LACY WAS BORN INTO THIS WORLD FAR TOO SOON. HER PARENTS WERE NOT READY TO BE PARENTS AND THAT STATEMENT ONLY BECAME EVEN TRUER WHEN AT THE THREE-MONTH MARK HER FATHER LEFT HER AND HER MOTHER IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT. NO WORD FROM HIM AND THERE WAS NO TRACE. HE SEEMED TO HAVE VANISHED FROM NEW YORK WHICH LEFT HER MOTHER TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE. SHE DID THE BEST HE POSSIBLY COULD CONSIDERING SHE WAS STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL. SHE WAS LEFT WITH HER GRANDPARENTS DURING THE DAY WHILE SHE WENT TO SCHOOL AND HELD DOWN A JOB. WHEN SHE GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL HE TOOK TWO JOBS SO SHE COULD SAVE UP ENOUGH MONEY TO GET THEM A PLACE OF THEIR OWN. SHE WAS THERE AS MUCH AS SHE COULD AND DESPITE WORKING MANY JOBS AND HAVING TO LEAVE LACY FOR LONG HOURS EVERYTHING SHE DID WAS TO ENSURE LACY HAD A BETTER FUTURE.

SHE WAS THREE BY THE TIME HER MOTHER WAS ABLE TO GET A TINY APARTMENT FOR THEM. SHE OPTED FOR THE COUCH WHILE SHE WAS ENSURED HER HAVEN OF A BEDROOM. SHE DIDN’T HAVE EVERY NEW TOY THAT FLASHED ALONG THE SCREEN BUT SHE HAD ENOUGH TO KEEP HER MORE THAN HAPPY. SHE WAS ALSO A RATHER CREATIVE AND USED HER IMAGINATION. SHE NEVER THREW A TANTRUM WHEN SHE DIDN'T GET THE TOY ALL THE OTHER KIDS SEEMED TO HAVE AT THE READY. SHE HAD LEARNED TO USE THE SEWING MACHINE AND WOULD MAKE HER OWN CLOTHES TO HELP KEEP COSTS DOWN. SHE WAS HYPER AWARE OF HER SURROUNDINGS AND KNEW THAT HARD WORK MIGHT NOT GET YOU EVERYTHING YOU WANT IN LIFE BUT IT DOES GET YOU WHAT YOU NEED AND WHAT YOU NEED IS MORE THAN ENOUGH. AND IN TRYING TIMES? IMPROVISE.

WHEN LACY WAS ELEVEN HER MOTHER UPROOTED THEM AND MOVED TO BOSTON. THE MOVE WAS HARD ON LACY BUT SHE KNEW THERE WAS A BETTER OPPORTUNITY FOR HER MOTHER TO GROW IN THE COMPANY SHE WAS IN, IT WAS ALSO MUCH CHEAPER. THAT WASN'T TO SAY SHE DIDN’T HAVE A PERIOD OF ADJUSTMENT. SHE WAS A TRYING CHILD FOR THE FIRST YEAR OF BEING THERE, ALTHOUGH SHE WASN’T TERRIBLE. HER GRADES PICKED UP AS SHE SETTLED INTO HER ACADEMICS. SHE WASN'T TOP OF HER CLASS BUT SHE PUSHED HERSELF ENOUGH TO MAKE HONOR ROLL. IT WASN'T THAT SHE WASN'T SMART SHE WAS RATHER BORED WITH HER SCHOOLING AND HAD A HARD TIME GETTING MOTIVATION TO GO ABOVE AND BEYOND.

SHE DID APPLY TO COLUMBIA AND WAS ABLE TO GET IN. IT WAS THE ONLY UNIVERSITY SHE WANTED TO GO TO. SHE TOOK IT AS A SIGN THAT IF SHE WASN'T MEANT TO GO TO UNIVERSITY SHE WASN'T GETTING IN. IT WAS SUCH A SILLY NOTION AND SHE KNEW IT TOO, BUT SHE GOT ACCEPTED. SHE MADE THE MOVE AND LIVED ON CAMPUS WHILE SHE COMPLETED HER DEGREE. WHILE IN NEW YORK SHE RAN INTO SOMEONE SHE THOUGHT WAS DEAD AND GONE; HER FATHER. HE WAS WORKING AS AN AUDIO/VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, MARRIED AND WITH TWO KIDS. SHE DIDN'T ACTUALLY HEAR THAT INFORMATION FROM HIM; RATHER SHE DID HER OWN DIGGING AND RESEARCH. THEIR REUNION WAS NOTHING MORE THAN A ONE-SIDED ATTEMPT TO FEEL BETTER ABOUT THEMSELVES. SHE DIDN'T WANT TO GIVE HIM THE SATISFACTION.

SHE CONTACTED HER MOTHER AND THEN A LAWYER. HE WAS BROUGHT TO COURT AND HER MOTHER WON A CASE ON ALL THE BACK PAY HE MISSED ON CHILD SUPPORT OVER THE YEARS. IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A HURTFUL MOVE ON LACY'S PART BUT THE WAY SHE SAW IT; IT WAS NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT HE DESERVED TO HAPPEN TO HIM. SHE NEVER RAN INTO HIM AGAIN FOR THE REMAINDER OF HER STAY IN NEW YORK. SHE WAS ONLY IN NEW YORK LONG ENOUGH TO GRADUATE THEN SHE RETURNED TO BOSTON. SHE STARTED OFF AS AN ASSISTANT UNTIL SHE PROVED HER IMPORTANCE TO THE COMPANY AND SHE WORKED AS A SECOND HAND EVENT PLANNER. TODAY SHE IS ONE OF THE LEADING EVENT PLANNERS OF HER COMPANY.