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So the daughter was hanging out with me the other day. She came over and we rented some movies and popped popcorn (Yes, it WAS the only thing in the house. I didn't BURN it!) While the movie was playing, her cell phone rang.
Ordinarily, I wmight have groused about her pausing the movie to answer it because she wouldn't have done it had we actually GONE to the movie. In fact, she would have silenced her phone for the courtesy of the other guests. Well, it was grandma, and she doesn't always answer when grandma calls (I rarely do, either... so the fact that the kid did, makes her a special one).
Anyway, long story short... grandma wanted to let her know that she had some chow mein there and she wanted to giver her some of it... It was chicken, the kind Kel used to LOVE when she was little. K didn't have the heart to tell her she had decided to get back on her vegetarian diet again because she thought she was much healthier that way. She figured she could just give the food to her roommates.
Grandma: Okay. Well be sure and stop by to pick it up in the next couple of days now, won't you? This was in my freezer and got thawed out the other day, so it really needs to be eaten up. It's fine, though, because it was just plain chow mein before and I added the chicken to it just now nice and fresh.
I told the child I wanted her to have nothing to do with that food and to throw it away as soon as it came into her possession. But she was a little perplexed. Grandma had assured her, after all. Besides, she didn't plan on eating it. She was just going to feed it to her roommates.
Let's say your mom has a big freezer in the garage to keep her overflow of extra frozen foods... let's also say that there is a lock on the freezer because for some reason, it doesn't automatically swing shut anymore when people are finished retrieving things from it the way it used to. So she walks out to your garage and discovers that someone forgot to lock the door the last time they were out there and the door is ajar. OOPS! And everything in the freezer has thawed. OH NO!
There are three unbaked apple pies in this freezer. Beautiful apple pies that aren't exactly fresh... they were put together in January and this isn't exactly the first time her freezer has done this thaw thing, either. It happened once before. OOPS again!
So mom is calling you. She is calling you to say that she is baking up the three pies and intends to give one to each of her three children, you and your two sibs because she doesn't think she should freeze them again.
Here is the poll for you, dear friends/readers...
I'm definitely taking the pie from good old mom so nobody else gets it. And checking with brothers to find out what they plan to do with their pies... but what I want you to tell me is,
What would YOU do with the pie?
- Eat it
- Throw it down the trash disposal
- Feed it to the pigs
- Give it to annoying neighborhood animals who are pooping in your yard destroying your yard
- Feed it to annoying neighbors who are allowing their pets to run free and destroy your yard
- Other ___________________________________
Edited to add this delightful little email received from mom minutes ago. :)
"Hi, baked the pie but it must have had to much liquid in it from unthawing. I took it from the oven and it folded in half. So we are cleaning the oven now and had to scrub my floor and other things, it will be nice to get it all done but what a day.
Signed,
Tired Mom"
Poor mom. No pie for us! Poor us. ;-)
She was wearing this particular one at her coffee shop today.
So the teenager is finding new and interesting things to do for fund raising every day. This week she is making headbands to sell to her friends and family, and other interested parties. This is me wearing such a headband. But they have gotten even more cute. I wish she'd get many more photographs taken. Because we are talking seriously cute. (Not me, the headbands...). She is giving all proceeds from the headbands to the ACS. And after the Relay? She'll be collecting all of the proceeds for her Send Keli to Europe! fund. So I hope she sells a lot of then then, too. :)
Also during the Relay, she'll be participating in another of her hair-brained (hahaha) schemes. She has twice shaved her head in support of people going through chemo. The first time she was a middle-schooler and didn't know anyone personally. A few months later, her own dad was diagnosed with his brain tumor. The second time was March of 2006 when her friend's mom was struggling at one of her lowest points of a very long battle with breast cancer. Kimberly died almost exactly a year later. So this year at Relay, Keli will be shaving her head once again, in support of her dad, who will be the honorary chair, and Kimberly. Kimberly's daughter will be on hand to give a little help with the shaving, Keith will lend a hand, too. And I'm hoping that many people will pitch in a buck or two to show their support. She's not so great at advertising, though. So... if anyone reading is interested, you can donate to Keli's head shaving cause here. Thanks.
So we're down to the wire. And I was going to just let it slip on by and not really say another word about it unless there was something big to say. And I can't really imagine what that something would be.
I had no intentions of sending out any emails or letters or postcards to friends and family and fellow bloggers to say that the Relay is upon us and won't you please consider donating now before it happens? You know.. sort of one final public television type fund raising drive push... operators are standing by to take your call sort of thing.
That's right. I wasn't going to do that. I just didn't have the energy this year. Frankly, I'm tired. Exhausted actually. I'm tired of people telling me that they aren't going to have a team this year because it just isn't any fun anymore. Or because it was too disorganized last year. Or we just haven't come up with any new ideas and it has been the same old things for the past few years so why should they bother?
But then a funny thing happened. I entered all of the offline donations I had from Operation Surrender Dorothy and sales from the Truffle Pops and checks from the garage sale... and when I finished all of these and looked at the
My team is shooting for a mid-range number of $5000. For a family team that doesn't work for any company with a company match, that's a pretty darn-good number to hit fund-raising, I think. But considering we raised $11,000 a couple of years ago, I also think we should be able to do this $5k every year with some creative thinking.
The Relay is on Friday and we have only hit $3000. We need some SERIOUS creativity to come up with another two-grand by Friday. I'm open to suggestions. Or money, of course. Click my team's link to donate. You can donate there or click on any of the team member's names to donate to them directly.
Keli is trying to collect money to shave her head in support of her dad and all survivors. She hasn't set a dollar goal at this point. I'll keep you posted when she finally comes up with one. She was thinking of having people actually help her shave it AT the Relay. I'll post video or photos if this happens.
Keri (yeah, that's me) was shooting for $1000 in donations. I've already generated far more than this, but I've been sharing the wealth baaaaayyyyyybeeee by spreading it around with other team members who are busy having lives as students and full time employees and don't have the kind of time on their hands that I do. So now I'm stuck here not meeting my goal because time's a running out and I'm $255 short of my goal because of moving donations around to other pots. If you want, you could help me out there and spread a donation or two my way to help make up for that. :)
So I hope you'll consider one more charity this week. I know you've given until it hurts elsewhere. But I seriously don't know anyone who's life hasn't been touched by cancer. I know more than most. It's the nature of the game, I suppose. That's why at the end of the day my receipts for ACS are a lot longer than the receipts for anyone else. But I feel pretty darned thankful that I have a husband today. And for the fact that he is who he is. And I'm going to keep being thankful to ACS for all that they do for people like me and like Keith, and for anyone who has to go through what we did. Because they have programs to help get through the day to day. When you just don't think you can.
Maybe we won't make that dollar goal this year. But we had a helluva good time trying. Which was the real goal this year anyway. Thanks to all of you who helped us in that project. And thanks to everyone who also sent the donations.
You ROCK. I know that it meant something to you.
Keith Kennedy is Relay For Life honorary chair, cancer survivor
By Beth Dickman
, Hudson Star-Observer
Published Friday, June 15, 2007
As superstitions go, Friday the 13th is the one day not to cross a black cat or walk underneath a ladder. On Friday, April 13, 2001, Keith Kennedy’s doctor discovered a brain tumor, and he was told he would never work again.
“I fought a brain tumor awhile back,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy, 42, an independent information technology consultant and longtime Hudson resident, defied his odds and has resumed working. Though he is now plagued by epilepsy, a common side effect of surviving such conditions, he has regained the majority of his functioning abilities, he said.
“I was told that I was pretty lucky,” Kennedy said.
The tumor Kennedy contracted was difficult to classify, said Keri Kennedy, Keith’s wife of almost 12 years. It was an astrocytic tumor, but any further classification was not determined.
An astrocytic tumor is a lump that grows on the cells that support and protect the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, according to the Mayo Clinic Web site.
Keri said they went to five oncologists to determine the exact classification, but came up with no precise conclusion.
“The type that it is most like is a brain tumor that comes back,” Keith said. “So, they’re keeping a close eye on it.”
Two months after the tumor was discovered, Keith had surgery to remove as much of it as possible at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and began the long journey to recovery.
“They removed a pretty sizeable part of my brain,” he said. “I spent a year at home after the surgery not functioning well at all.”
Possible treatment options for a brain tumor include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. However, for Keith’s tumor, chemotherapy was not a viable option. Surgery was the first route chosen to remove the cancer cells, but radiation is being kept as an option for the future, Keith said.
Keith is currently living cancer-free with few problems resulting from the tumor, Keri said. As of yet, there has been no sign of a relapse.
Since Keith was diagnosed in 2001, the Kennedy family has been an active part of Relay For Life, a team event to fight cancer hosted by the American Cancer Society.
This year, Keith was chosen to be the honorary chairperson for the Hudson-area event, taking place June 22-23 at Rock Elementary School.
As the honorary chair, Keith not only is a part of his family’s team, but also will give a speech at the luminary ceremony and will lead the survivor’s lap during the event.
“My wife is on the committee so I know how I was elected,” Keith said. “I definitely felt honored by it [being nominated]. It’s intimidating to have to give a speech and also do this interview.”
Though Keri is on the committee for the Hudson relay, it was their daughter Keli that nominated him to be the honorary chairperson this year.
Lori DeBoer, chair of the Hudson-area Relay For Life, said both Keith and Keri have shown great dedication to the cause and to the relay.
“One of the reasons we chose him for the honorary chair position is because he really had a long journey,” DeBoer said. “He is such a firm believer in what ACS can do and has done.”
Keith, Keri and their daughter Keli will be walking in the relay for their sixth year. In 2002, the Kennedy family, along with several members of their extended family, joined the hospital’s team in order to be a part of the event. In 2003, Keri created “Keith’s Brain Trust,” a team comprised of Keith, Keri, Keli, a couple of family friends and several family members, primarily from Keri’s side since they are located in the area.
“For a small family team, it has definitely had some amazing years,” Keith said. “The team has won a lot of awards for the event over the years.”
Ever since Hudson has gone online for fundraising and organizing the teams, “Keith’s Brain Trust” has done well raising money, Keri said.
“The first year we were online, our team was on top,” she said. “Over time we’ve won gold and silver and platinum. We’ve done pretty well fundraising.”
Keri was the top individual online fundraiser in 2005 and the team was the top online fundraiser in 2005 for all of Wisconsin. That was the year the team reached platinum status bringing in over $11,000. In 2006, Keith’s Brain Trust reached gold status, raising over $5,000; in 2004 they were a silver team raising just shy of $5,000, Keri said.
This year’s Relay For Life team is online again fundraising and encouraging people to get involved. Keri is one of the main contacts for the Hudson-area Relay For Life event.
“Keri does a lot for Relay For life,” DeBoer said. “She takes on the online and the registration. She’s also in charge of the newsletter. Without her help with registration, we wouldn’t have an event.”
Keri is already planning next year’s event by training in her replacement, someone to fill in with registration and the online work, DeBoer said. All of the work is done voluntarily.
“She’s very dedicated,” DeBoer said. “I can only imagine that it’s like a part-time job; she dedicates so much time.”
In the past, Keith’s Brain Trust has done well fundraising and also has had a full team of 15 people with extras that go to the event to support and help out in any way possible.
At press time, the team for next week’s event has 12 of the 15 available slots filled and has raised approximately $1,500.
Keri said that they have been focusing on getting the community involved and creating awareness of Relay For Life. The theme this year is “Wizard of Oz,” so they’ve been placing broomsticks and witches hats in neighborhoods as reminders.
“Our goal this year, instead of focusing so much on the monetary part of fundraising is to have fun and promote the event as a whole,” Keri said. “We really want to get out into the community and get as many people interested as possible.”
For more information about Relay for Life, visit www.relayforlife.org. For information about the Hudson event, call Lori DeBoer at (715) 386-2300, ext. 7806, or visit www.acsevents.org/relay/wi/hudson.
“This year we want to be the team that has as much fun as possible,” Keri said.
Relay for Life is for people of all ages who are interested in joining the fight against cancer. Keith’s Brain Trust is encouraging everyone to participate.
Keith said, “I am a cancer survivor.”
Day 1 - First, here's what we're doing... In case you haven't already read or seen me posting it in the fifteen other places I put it out there... heh. The Relay theme this year is Over The Rainbow, as seen here.
I got an idea from another team... The other team was doing a variation of the old pink flamingo attack (using only a single flamingo at a time...) and so, brainstorming on that idea, I decided to try this..
Because of the varying reactions that I received throughout the execution of this fund raising event, I thought I would spend the remainder of this week returning to this post and logging what exactly happens during the drops and what results from them. I think it might provide a learning experience for my team next year, should we decide to attempt this or anything like it again then.
So on with the show!!!!
Day one began on a beautiful and sunny day around here. We made up a very limited number of brooms and I had a list of people I planned to start with dropping them off. There was one family in particular that I knew I wanted to start with for various reasons. They are a kicka$$ fun couple. I laugh more when I see them than you can imagine. And this is funny in itself because their family-owned and operated business isn't one you would normally think of as having a lot of humor in it. Another reason is that these are just some of the most wonderfully kind-hearted and loving people in the world. They believe in the cause and they believe in those of us who work for it. They also have a huge base of people in their family who have been touched by cancer. So I knew they would want to play along. And finally? They love me, they love my kid, they love my whole entire family. All good things.
Recipient B chose herself. When she got wind of what I was doing she jumped in and claimed a broom for her own. She is NEVER one to be left out. She's the one on the playground as a child yelling, "I WANNA PLAY!" to her big brother when he's getting up a quick game of one-on-one and he just knows he's going to catch hell when he gets home if he doesn't let her.
Recipient C of the Cancer Sweep was in a neighboring town. I thought this would be a good way to infiltrate the next town over and start getting some additional visitors in for the Relay.
- So with my first drop... that didn't go badly. They had heard of the concept of the pink flamingo attacks before, so they knew the general idea. The call came in to me pretty quickly about picking it up and passing it on. And actually, the husband also had a good additional idea for me to put a Relay Yard sign along with the broom/hat to give a big boost of Relay promotion. I won't tell you the WHY of his reasoning, there is much humor involved... but it was a great idea and became part of the drop from that point on. They happened to pass it on to a great choice. Another older couple and the husband is a survivor - in fact we believe his is the LONGEST survivor in Hudson at 34 years having been diagnosed in 1973! (Recipient D)
- Recipient B... passed it to a friend of hers. She said she called ahead to warn her and explain the concept (three times!). Waited a long time for the call back and finally called B back to ask if her friend understood she was supposed to call me because let's face it, Relay is coming up fast and I don't have a lot of time to pass these around and make some donations! She called her friend and was told "I just don't know who to pass it on to! I've called all my neighbors and just can't find anyone!" ROFL! I went to pick up the goods and she still had a check for me. And I had PLENTY of others to deliver the broom to... (Recipient E)
- Recipient C wanted to send it back to my hometown where she had just the right couple. We were back into the older age group with her choice. This was my most uncomfortable drop so far. But I'm not finished yet, so I may be back to edit this one. I put things in their yard and was just driving away (literally IN my car and pulling away) when I caught something out of the corner of my eye. It was the man of the house flagging me down from the front door. I waved and backed up, pulling back into the driveway. I got out of my car to greet him. These are people I've known for over twenty years, but he didn't recognize me. He gruffly said, "What's all this?" and I began to explain that it was a Relay For Life fund raiser, but he interrupted and said, "Well come and tell my wife." So I began to follow him to the house where his wife was just coming out the door. It was an uncomfortable exchange with her, too. They were just very unpleasant people. *sigh* But they still ended up giving me a donation and passing it on (Recipient F)
- Recipient D - another "We just don't know who to send it to. So do you have any luminaria bags we can buy from you? We'll take three." So I sold them some bags and took it off to another of the people on my own list. (Recipient G)
- Recipient E - Someone YOUNGER. She called the next day and had someone else in the fund raising field. At this point I'm still waiting on a call from them because I only just delivered it last night for them.
- Recipient F - I never heard from. So after a couple of days, I picked it up quietly and took it away for another on my own list.
- Recipient G - Again, someone YOUNGER. She was out in the yard when I delivered and LOVED IT! Laughed her butt off. Said it was the best idea we've EVER had. I had to admit it wasn't my idea, but she didn't care. Said she couldn't wait to see the response from the person she was passing it to and gave me a BIG donation. :) It was a much needed boost after some not so hot drops.
So last week I took a hike up Little Devil's Tower in SoDak. It isn't very big as mountains go. Quite a bit smaller than Harney Peak which we climbed a couple of years ago when we were out there. And, which was our destination again this year. But things happen. Things like snow storms. Yeah even in late May. It wasn't expected. And we weren't prepared. Should have been. But weren't. So we looked at the empty parking lot at the trail head for Harney and decided to hike something that had a little less distance to it in case the clouds that were hovering in the distance and looked a lot more threatening than the ones we were being picked on by, decided to dump something much more substantial. Because you don't want to be blindsided miles up a mountain path without the right supplies. You don't want to be lost and be the ones too stupid to have the right stuff with you.
So we settled on Little Devil's Tower. And along for the ride in my heart? Some familiar names around here... Mary Anne, who was having surgery the day after we climbed; and Cindy (aka chemogirl1963) who has had a recurrence of her cancer and is beginning chemo once again; and a new friend of mine from my home town, DickS, who also began his own chemo treatments on the same day Mary Anne had her surgery. He is also entering a long-term cancer trial due to the extreme rarity of his particular form of colon cancer.
It took us just over an hour to reach the summit, about a three mile
hike. We saw two other people during that time. And one of those was
jumping into his pickup truck at the trail head and driving away. The
other was a guy who was photographing the arrows sign you see at the
split of two trails if you go through the slide show I'm going to try
and make into a video some day. It goes really nicely with U2's
Beautiful Day. 
After he took that photo, he hiked back down the tenth of a mile to the
parking lot and he too got into his car and drove away. We do not know
if he did any hiking.
The fun part about having hiked that day was the story we were able to tell as a result. There was so much chatter going around about the crazy weather pattern that was happening with the very warm weather leading up to the weekend we traveled out and then that day and the couple of days around it very high winds and bad cold and even snow! It was crazy. So we let them chat for a while before we dropped the, "We were up on top of Little Devil's Tower that day," bomb. And then when they would exclaim with surprise that we were on TOP of it??? We'd say that we had wanted to climb Harney, but with the snow, we settled for climbing the tower instead and they'd be amazed that anyone would want to be out climbing in the snow and the winds that day. Because although you can't tell by the photos that the wind was bad, trust me. It was bad.
So Mary Anne, Cindy and Dick... I thank you for being the inspirations for my first Climb for the Cure. I had a fabulous time and want you to know that you were there with me in spirit. And most importantly, I wish you each great health, great peace and great joy.
The question is being asked Why are you involved with Relay For Life? So I thought this would be a good time to answer that question. It isn't an easy answer, however.
- I first got involved with Relay For Life back in 2002. I read about it in my local paper. It caught my eye because my husband, Keith was still recovering from a brain tumor that had been surgically removed the year before at Mayo in Rochester, or technically, at St. Mary's hospital there. We joined the local Hospital Relay team and thought it was a pretty fun time, as well as a very moving and inspirational experience for the survivors during the luminaria ceremony after dark. The next year we created our own family and friends team, Keith's Brain Trust, which we've continued on with every year.
- The team has continued on, but that has been far from my only reason to be involved with Relay. I'm also involved because after being a part of it that second year once we created our own team, I felt it was important that because we were taking part and utilizing what was put in place for every team, someone from the team should get involved in helping to organize and coordinate the event itself. So the next year, I became a committee member, vowing to myself that I would not leave the committee unless I also found two people to replace me.
- Another
reason I continue are the incredible people that I have met since I got
involved. Every year when the event comes along and you go to that
track and begin to walk around it with other survivors, caregivers,
family and friends of those who have walked the cancer walk, you are
there walking with your own kin. You may learn names, or you may not.
All the same, you know these people. They are your people. At least for
that one night every year.
- I've
also met incredible people through being on the committee. Some of my
fellow committee members have been there since the Relay came to our
town. Some of them brought the Relay to our town. You don't stay on a
committee like Relay from the beginning because you want to be patted
on the back for being such a shiny happy person. No, you do it because
you have an axe to grind with cancer. You have a goal to see the end of
the disease and you want to see it through to that end. These are some
awesome people who as they see the committee size dwindling, just pick
up more of the tasks and don't b1tch about it. Little introverted me
was pretty intimidated walking into this group of strong personalities.
But they are simply there for the same reason I am. So I've found that
we can work together pretty well. Even when they know I'd rather be
hiding under a rock sometimes.
- But
the main reasons I'm involved with Relay? Are contained in the
inspiration list I've been working on since I started blogging at
500miles2nowhere. There have been a few problems at Blogger over the
years and as a result I know that my list has lost a couple of names
once in a while as I don't back up as often as I should. But this is
pretty complete. As close as I can get.
- My Inspirations:
- Allen
- Al D
- Amy (my cousin)
- Aunt Evie
- Ardele
- Barb Pendergrass
- Bea N
- Bernadine (Blogger Linda Dasherwood’s Mommy)
- Bernie O (my wonderful friend and hygienist Barb’s husband)
- Betsy 2
- Betsy
- Betty
- Bobby Jean
- Brian P from River Falls – A brain tumor Warrior
- Bryan
- Butch (my birthday twin from River Falls and Farkeling buddy)
- Caryl
- Cassie
- Cathy M
- Charlie
- Chris Silver
- Chris T
- Cissie
- Claire
- Connor Dykes (baby brain tumor warrior)
- Daisy
- Dalene Entenmann (fellow blogger)
- Dana (fellow blogger at think_pink.typepad.com)
- Dawn D from River Falls
- Dave
- David M. Bailey (our brain tumor hero – now nearly 11 years survivor)
- Deb (fellow blogger debutaunt.blogger.com)
- Diane V
- Donna R
- Duke H (fellow brain tumor warrior)
- Elaine B
- Elsie M
- Noelle H
- Evy N (fellow Committee member)
- Ruth (fellow Committee member)
- Mike (former Committee member)
- Gail M
- Grant T (fellow brain tumor warrior)
- Holly
- Ian
- Irene C
- Jack
- Jackie
- Jan
- Jerry (fellow Blogger Dana’s Dad)
- Jim B (fellow Blogger Heather’s uncle)
- Joe (fellow brain tumor warrior)
- Joel L (childhood neighbor)
- John D
- Kathleen
- Katie’s mother in law (my blog buddy Katie)
- Katie R
- Keith (fellow brain tumor warrior)
- Keith Warner
- Lance (yup. I do it for Lance Armstrong, too. He inspires me a lot.)
- LaVetta (former coworker)
- Lenny
- Linda E
- Lisa
- Lisa (former neighbor and fellow brain tumor warrior)
- Lois
- Blogger Mark’s grandpa
- Maria (blogger Silverfox-whispers.com)
- Marijean (committee member’s mom)
- Marn (blogger who got me started on 500 miles in the first place!)
- Mary M
- Mary Jane
- Maudie
- Michael
- Michael Billet
- Mike (fellow brain tumor warrior)
- Mike 2 (another fellow brain tumor warrior)
- Minerva (blogger at womanlyparts.blogspot.com)
- Moe (blogger Kristen’s sorority sister)
- Nancy Lindstrom
- Noel
- Norah O
- Pam H
- Patti Belfiori (teacher from Kel’s old school)
- Patti B’s sister
- Patty S
- Paula
- Phil
- Phil C
- Priscilla
- Randy M
- Randy W (fellow brain tumor warrior
- Ruth
- Ryan
- Sahara Aldridge
- Scott
- Shawna
- Stacey R
- Steve
- Sue (fellow blogger Heather’s Aunt)
- Todd
- Todd L
- Tracey
- Tracey K (fellow brain tumor warrior)
- Tricia
- VJ’s mom
- Vernon (fellow brain tumor warrior)
- Vicki
- Uncle Bill
- Uncle Roy
- Grandma C
- Grandpa B
- Dale Jawarski
- Marv S
- Monica Jensen
- Greg Roy (BTW)
- Anthony (BTW)
- Steve Emerson (fellow brain tumor warrior)
- Andre
- Nada
- Annie’s grandpa Carl
- Gerry C
- Sarah
- Tim G (BTW)
- Vonnie H
- Ned Neddersen
- Carl Dietz
- Virginia Dietz
- Bob Dietz
- Lloyd K
- Faith Wilson
- Delores S
- Kathy (BTW)
- Minnie’s Sis (BTW)
- Cecilia Ledevehat
- Mylette Simone
- Dana Perry
- Elaine
- Karen
- Ruth O
- Don B
- Ed S
- Gwen H
- Bill H
- Robert C
- Olga
- Dorothy
- Matt K
- Sam C
- Ed S
- John D
- Paul C
- Eric P
- Olivia S
- Delores L
- Hilary
- Joy
- Marlene Z
- Paul Neises
- Ivan Noble
- Pat K
- Leona
- Vince
- Wayne S
- Danny K
- Scott P
- Judy Kay
- Craig W
- Ena Mae Robb
- Sunny
- Peter Jennings
- David
- Lori
- Richard Lee Karpf
- Dori
- Ljubo
- Marge
- MaryEllen S
- John P
- Dana Reeve
- Eric Shaffer
- Jim L
- Anne Milbauer Jo
- Carol M
- Jessica (blogger at Cancerbaby.typepad.com)
- Sydnor
- Aunt Dot
- Uncle By
- Uncle Ken
- Roger Bleeker
- Courtney
- Miles
- Peter Huseboe
- Sherry
- Bud Macbride
- Kimberly Myers-Gordon
- Dale Jaworski
- Tom McConaughey
- baseball mom's grandma
I'm making a list of new Inspirations not for me, but for those who will be visiting my garage sale later this week. I want them to be inspired so that they will dig deeply into their purses and pockets when they are making their purchases. Yep. I'm not pricing things, ladies and gents. I'm simply saying "Won't you please look around you at the people who inspire me to do this year after year and give generously to the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life?"
Since our last garage sale in May of last year:
- Our friend Tom passed away.
- A fabulous woman we had invited to be our honorary chair also died, leaving behind three beautiful little girls, her devoted husband, and her identical twin sister, all of whom are lost without her.
- A musical brain tumor warrior celebrated his 11th year of survivorship, a true miracle in his case.
- Our Torch Bearer from the Relay of 2006 entered a trial... and after his condition worsened, had to leave it again. :(
- I met a gentleman, who is the producer of a local cable news show and is currently editing a small bit we did about the Relay for his show to air next week. He emailed me tonight to say he begins chemo next Tuesday. He is also about to undergo a cancer trial because he was diagnosed in March of this year after a routine colonoscopy. His tumor was considered high-risk for return. People! Get those routine exams! They could save your life!
- My sister-in-law lost her dear friend Dale. Pancreatic cancer is an awful beast.
- A little baby was born here in my home town and he had a nasty brain tumor. It was removed and he now has the fun task of going through chemo. But Connor is a tough little cookie and his family will be a part of our Relay ceremony potentially. (click on journal if you head over to his site)
- A classmate of Keli's lost her dad, Bud MacBride after his battle with a brain tumor.
- The principal of Kel's high school was diagnosed and battled breast cancer.
- The head of FBLA at her high school was recently diagn target=blank osed with leukemia and has entered his fight.
- Another classmate of Kel's lost her very long battle with breast cancer.
- A coworker of my SIL lost his battle with brain cancer.
- A teacher from Kel's elementary school was diagnosed with melanoma inside her sinus cavity which has spread to her lungs and liver, and her sister who is battling ovarian cancer.
- RelayForLife.Org has taken off with fabulous information to be found. Their motto - Celebrate! Remember! Fight Back!
- Katie's MIL was diagnosed with breast cancer.
- We lost my Aunt Dot after a very difficult battle.
- Busy Mom lost her mother.
- I learned that my friend Beth underwent breast cancer treatments.
- I met a new friend, Cindy. Chemogirl as she is generally known online, is battling lymphoma.
- My SIL Diane's father has been in and out of the hospital battling his cancer.
- My friend Ken at InkJetBlues had a malignant melanoma removed from his shoulder.
This is just a 'top of my head' go of a recent list of inspirations for the garage sale. You can bet it is a running list and much more will be added.
I hope if you have additions to make, you will do so in the comments. Your help in building my inspiration wall for the garage sale will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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