overlooked. It means more to me than I can articulate that Avril stepped up to help out. My best friend has already made sure I have groceries this month, which I also appreciate immensely. I'm incredibly grateful for the help both of them have given me (but I think you all can understand why I'm not auctioning off the groceries).
So please, take a minute to go over and check out Kai's egg. If you're in a position to, please bid. To those who have already bid: thank you, from the bottom of my heart.