For those of you who have donated to this event before, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.  For those of you who are new, you could not be donating to a more wonderful organization.  As I write this it is February 3, and exactly 7 years to the date that I lost my amazing mother. 

I have said in years past that I was in a dark place after my mom passed from Leukemia, and nothing helped pull me out of the place I was in like volunteering at Gilda's Club and being on the Associate Board.  I have said over and over that I wish I would have known about Gilda's and that my mom had an opportunity to experience it while she was on her cancer journey.  Even though I was by her side while she was going through intense chemo treatments down at Vanderbilt Hospital, and we would walk the halls at night and talk about life and how much we loved each other, I could always tell that having cancer weighed on her, and no matter how much I tried to comfort her and act like I understood to some degree what she was going through, the truth is I had no idea.  I couldn't comprehend the anxiety, the fear, the not knowing how it was going to turn out.  Even though I was experiencing similar emotions, I tried to be strong for her, and I know she was trying to be strong for me, as she had been my entire life.

That is why this year is so important to me.  Even though this is my sixth year, on the Board this may truly be the most special to me, because Gilda's Club has now partnered with Baptist Hospital in Paducah, my hometown, to offer services in the area.  In all of the life lessons my mom taught me, there were two that really stuck with me.  The first "It doesn't cost you anything to speak and be kind to people." The second, "leave a postive impact."  The second I saw my mother strive for daily in her life.  And I couldn't be more proud to now know that people in my mom's hometown have access to services that she never had through Gilda's Club's growth. 

In honor of this, I have double my goal this year.  The reason being (and she does not know it yet) is if I reach $2,000 I get to send another person over with me, and I am going to make my sister go over with me in honor of our Mom and the Gilda's Club now reaching people in Paducah.  Thank you for your support (and helping me continue to be the little brother who pushes my sister's buttons.)