One of the fun things about what I do is getting to know our customers. Fortunately, given that we make our bags in an eco-friendly and human-friendly way, we seem to attract really terrific people – and one of those people is Carolyn Segal.

Carolyn became a customer earlier this year and I think we got to know her better because of some question about shipping. She turned out to be so great to talk to by phone and email that we started looking forward to her orders just so we had an excuse to say “hi” and thank her. Again. And again.

She’s a rather prolific handbag buyer. Carolyn even took advantage of our most recent ezine and ordered a few bags from our “Lion” collection, which is now on clearance. “I’m a Leo!” she told us by phone.

Her ebullience is hard-won, as it turns out. Jerry Segal, Carolyn’s husband and a renowned Philadelphia-area attorney, woke up from surgery 21 years ago to discover he was suddenly quadriplegic due to a mistake during the operation.

Can you imagine? How dreadful for him and for Carolyn as well. But they both possess indomitable spirits and, fortunately, there was a place called the Magee Rehabilitation Hospital not far from where he’d worked. With the combined determination of the Segals and the hospital staff, Jerry was able to walk out of the hospital three months later with the aid of crutches. He was even able to return to work and to his golf game.

To thank Magee, Carolyn and Jerry organized the first Jerry Segal Golf Classic back in 1990. Since that time, they’ve raised over $7 million for the hospital which has paid for new patient transportation, new state-of-the-art equipment, subsidized housing for patients’ families and over 50,000 meals for those family members.

20th Annual Jerry Segal Golf Classic

And the 20th Annual Jerry Segal Golf Classic is coming up on Friday, September 25, 2009 at the Green Valley and ACE Country Clubs in Lafayette Hill, a beautiful suburb of Philadelphia. If you’re in the area, why not drop by and contribute to a great cause? (You’ll find several of our Rebagz at the silent auction.) And if you’re not anywhere near Philadelphia on the 25th, why not make a donation in the name of someone you love?

This is a chance to help create an extraordinary transformation for many of Magee’s patients. Imagine being carted in on a gurney, feeling hopeless, immobile and terrified – and then having a fighting chance at leaving the hospital on your feet and into the arms of those you love because of the amazing facility helped by donations like yours.

Here at Rebagz, we don’t know Jerry. But we do know Carolyn. We adore and admire her big heart, great sense of humor and dedication.

And we think Jerry’s a very, very lucky man for all sorts of reasons – but mostly because he’s got Carolyn by his side.

XOXO Marty