From Small Beginnings to Launch!
THE REASON BEHIND THE BRAND.
For 50 years now, I have had a front row seat to an epic battle. My mother Mozell has been a sickle cell warrior for 73-years. Her doctors at Christiana Healthcare identify her as their oldest Sickle Cell survivor. Her progress over the years is nothing short of a miracle, and what else could you expect from a god-fearing woman like my mom.
As a transplant from Birmingham Alabama, my mom has been a medical patient with Christiana Hospital of Newark, Delaware Hematology & Oncology Department for 14 years. To her team of doctors’ amazement, she is their oldest documented living sickle cell patient, perhaps on the east coast. Born with Sickle Cell Disease, my mother is no stranger to pain, new challenges and resiliency. However, as the disease is now taking its toll on her body’s bones, muscles, and organs, I’d like to continue advocating for education, treatment, and research funding for children born with this chronic disease. At my mother’s age, managing the disease with great care and medication to minimize her symptoms and painful “crisis” is all she’s been able to experience in her lifetime. With continued education and research, there is real potential to save so many children in the future. For these reasons, I have launched Tastefullydone Hometique, LLC an online home and gifts boutique.
READY. SET. LAUNCH.
WELCOME to my Blog! All items of Tastefullydone Hometique are inspired by love and rooted in wholistic clean products for your mind, body and spirit. Our candles, grooming and body brews contain all-natural ingredients and essential oils free of harsh preservatives.
I am grateful for the life of my mother. She is my muse, my inspiration, my motivation and my courage. This "comeback kid" mother of mine almost succumbed to this dreadful disease at least three times within the last eight years. This is our second round with hospice. We've experienced much together. Despite multiple strokes, pulmonary hypertension, long hospital stays, gallbladder removal, severe bone degeneration and arthritis, failing kidneys, malignant pancreatic tumors, constant painful "crisis" and blood transfusions she is a sickle cell warrior! And because of her warrior mindset and strength she's a living testimony that prayer produces power, self-care is important and advancing medical research to improve the life expectancy of a Sickle Cell patient is critical. No one born with this disease back in the 1940's and even through the early 1980's was expected to live beyond their mid thirty's. My mother has fought to live forty years longer than expected. No matter the challenge, my mother has faced it gracefully. To honor her spirit, style and legacy I have launched Tastefullydone Hometique. It is my way of sharing the gift of class my mother so generously modeled for me as she’s battled Sickle Cell. I will continue her zest for living and bringing awareness to Sickle Cell Disease through the platform of Tastefullydone Hometique, and other forums. It is my hope to make a difference in the lives of other warriors, daughters, sons, husbands, wives, and caregivers dealing with this disease.
Going forward, this blog will often share information about my products and ways in which a portion of your purchases will benefit sickle cell research. You’ll always find informational links about sickle cell research breakthroughs, and various events on the subject matter. Finally, I aim to use this platform to bring you other good news of entrepreneurs, whose vision is aligned with my values in the areas of nutrition, health/self-care, and social responsibility.
Again, Welcome! The Muse Collection has something for everyone. Oh, and make sure to visit tHE MarKetPlace. Tastefullydone Hometique support fair trade and ethically made goods. All goods in tHE MarKetPlace are handmade African gifts, home decor, and accessories crafted by artisans and farmers in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, South Sudan, Mali, Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Senegal. Fair trade means the farmers and artisans earn a fair, living wage for their work and are guaranteed safe working conditions. A fair wage helps ensure a decent standard of living and secure a future for artisans’ and farmers’ families. Fair trade isn’t charity; it’s an opportunity for artisans to break the cycle of poverty.
You can be part of the fair-trade movement. It’s easy! Shop in tHE marKetplace & spread the word!
Keep your eyes peeled for my next blog to learn more about Tastefullydone Hometique’s buying with a purpose to benefit Sickle Cell Research. Enjoy the journey with me!
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SICKLE CELL DISEASE CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW AND GET EDUCATED FROM SEVERAL LEADING INSTITUIONS:
The Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
https://www.instagram.com/childrensphila/
https://www.facebook.com/ChildrensHospitalofPhiladelphia
Pediatric Cancer - Nemours Center for Cancer & Blood Disorders
https//www.nemours.org/services/center-for-cancer-and-blood-disorders
The American Society of Hematology (ASH)
https://www.instagram.com/ash_hematology/
Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc. (SCDAA)