I Have a Dollar!

Last night I attended a get together with a couple friends. The best part of the night? Not when we all realized our hair tends to get twisted up in necklaces (that happens to you, too?), not the unbelievably delectable almond bars that were served for dessert (is it not proper etiquette to eat six in one sitting?), and not laughing ourselves to tears over one of the ladies admission that she purposely slow-jogged with the baby stroller in front of a friend's house in the hopes the friend would offer to take the kids so she could run solo (remind me to keep my curtains drawn so I can't see you).

No, the best part of the evening was when Sarah jumped up - yes, jumped (even though she's pregnant with her fifth child) and announced, "I have a dollar for you!"

That was music to my ears! Thank you, Sarah, for your donation, which now puts us officially over $250 collected... just 99 cents at a time....


To donate, please use the donate button on the right side of this blog post.
All proceeds will go to the Walworth County Cloggers' 2011 Relay For Life Team to benefit the American Cancer Society.

Getting Noticed!

The Walworth County Today mentioned us in a news article! Go 99 Cents!! Maybe we'll even see an increase in donations... (hint! hint!)


I'm tired, you guys. I have been feeling rundown and sick lately. A summer cold perhaps; maybe just bad allergies. I'm sneezing, my eyes are red, my throat is itching and I just don't seem to have the energy to handle all the things I normally would: work, house cleaning, laundry, chasing a toddler, cooking dinner. Even my favorite activities I have no energy for. I can't imagine dragging myself out of the house to meet my girlfriends for coffee or to take a walk to the park with my family.

But I know this will pass. I'll take some over the counter cold and sinus medication. Drink some more orange juice. Get a couple hours of extra sleep and in three or four days I'll be as good as new!

But what happens when you don't get as good as new after three or four days? What happens when weeks of sickness turns into months?

As I was sitting in my living room, cuddled under a blanket even though it was warm out I thought you have no right to feel sorry for yourself. You're not worried about your life... you're only annoyed that you have a stuffy head. That is not the same as fighting for your life.

And then I thought of my friend, Michelle. Another one. Another diagnosis. A new diagnosis which so far she has got quite the snarky attitude about! I imagine she's going to laugh her way through this battle.

But I also know she's a Mom. And mom's would do anything for their babies. They fight hard and they mean business. Her heart is going to ache and I don't want it to. Her fears are going to surface and I don't think she should ever have to feel afraid.

And, knowing her. she will be strong for her family, especially for those boys of hers - as she attempts to navigate her way through doctors and appointments and diagnosis and second opinions and medications and side effects and confusing language and insurance headaches --- all the while trying to maintain a level of normal. But she sees it as she doesn't have a choice - because she is a mom and this is what she needs to do right now.

There are about 565 households in the community Michelle lives in... can you imagine if every single one of those households donated just 99 cents? $559.35 could then be used to fight a disease that threatens to tear households apart...

Fight hard, Michelle. I know you will.


To donate, please use the donate button on the right side of this blog post.
All proceeds will go to the Walworth County Cloggers' 2011 Relay For Life Team to benefit the American Cancer Society.

We Are Survivors!

Donations from Steph, Steph's Mom, Sue and Jessie.

I think every mother who has ever had a child has though the same thing: "I live in fear that one day my children might suffer." Perhaps just a quiet voice that's always hanging in the background. Years might go by - but then it's heard again. Pain that doesn't make sense. An ailment that doesn't have a diagnosis... and the mother wonders... too many mothers fear.

This says it all!

There are those who have fought long and hard against cancer and won. And there are those who fought, but ultimately lost. And it's important to know the family and friends they left behind are also survivors. They pick up the pieces and do the best they can to create something beautiful with them. They carry legacies and memories. They whisper words of comfort to children left behind. They learn to overcome tragedy and survive in a world where their loved one has been physically taken away from them.


To donate, please use the donate button on the right side of this blog post.
All proceeds will go to the Walworth County Cloggers' 2011 Relay For Life Team to benefit the American Cancer Society.

21 Days

In 21 days we've alreadt raised over $230... just 99 cents at a time.

And it's all because of YOU! Yes, YOU. And YOU, too. And YOU over there.

So thank you.

Surrounded by Greatness

I know you see them.

Young women eating lunch with their girlfriends, a brightly colored scarf tied around their heads, taking the place of missing locks. Men, skinny and gaunt, barely able to stand, being pushed around the fair in a standard sized wheelchair that still seems to dwarf their appearance. The numb expressions. The bruises on their arms.

And I know what you think: Thank God it's not me. Thank God my children are healthy. But what if...

And then you turn your head. Avoid eye contact. Act aloof when really your heart has started to beat faster than you want it to because, please no - but what if....

Ask anyone battling cancer and they'll tell you the same thing. I just wish people saw me; not the cancer.

It's as if they're forced to wear an obvious costume out in public and they would do anything to be able to tear that costume off and yell can you see me now? I am still here! It's me!

They would give anything to blend in with the crowd. To be normal once again. To feel secure in normal...


The other day I received a note with a donation as I do with so many of the donations that have been trickling in.

The gentleman told me this money was being donated in the name of his mother and mother-in-law who he had lost to cancer (unfortunately I'm finding these types of donations to be far too common)... but then he said something I wasn't ready for. He said he was a cancer survivor.

This man, who I consider to be a friend - who is witty and funny and quiet and calm and intelligent and quirky and has this devilish smile his eyes - is a cancer survivor. And I had no idea.

I know that he has children who he talks about with pride and love.

I know that he likes to cook and doesn't drink and documents the deer that eat and play in his yard.

I know he catches fish and that he drove the ambulance I was in when I was being rushed to the hospital at 7 months pregnant. But I didn't know he was a cancer survivor.

And I'm thinking if anyone needs a superhero cape to wear out in public it would be a cancer survivor. I'm thinking every person who survives cancer deserves a trophy and a high-five and a big HOORAH! And I can only imagine how beautiful the world would be if every cancer survivor wore their cape proudly out in public on the same day.

I believe the feeling of strength, and faith, and hope would permeate across the crowds and I, myself, would smile, being surrounded by such courage.

We need more superhero capes to hand out. We need to find a way for more survivors.


To donate, please use the donate button on the right side of this blog post.
All proceeds will go to the Walworth County Cloggers' 2011 Relay For Life Team to benefit the American Cancer Society.

Fight the good fight with all thy might.

"If I were to list people who have died from cancer or the treatments in the
circle of persons I know I'm sure I could list one for every penny of this
dollar and still over look someone."

There have been times when I have shed tears, sobbed and cursed because of cancer; when I have asked the same questions I believe so many have asked time and time again:

Why?

When will it end?

Why can't we get a handle on this?

We can send a man to the moon, but we can't figure out cancer.

Even when we are able to 'catch it' early on, some treatments can be described as nothing short of horrible. Sometimes the side effects from treatment may leave a patient technically in remission and boasting Cancer Free! yet reeling in pain day after day. The after-effects may leave a patient and their family silently wondering if living like this is better than the alternative.

Cancer is ugly and horrible and mean.

And it tends to bring out the worse in so many... drug companies lobby to get their drugs prescribed the most, which in turn puts money in their pockets. Project managers at some of the finest drug companies who are hoping to make a difference find themselves battling the bureaucracy of procedures and policies from within, unable to get a drug tested or put into market. Family members, already straining under the stress of watching a loved one fight for their life, now stand in line at the pharmacy wondering and worrying how they're ever going to be able to afford the incredibly expensive lifesaving prescriptions.

I can only hope and pray that the American Cancer Society indeed uses the donations they receive wisely. Because every single penny of every single dollar collected stands for someone valued, loved and cherished.

And for each of them, we continue to fight with all our might.


To donate, please use the donate button on the right side of this blog post.
All proceeds will go to the Walworth County Cloggers' 2011 Relay For Life Team to benefit the American Cancer Society.

Change is the only constant.

There are painful times in our lives that move in slow motion that we fear will never, ever end.

Then there are those times so full of pain, yet we grasp and hang on with all our might, fearing the second we let go we'll lose someone precious forever.

Losing someone you love is never easy. Watching them slowly slip away is unbelievably heart wrenching.

And yet we know that this too, shall pass.

We know the storms of rains will come, yet the sun will also shine again. And with it comes a warmth that perhaps we forgot how good it feels, and slowly the puddles dry and the mud clears, and the grass soon grows and flowers begin to bloom...

I want more sunshine and less storms.

I want more flowers to bloom.

I want more moms and daughters to walk arm in arm around their gardens pointing out the crocus and the purple coneflowers and even the bleeding hearts, whose very name makes my own heart ache because it reminds me of so many, many hearts that are broken or wounded, waiting for the sun in their lives to start shining again.



To each and every one of you, I want to express my appreciation for your generosity in support of the just 99 cents donation drive.  Your assistance means so much to me but even more to every person affected by cancer. 

To donate, please use the donate button on the right side of this blog post.
All proceeds will go to the Walworth County Cloggers' 2011 Relay For Life Team to benefit the American Cancer Society.