"Dearest A Free Bird" - A Letter of Gratittude

This past week, we received a heartfelt letter from a parent of one of our Take Flight children, Violet, thanking our organization for helping empower Violet through guitar lessons. Guitar has quickly become one of Violet's passions, inspiring her to soar over challenges and serving as a platform through which to express her struggles, feelings, and ambitions. We here at A Free Bird were deeply touched by this message, so we'd like to share this beautiful letter with you: "Dearest A Free Bird, I want to take a moment to thank everyone at A Free Bird. Each of you, those at the forefront and behind the scenes have made such a massive impact on my daughter and our family. My daughter Violet is an entirely different individual than she would have been without A Free Bird. A Free Bird has made her confident and empowered. Learning the guitar has led to songwriting. I can hear her struggles and triumphs in her lyrics. She has been able to process and heal the impact of childhood cancer with music. She sings all day and plays guitar whenever she can. She knows she can accomplish anything because of guitar, as it was first something difficult for her that she wanted to give up at and it morphed into her passion. It is now at the forefront of her future goals- to be a rockstar. Watching her play has brought me great joy and has humbled me again and again. As a single mom I have left my career, limiting my income, to be able to tend to Violet’s health and specialized education. Knowing she has been given this gift of music lessons has taken a weight off my shoulders financially and I am truly grateful. Violet’s relationship with Cathy, her music teacher, is amazing. They truly care about one another. Violet looks up to her and trusts her expertise. Although Cathy is who Violet has contact with, we know there are a lot more of you working so hard. I just wanted you to know you are all appreciated and are making such a difference in Violet’s life. So in summary, you all ROCK! Much love and gratitude." Moments like these remind us of our mission, which is to uplift children from their battles with cancer through the joy of art. A Free Bird applauds Violet for her extraordinary progress in the guitar, Cathy for being such a nurturing teacher, and Violet's mom for the kind words.