Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen

Dear Cassi,

I saw this the other day and I thought of you. 

My birthday wish for you is that you will always share your beautiful voice in the world.  The world needs you to be you.

Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen!   ♥♥♥♥  ♥♥♥♥  ♥♥♥♥  ♥♥♥♥ 

With much love to you on this special day

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Reverb 2012-My favorite picture

Cassie and Taylor

The picture was taken at the 2012 Leukemia and Lymphoma Man and Woman of the year kickoff at the Chinook Tavern on March 16. 

Taylor was giving Cassie some pointers on ballet out on the patio.  Taylor,age 7 was the Girl of the Year for the Rocky Mountain.   Taylor is undergoing treatment for (AML) Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Cassie, 15 years old quipped, "You are never too old to learn ballet."

I chose this as my favorite picture for several reasons.  Most of all, the moment captured in this picture gives me great hope. 

Taylor was diagnosed with AML on September 30, 2008 at the age of 3.  Without a bone marrow transplant she had less than a 20% chance of  survival.  Taylor received a bone marrow transplant February 5, 2009.  Taylor's Mom said during her treatment , "If her toes were tapping, we knew she was okay,"   Well Taylor is still tapping her toes!

I had the honor of nominating Cassi to run as a Woman of the Year candidate for one of the Leukemia and Lymphoma's society's signature campaigns.   To see Cassi take on that challenge at the age of 15, be a source of love and support and inspiration for Taylor and even learn a few ballet moves along the way is something I will always hold close in my heart. 

I was so glad I had the opportunity to see all the candidates come together that night and make a stand for a world without cancer.

Cassi and Taylor give me hope for a better world.  A world without blood cancers, a world filled with love and hope and yes, ballet!

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Small Kindness Blogsplash

Kindness is a Very Good Thing. Even teensy compassionate acts help the world go round. Let's celebrate these Small Kindnesses. Fiona Robyn's  novel 'Small Kindnesses' will be free on Tuesday the 27th, and people around the globe will be writing about our own small kindness on our blogs or elsewhere - will you join and and help spread your kindness with the world?

Click here to get a free copy of Fiona's book today on Amazon. 

Thanks for Fiona and Kaspa from Writing our Way Home for creating this event for a world that needs more kindness. 

My kindness story begins with my decision to run a marathon for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in 1999.  It was a decision that has greatly influenced and changed the course of my life. 

There are many stories of kindness that are weaved into the fabric of my journey and of course it starts with Kelly and there is so much more to this story of kindness. 

This was part of a slow awakening for me and looking back now it was the beginning of a yearning I had to be more, to love more.  The climb up the corporate ladder had lost it luster for me.  There had to be more.  Someone had told me years ago, that everyone needs a purpose larger that is larger than yourself. 

I found a new purpose through Kelly's battle with Leukemia and along the way, I reconnected with my family and became part of Kelly's family. 

This was a kindness I had never experienced before.  Kelly and her family(Don, Patty, Marci, Molly, Rose, Aunt Linda and Uncle Bill) opened their hearts, homes and lives to me.

I was embraced by this amazing, loving family.  Their love has been such a blessing in my life. 

The day I got back to Colorado after laying Kelly to rest, I was blessed to make a new friend who reached out to comfort me after reading about Kelly's passing.  I finally had the honor of meeting Shayna in person last summer after corresponding for four years. 

When Laura and I were training for the Paris marathon in 2011, I reached out to Kim Mailhot, aka the Rock Fairy to ask about having her make one hundred rocks that we could give as a keepsake to those who donated to our fund raising efforts for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  To my utter amazement Kim donated her time and talent in making these for us.  The following year I asked Kim if she could make 1,000 rocks to help with another fundraising campaign and again Kim donated her time and talents with a help of a few other fairies.  You can read more about the Rock Fairy by clicking here. 

Blood Cancer Freedom Fighter Rocks

Late last year, I reached out to a friend of mine and asked her to run as a Woman of the year candidate for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Cassi reminds me a lot of Kelly in the way she lives her life.  She is a very kind and loving person.  Oh and Cassi ran for Woman of the Year when she was 15 years old!

Cassie with Taylor and Jack at Grand Finale

I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge my children Laura and Adam for the ongoing kindness they bring to me every day, and my wife Sue  for the last 30 years of the kindness she has brought to my life.  I know her single wish for me is to be happy and she has patiently planted and nurtured that seed with love in only the way that she can in this incredibly journey.  

A family of runners in San Francisco 

So on this day of the kindness blog splash I send my thanks to each of you that have shared your kindness and touched my life, opened my eyes and my heart. 

In love and gratitude. 
  

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Who is your light saber?

Do you have a Jedi knight in your life?  

Who carries a light saber for you? 

In the Star Wars trilogy there is much talk about the power of the force, especially the dark side.  

What does the light saber symbolize?   

To me it represents power.   Light side Jedi knights use their power to help others.   The light saber is used to defend, not to attack.  It is only used for good.

“You can’t win, Darth. Strike me down, and I will become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.”~ Obi Wan Kenobi

This is my favorite line from any of the Star Wars movies.  I replace the word Darth, with cancer. That is my message to cancer, from Kelly.  Cancer never wins.  Kelly's life is so powerful....

In an epic battle between good and evil, a lightsaber climax ensues between Darth Vader, and his former teacher.  Obi Wan understood the power of the force and  illustrates the inherent weakness of the dark side of the force, that in using it for evil, they fail to see its true power.

When I first talked to Cassandra about running as a woman of the year candidate for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, I gave her a blood cancer freedom fighter rock that was left over from when Laura and I ran the Paris marathon for Kelly. 

The word on the back of the rock was "powerful".  I asked Cassie to pick up her light saber, to be a global voice for a world without blood cancers.  I knew she would be a powerful advocate for this cause. 

Inspiring messages from the Rock Fairy

I have no doubt that Cassandra would use her light saber to protect and defend Taylor and Jack, the girl and boy of the year for  the Rocky Mountain chapter. 

Taylor, Cassandra, and Jack at the grand finale. 

And for the last ten weeks of her campaign and in the weeks leading up to it that is exactly what she has done.  She has stood for the possibility of a world without blood cancers, a world for Taylor and Jack to live in. 

She has used her light saber to defend Taylor and Jack against the evil and unrelenting nature of cancer. 

The dark side of of cancer will attempt to discourage those that take up the fight. 

I think this would be Cassandra's message to cancer as she begins a new chapter in her life as a blood cancer freedom fighter.  

"Never. I'll never turn to the dark side.  I'll never give up. You've failed.  I am a Jedi, like the freedom fighters before me.

2011 Woman of the Year candidate, Catherine(16,far left) with Cassandra

Never Ever Give Up!

My message to Cassandra is one of heartfelt gratitude for honoring the possibility that we can live in a world without blood cancer, that we can all make a difference for one another. 

Thank you for being my  light saber, for becoming a powerful ally in the fight against blood cancers. 

Thank you for your friendship, for your support, for being a stand for my life. 

For me, you will forever be the 2012 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Woman of the Year.

My Woman of the Year!!!

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