Light the Night Update: Friday, 9/7 @ 5pm - Movie Tix Raffle

At the end of the day on Friday, Katelyn will be drawing two names from those who have signed up to walk and/or donated to Team Life's a Beach in 2012. Also, I am working on team T-shirts. Details to come...

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has become so important to me not just because of my personal experience, but because of all the friends I have made over the past year who have also been afflicted with a blood cancer.

One of my friends, Dona, just received her bone marrow transplant last week (please say a prayer for her). The day of the transplant is commonly referred to as the patient's birthday, because it literally is a new chance at life. She was diagnosed with AML last year on Mother's Day. We met her at the bone marrow donor drive, where Ryan joined the registry (Be the Match). Her daughter started kindergarten today, while she recovers from the transplant in a sterile wing of a hospital because she does not yet have an immune system. She is a brave, kind person and embodies the Life's a B**ch! attitude.

If you would like a shot at winning the movie tix, please check out Team Life's a Beach Details. We are in the process of adding a Southern Cali walk to our team, thanks to Sheila and Lauren!

Dona and her Big Kindergartener!

 

A total stranger's gift to Dona and her family: LIFE (a.k.a. bone marrow)

 

Light the Night 2012: Team Life's a Beach

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's annual Light the Night campaign is approaching. Events take place across the country to honor survivors and the memories of loved ones lost. Walkers carry illuminated balloons-- white for survivor, red for supporter, and gold for in memorial.

For anyone who would like to join the Life's a Beach Team, please click on the appropriate link below.

We greatly appreciate the support that's been given already this year. It means a lot to our family, and to all the patients and their families whom it will benefit. To show our appreciation, we will be raffling off movie tickets (# TBD) in early September. All who have donated to our team this year or signed up for the walk will have their names entered.*

Life's a Beach Team Home Page

Life's a Beach pages by walk site:
(On the day of the walk, registration begins at 5:30pm and the walk begins at 7:00pm.)

September 13 - Milwaukee, WI (Veteran's Park)

September 23 - Minneapolis, MN (Target Field)

October 3 - New York, NY (Basketball City)

October 20 - Verona, NJ (Verona Park)

October 27, Woodland Hills, CA (Warner Center Park)

* Unlike your typical big contest, family members will be eligible, since Katelyn, who can't read, will be drawing the names.

Brooklyn Bridge Light the Night Event - Pics

We had a great time at the Leukemia and Lymphoma's Light the Night Brooklyn Bridge event last night. It was quite crowded, which is a good thing!

We did have to dodge the Occupy Wall Street protestors on our way to the South Street Seaport (ironically, Barclays Capital and Goldman Sachs were among the largest donors at the LLS event).

The evening was inspirational, marred only by the news of the loss of Steve Jobs.

Thank you so much to those who walked with us (pictured below), and those who donated (Mary Lou & Craig, Aunt Lynn, my parents, Ayarza, and Nicole).

FR: Julie, Erin, Laura
BR: Nicole, Molly, Shelley, Katelyn, Ryan

Light The Night - October 5th

 

 

If you'd like to join our family this Wednesday evening for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, please see the Event Details, and let me know, so we can coordinate meeting up.

Check-in begins at 5:30 p.m., but the walk doesn't start until 7:00 p.m. If you'd like to come but can't make it until 7:00, I can either check-in for you, or you can join us without having registered.

** A special thank you to Mary Lou and Craig for their donation, and to Lauren, who is organizing a team with her school friends to walk in the October 29th event in Santa Clarita, California.

 

Light the Night - Brooklyn Bridge, October 5th



The Brooklyn Bridge Light the Night Event, from the official website

Next Wednesday evening is the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's annual New York City "Light the Night" event. It is the organization's fundraising alternative for those who would prefer not to run 26.2 miles or bike 100 miles.

Since it will take place during the one week I should be feeling well, before I start the next round of chemotherapy, we've decided to make the fundraiser a family outing.

I don't have the energy to actively fundraise for this, and I have no desire to ask for more from those who've been so good to us, but if any local friends (families welcome!) want to walk with us, we would love the company.

To join us, register at the bottom of the page at the following link: Team Shelley

Event Details: