A Night in New York, Cassandra Rocking Cancer

May 19, 2012 was the grand finale of the Leukemia and Lymphoma's Society Man and Woman of the Year event.

Getting ready to rock blood cancers

It was wonderful evening, filled with hope and inspiration. 

The fourteen men and women who took on this challenge to make a difference in the fight against blood cancers, raised over $280,000.

Marc Paolicelli,, 2nd from left, Kelly Barr-Orr,3rd from right, Man & Woman of the Year

The boy and girl of the year stole the show as the candidates walked across the stage to receive a hand made gift made by Jack and Taylor.

I thought Cassandra looked absolutely stunning in her dress.  She told me she was nervous, but it never showed.

I am so proud of this young woman, for who she is in the world.

I am so grateful that she came into my life, that we are friends.

I don't know what the ripple effect will be of Cassandra's efforts.  Who else will be inspired by what she is doing?

Who else will see this as a call to action, to get involved, to make a difference?

Cassandra met the son of a current board member at the Man and Woman of the Year Kickoff event. Michael(16 years old) is a confirmed candidate for next years campaign. Ripple #1.

Cassandra, Ralph and Michael

I introduced Cassandra to Rick Peterson who was sitting at our table.  Rick, a former president of our chapter board of trustees was blown away by Cassandra.  His mouth dropped when I told him she was fifteen and a freshmen in high school.

Rick's daughter is a cancer survivor.  Allison was a girl of the year for our chapter.  She has graduated from high school and is now attending nursing school.

Rick told me he now wants Allison to run as a woman of the year candidate for the Rocky Mountain Chapter.after she finishes college. He had never thought about that as a possibility before for Allison.  Ripple #2.

What ripple effect will Cassandra have in the lives of Taylor and Jack?

What will it mean for my friend Brittany to have Cassandra in her life?

Cassandra and Brittany(11  year AML survivor)

I would be remiss if I didn't take a moment to recognize two people who contributed greatly to the richness of this journey for both Cassandra and myself.  Two incredibly compassionate and loving women.  The world needs your art.

Thanks to Kim Mailhot(A.K.A the Rock Fairy) for donating her time and talent and spreading love into a world that so needs her message.  "Love is the answer to every question."~Kim Mailhot

Thanks to Laurie Maves for donating her time and talent in creating a beautiful painting she made for Cassandra that was auctioned off at the gala.

Friends sharing a special moment

Ralph,  Cassandra, Laurie and Dustin

For me one of the things that I hoped would come out of this campaign would be in planting seeds of inspiration.     That other young people could see what was possible when you say yes to a challenge, when you say yes to your own life.

I hope that message is heard and understood by everyone.  Everyone can serve, everyone can make a difference.  You just have to take that first step.  Follow your heart.

I knew Cassandra already was living a life of service before I asked her to run as a woman of the year candidate for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Cassie, thanks so much for believing that we can create a world without cancer, for standing in that space of creation and possibility.  Thanks for your courage, your compassion, your kindness. The world needs this. The world needs you to be you!

 A heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.  How does it get any better than that?

"Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."~Martin Luther King

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Man and Woman of the Year Kickoff for LLS

The Man and Woman of the Year campaign for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society kicked off officially om March 12, 2012.

There was a kickoff celebration last Friday for all of the candidates, their campaign teams.  The candidates also got a chance to meet the Boy and Girl of the Year that they are fundraising for.

Cassandra put together a very nice video of the reception which you can watch by clicking here. 

The Rocky Mountain Chapter has a record number of candidates that are running this year.  It was an emotional evening for me as it was one day before the 4th anniversary of Kelly's passing.

I am incredibly grateful to all of the candidates that are devoting their time and talents to make a difference in this fight against cancer.

Most of all, I am so honored and grateful to Cassandra for being a voice in this fight, standing for the possibility of a world without cancer,

Taylor gives Cassandra some ballet tips!

Ballet position #5 with taylor Jones ♥, you are never to old to learn ballet! 

Let's Rock this!

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It will be a love story

Kelly passed away four years ago today on March 17, 2008

Kelly battled her Leukemia for almost 12 years and her spirit was so much stronger than her cancer.  She changed my life in so many way.  She was 10 years old when I first began running for her, and her courage, who she was changed my life.

 It will be a love story, and she will be my heroine for all time, and her name will be Kelly....

Kelly with her beloved puppy Abby

I had the honor to contribute this piece to Maya Stein's anthology, Lost Highway and Living Rooms.

Last Hours 

The phone rang on Friday Your Dad calling me to tell me you had taken a turn for the worse; your kidneys were starting to shut down. The end was near. Were you afraid? You had fought for so long, so hard to get home, to be surrounded by your family and friends. I did not know what else to do as I waited so I ran.

I waited for the phone to ring again, dreading the final call. I ran a race on Sunday morning, crying through the first two miles. That was not how I wanted to honor your life so I raced the final two miles. I am your runner so I ran, with my head high. I saw a friend after the race; I wanted to fall in her arms for comfort. She knew what you meant to me.

I spent the afternoon at the park with my kids and my great nephew, circle of life. The phone rang at 5:30 Monday morning. I knew it was your Dad calling. You were gone, finally free from your cancer. I pulled the car over and cried. I tried to go to work for a while. I left work and went running. I am your runner. What else was there to do?

A dear friend of mine, Cassandra Perkins shares a birthday with Kelly and she is fighting for what was important to Kelly.  A world without cancer, a world of faith, hope and love....Fighting for Jack and Taylor. 

Cassandra with Jack, 2012 Boy of the Year

Cassandra with Taylor, 2012 Girl of the Year

If you would like to make a donation to support Cassandra efforts to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and honor Kelly's life please click the link here. 

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Cassandra Perkins, Woman of the Year Campaign is underway

And we are off! 


Rocking blood cancer!


Fighting for the world we want to create.  Fighting for our angels and our heroes. 


The polls are open to begin voting for the Man/Woman of the year candidates. 

What is Man & Woman of the Year?

Each year, in communities across the country, dynamic, passionate candidates engage in a spirited competition to earn The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's "Man & Woman of the Year" titles, by raising funds for blood cancer research. The candidates compete in honor of children who are local blood cancer survivors, the Boy & Girl of the Year. Every dollar counts as one vote, and the titles are awarded to the man and woman with the most votes at the end of ten weeks; the top local fundraisers in the country win the national titles.

Man & Woman candidates are goal-oriented and compassionate. Their relentless efforts are focused on making life better for hundreds of thousands of patients battling blood cancers: leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

I had the honor this year to nominate Cassandra Perkins to run as a woman of the year candidate for the Rocky Mountain Chapter. 

I met Cassandra last summer through some volunteer work I was doing with Youth for Parker and Project Sanctuary.  As I got to know Cassandra, I became more and impressed with this young woman.   

I listened to Cassandra speak at the Evolve Expo last fall and was mesmerized by the story she shared and totally blown away by how powerful she was in her own life at the age of 14 and so touched by her determination to make a difference in the world. 

Cassandra's bio includes:

• Actor
• Executive Producer
• Spokes Model for Be Your Own You
• Stunt Woman
• Entrepreneur
• Author
• Keynote Speaker
• Internet talk show host
• Blood Cancer Freedom Fighter
• High School student

I would say that is a pretty impressive looking resume and Cassandra is 15 years old!

Dynamic, passionate, inspirational, compassionate, fearless are just a few words I would use to describe Cassandra.

I nominated Cassandra because I truly believe that she is going to have a huge difference in this race to find a cure for blood cancer. 

I hope you will support Cassandra during her 10 week campaign as she fights to create a world without blood cancer and be as inspired by her as I am.   

A world without cancer awaits.  Let's rock this!

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Making strong offers

I got home today and saw a large package sitting on the front porch.  It was the first batch of rocks(500) from the Kim Mailhot, aka The Rock Fairy.

I hope you can see the picture of the note that Kim enclosed, but if you can't see it clearly, it states:

A donation of 

500 Custom Rock My World rocks for

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

"Blood Cancer Freedom Fighters"

Let's rock this fight !

Warmly, 

Kim Mailhot

                                                                                            aka The Rock Fairy

I am participating in an online writing class that is being taught by Patti Digh and one of Patti's mantra's that she lives by is to make strong offers in the world. 

Kim is making her strong offer in the world, sharing her time and talent in support of Cassandra's Woman of the year campaign and in support of The Leukemia and Lymphoma's Society's vision that we can create a world without cancer. 

I don't know how many hours Kim and her Rock Fairy assistant's worked on crafting these rocks for us. 

I do know that this was a heartfelt donation of many hours of loving kindness.  I do hope someday that I get to meet Kim in person.  How awesome that will be for me!

Love Echoes

"Love is the answer to every question baby!"~Kim Mailhot

Now there is a strong offer in the world!

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