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Looking at the World through Rose Colored Glasses
By Jo-Ann Watson
A little girl named Lulu has helped thousands of people around the world look at life a little differently.
On a dreary day in March of 2001, Olivia (Lulu) Pyne was driving around town doing errands with her mother Gretchan Pyne. Gretchan, feeling a little melancholy about the weather said “What a rotten day!” From the backseat, three year old Lulu was wearing a pair of rose colored glasses that her father had recently given her. “Look, Mama! The whole world looks pink! Try them on.” Once they were home, Gretchan put on the glasses. “Wow! The world really does look better! Lulu, can I have these?” “No, mama. You have to find your own.”
Soon after, Gretchan wrote down their conversation in her journal, not knowing how profound Lulu’s wisdom would later become for her.
A few months later while the family was on vacation on Cape Cod, an unthinkable situation occurred. What the family thought would be a happy day together quickly turned tragic.
At the end of their day at the beach, the family stopped for ice cream. It started to mist and a double rainbow appeared. Lulu danced with joy while her father, Warren, videotaped the moment. As Gretchan, Warren and Lulu’s two brothers, Dylan and Drew watched, Lulu stepped on an unanchored bike rack, and struck a pose pointing to the rainbow. The bike rack flipped and pinned Lulu to the ground. Warren, a practicing chiropractor, dropped the camera and immediately started CPR. She was rushed to a Cape Cod Hospital and in spite of efforts to save Lulu, her chest and trachea had been crushed by the bike rack. Ironically, the cheerful, happy little four year old girl had died of a broken heart.
Gretchan never forgot the car ride with Lulu and the rose colored glasses. In December 2003, the book Lulu’s Rose Colored Glasses, was written by Gretchan and illustrated by her friend Anne Carrozza Remick. The story is about optimism and “finding your own way” of seeing that no one else can give you.
In October of 2005, the Pyne family partnered with the Gleason Family YMCA to create “Lulu’s Rose Colored Canal Walk.” The family event raises money to provide YMCA memberships to youth and families who would not be able to afford it on their own. The day of the walk was torrential rain and everyone waited for a rainbow. It spite of the horrible weather, several hundred people participated to support the memory of Lulu Pyne. The event raised almost $4,000 under the most trying conditions.
This year’s Lulu’s Rose Colored Canal Walk will take place Saturday, October 14th (rain date: Sunday, October 15th). Now that the event has seen the worst kind of conditions, we look forward to an even more successful event this year. More activities are planned and sponsors are being sought so that all the money raised by the walkers will go directly towards providing memberships to those who can not afford them on their own.
Gretchan Pyne believes things happen for a purpose. Lulu’s brief life was about spreading love and her death is about becoming an angel who spreads the message of hope. After you lose a child, “you realize how much pain you can live through and what else is there to be afraid of?”
Lulu’s Rose Colored Glasses is available online at www.lulubellebooks.com. For more information about sponsorships or to participate in Lulu’s Rose Colored Canal Walk, call the Gleason Family YMCA at 508 295- 9622 or email Jo-Ann Watson at jwatson@ymcasouthcoast.org.
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