On August 16th, 2008, three very lovely people were involved in a tragic, fiery plane crash in St. Johns, Arizona. Those aboard the flight sustained extensive burns—one of them, flight instructor Doug Kinneard, died from his injuries. Our friends, Stephanie and Christian Nielson, who sustained burns over 80% and 30% of their bodies, respectively, miraculously survived. In critical care for a number of days, the Nielsons are both now in long-term trauma care at the Maricopa Burn Center in Phoenix. They face long months of intensive treatments and many surgeries to aid them in a slow and painful healing process. Their four young children are currently in the care of loving family members in Utah.

The faces of the wonderful Nielson family have become a charming and familiar delight to many in the cyber world, thanks to the NieNie Dialogues, an upbeat, joyful, family-centered blog written by Stephanie. She speaks with a fresh, generous, and celebratory voice, and regularly inspires her readers with the concept that life can be truly beautiful.

Many individuals and groups are stepping forward to offer comfort, support, prayers, and donations to help the Nielsons and their extended families through this crisis. We have joined that effort as friends and now invite you to do the same. Our first fundraising event will be an auction to be held in conjunction with “NieNie Day,” Thursday, August 28th, 2008. Our warm thanks go to Gabi Blair of Design Mom for suggesting and coordinating this event and for providing a list of auction participants. In addition, the godparents of the Nielson children have set up a special website intended to coordinate the various and ongoing fundraising efforts happening all over the web and beyond. Please visit this Nie Recovery blog to see what’s available.

And now, info about the Tryst Press auction tomorrow. We have chosen one of our broadsides, a poem entitled “Aurora,” to offer for your bidding. We chose this because its theme is the relationship between parents and children, an area where the Nielson family shines. We also chose this because Stephanie’s middle name is Aurora. This is especially fitting, because as anyone who’s seen it knows, the Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights, named for the Roman goddess of Dawn, is a magnificent, otherworldly dance of light (usually green, Stephanie’s favorite color) that is a much sought-for sight in the night skies of northern regions. Many people only dream of seeing it.

The “Aurora” broadside generally sells for $65 on our website. We hope that tomorrow’s auction will tempt you to spend much more than that on this piece. 100% of all money spent by the winner of the auction will go the Nielson Recovery Fund. You, as the winner, will pay no tax or shipping; we’ll take care of that.

Look for the auction post this evening and please, be ready to bid generously. The auction will be open till Saturday, August 30th, 2008, at 10:00 p.m. (US MST).

You can donate directly to the Stephanie Nielson Fund at any Wells Fargo Bank, or to the Christian and Stephanie Rehab Fund at any Bank of America, or use the PayPal link below.