Sept. 22, 2020 — In the hope that Justice Ginsburg would be with us for many years to come, we released our RBG card a few weeks ago and planned to feature it here today. But as we’ve all been reminded through her passing, we’re on God’s schedule not ours, so the RBG design instead served as a fitting tribute on Saturday. ❤️ We chose the sea turtle to share with you now because, to have accomplished all that she did, the Supreme Court’s petite powerhouse had to have believed in herself every bit as much as she did social justice … a lesson for us all.
Since the sad news broke Friday night, many of you have ordered the RBG card. We hope it feels good to know that every dollar spent on that card through September 28th will go directly to the National Women’s Law Center. NWLC receives Charity Navigator’s highest ratings and was with RBG on the front lines of virtually every major advance for women since 1972.
As we were writing the card’s message, Marketing Manager Jayme Soulati and I discussed how RBG was lionized by Jayme’s 18-year-old daughter Yazmin and her contemporaries. Yaz is a weeks-old freshman at The Ohio State University, with plans to go on to law school.
Last week was a nail-biter for Yaz’s family as they waited to learn if she had made OSU’s elite Mock Trial team; it’s very rare for first-year students to be accepted. Yazmin and her family were duly proud and elated to learn that she’d made it, yay !!!!. Then, given that we live in a country where we’re increasingly deemed either “winners” or “losers,” Jayme and I considered what if she had not made the cut?
Jayme sat and had her own Cardthartic Experience, writing the following message for her daughter. And then she thoughtfully shared it with me. I found it so touching and lovely that I asked if we could share with you. Jayme wrote, “Yazmin, if you had not made the team, I would still admire you for …
- Setting goals and keeping your eyes always on the prize.
- Devoting countless after-school and weekend hours participating in high school Mock Trial.
- Being intellectually stimulated to learn more and more.
- Showing tenacity in finding a way forward, however painful the path.
- Growing in spite of the challenges and obstacles you will undoubtedly face on the journey ahead.
- Knowing at age 10 that you wanted to become a lawyer and will.
- Making me proud to be mom to such a talented person.
- Being you.
Needless to say, Yaz is very fortunate to have such a loving supporter like Jayme who, every day in some way, lets her know she believes in her. And, from the many stories on RBG, we know she attributed much of her success to the respect, admiration and unwavering support she received from her husband, Marty. If you have loved ones you believe in, here are a few cards that might help you tell them the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about your belief in them, for there is a little RBG in each of us.
Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative
Just amazing!
Yazmin and so many other inspirational young people, for generations to come, will be motivated and assisted in reaching their goals thanks to the lifelong efforts of RBG to pass legislation protecting ALL OF US fairly.
Wonderful story! A moment to savor for years to come. No wonder Yaz succeeded just look at who her parent is! Character counts all the time but especially when no one is looking. Keep RBG in your view finder.
Hope and focus are the siblings of believing. Even when one falls short of the desired goal and when one has left everything out on the playing field, that is not failure but a successful failure. To quote Rudyard Kipling from his poem “If:”
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
The complete poem is a blueprint for how to be grown up. To me, Kipling’s words inspire me not just to believe but to act on that belief.