Heart to Heart

Without a doubt I always meet a young adult, who says to me, "I heard you speak when I was in ___." It can be anywhere from 8th grade to 12th grade and it tickles me pink. It's so special to see them all grown up, telling me that they are happy I am still alive and that they were in some way impacted by hearing me speak. It confirms the importance of my work and it warms my heart.

Raijean's 30th Birthday Celebration

And that's exactly what happened this past summer. I was at H&M checking out their AIDS awareness clothing line and some fashion bloggers, who were also there saw my tweets and before I knew it, we were standing on the Mag Mile for well over 30 minutes chatting.

Well, midway through the conversation one of the young ladies said to me the she reads my blog and follows me on Twitter and that she was happy to see that I had not changed one bit since she heard me speak when she was in high school. She went on to explain how I had touched her deeply. I liked that child instantly. Not only was she singing my praises, LOL, but she had this wonderful style about her that I liked instantly. At that time I was in the middle of planning my first Tweet-up; she offered to help and she kept her promise.

I started hanging out with Raijean Stroud and other bloggers over the summer. The blogger world is very small. We all know each other, but honestly, we have paired off into groups of women that think alike and have similar values. Once I got to really know Raijean I discovered that she had heart disease. HUH? But she was only 29. It took a minute for me to digest it all. But in a nutshell, she was diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy. It's a weakening of the heart muscle or a change in the heart muscle structure. Basically, her heart wasn't pumping right which led to congestive heart failure in 6 months.

This baby was given a dual defibrillator to detect any cardiac arrhythmia. The doctors are not quite sure of the cause but it's the law of her land right now. She takes 8 pills a day. And she has to continue to lose weight. She has about 50 more pounds to go. The thing that I like most about Raijean is that she has taken it all in stride. She's always been a Diva and she has not allowed her health to interfere with her fabness!

Honestly, I am so proud of her. She has not stopped one bit. She's a single mom raising a "man child," as she puts it, who is two. She never slacks on her fashion blog and she is building her brand as a fashion critic. She is doing that thang!

But it's one thing to do for you, it's another thing to do for others. Raijean is stepping up her game to bring awareness to heart disease. She was recently asked the be a spokesperson for the American Heart Association. But she is taking it a step further with the launch of her own organization, Bleeding Heart, promoting heart health awareness, one heart at a time.

This Tuesday she is having the official launch party for Bleeding Heart and I will be there dressed all in red as she has requested ready to work! Who would have thought, I touched her heart 15 years ago; she has touched my heart with both her friendship and support of my work in HIV/AIDS prevention and education 15 years later.

Please join me and others as we support Raijean in her mission to educate about heart disease. You can also support her Bleeding Heart Project on Twitter and on Facebook .