HERS Breast Cancer Foundation :: Bras for Body & Soul

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The HERS Breast Cancer Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, provides programs and services supporting the needs of women and families affected by breast cancer in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Bras for Body & Soul®, a program of the HERS Breast Cancer Foundation, provides medically necessary items such as bras, prosthesis, lymphedema sleeves, wigs and more, to women who have had breast surgery. We also carry bras appropriate for all women and girls, including nursing bras.

In Loving Memory of Our Dear Friend Laurel Burch

My heart, and the heart of woman/mankind, is broken this day as we say goodbye to a very dear and precious woman who has inspired, enlivened, LOVED all the world's creatures through her art. Laurel passed away on Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007.

Laurel Burch had a magical, mystical way of touching everyone's heart. Her art, like the woman herself, exudes an understanding about and yearning for the glory of love and life that lives within each of us. She dug deep within herself to help all of us know it, access it, live it!

Little did I know, when I wrote Laurel Burch that letter back in 2000...

I wrote Laurel saying that "even though you don't know me and I probably can't afford you, when I think about who could do a logo representing what Bras for Body & Soul is all about, it's Laurel Burch."

It had taken me about 2 years to finally express my heart onto paper, so the writing of it was, in itself, the success. I never expected a reply.

Not only did Laurel reply but true to her loving, effervescent nature, we became dear friends. It will take volumes of future writing for me to express all that Laurel has meant to me personally, and what her passion for the work of HERS/Bras for Body & Soul has meant to everyone we encounter there.

Below is a glimpse into the multitude of memories that fill my heart. The truth is that EVERYONE who loves Laurel's work, loves Laurel, whether or not they have met her personally. And she loves them. It's part of the 'Kindred Spirit' that she embodied.

I pray for deep peace within the hearts of her family, staff, business associates, friends and followers. Laurel has gifted each of us with a sensibility about magic, vibrancy, celebration, life that is ours to carry forward in our own unique and wonderful ways.

Laurel, I know you are running with the horses and painting rainbows across the sky. As you often would say, "You go girl!" We love you, we miss you, we celebrate you. Thank you for sharing so effusively with all of us! Your legacy lives on in our hearts and in our lives.

Love,Tricia and Your Kindred Spirits at HERS/BBS

P.S. To All Who Loved Laurel:
Please feel free to stop by Bras for Body & Soul, now through October 13, to sign our

IN CELEBRATION OF LAUREL MEMORY BOOK.

This is one way to commemorate and thank Laurel, while also connecting as the Kindred Spirits that we are.

In 2003 thirty five fabulous women gathered for a lovely TEA PARTY at Cynthia's Tea Garden in Fremont to unveil our new LOGO and to HONOR the ARTIST herself....LAUREL BURCH.

What an incredible day! This photo has been one of my favorite...even tho a bit blurry it captures her effusive spirit. I can still hear Laurel's thrill as she was able to walk from her chair to the center of the room to share some of her story with us.

It is a day, and she is a phenomenal woman, all of us will never forget.

In summer of 2004, on our way home from visiting Laurel at her studio, Hattie Hughes (Fremont Bank Foundation) got the idea to have an Intimate Evening with Laurel Burch in Fremont. Within a matter of days this unprecedented event was scheduled and plans were underway.

This was an intimate evening in so many ways. Rather than be seated at one table, Laurel chose to wheel herself from table to table throughout the evening in order to greet each and every one.

She and her staff also brought many beautiful paintings from her private collection--some as expansive as 4'x5', to grace the room. Most of us are more familiar with her mugs, t-shirts, scarves...but her paintings are exquisite too.

And then....after sharing a beautiful video about her journey as an artist, Laurel unveiled...(continued below)

...JOIN HANDS, OPEN HEARTS, WE ARE HERE FOR EACH OTHER, the painting she did for Bras for Body & Soul's upcoming expansion to Washington West. I know that Laurel not only really pushed herself to complete the painting in time for the event, but that more than one of her own tears is imbedded in it as she painted amidst her own physical pain.

Laurel, the beauty and depth of your heart, and your artwork, has been and will continue to be a blessing to everyone who enters Bras for Body & Soul, always.

We never fathomed that Laurel would come to a 3rd event but indeed she did. Not wanting to impose on her time and energy, I didn't ask her and yet, one day, in chatting about our upcoming conference, she offered to come. Her generosity was truly overwhelming!

This photo is another of my favorites. Her posture, her smile, her eyes reaching out to everyone in the room. This is how Laurel was, whether at her studio or in the spotlight. You always felt loved.

Those of us in attendance that day at A Celebration of Women: Body & Soul certainly won't forget it. Nor will we forget the strength and lilt in her voice as she shouted (from the back of the room as she was exiting):
THE SOUL WOULD HAVE NO RAINBOW IF THE EYES HAD NO TEARS.

Wow. Laurel knew more about tears than most of us, and she let those tears create rainbows. May our tears always be a source for the deepening of our souls.

In May of 2007, when we asked Laurel about her art for the 2007 KEEP ABREAST logo, our hearts were overjoyed at the opportunity to feature her work and yet heavy too, knowing that her health was fragile and not knowing what the summer would hold for her.

I wish you all could have seen and heard her excitement when I showed her the POSTER last month. She was back in her element her eyes bright, her smile wide as she looked at the colors and read the message: Join Hands...

Such is Laurel's legacy: inspiring us the world over-- women, children, men, fantastic felines, jungle song creatures, all creation, beckoning us to hold close to one another with hearts that are open, accepting, loving, kind...because the only reason we are here on this earth is to really be present and good, to one another.

Blessed be our dear kindred spirit, Laurel.