Cricket’s Thoughts

Recently, a friend asked me for some ideas on how to get the word out about a worthy cause, my response was instinctively pretty generic – start a website, develop a blog and actively update it, then promote it to others through Facebook and Twitter.

But then I started reading Rachel’s story.

Not yet 25 years old, Rachel is fighting cancer for the third time. She is going to need a bone marrow transplant which is enough to financially devastate anyone, let alone a young family.

It’s easy not to look any further than that, to convince ourselves that it isn’t possible to help everyone, and simply move on. But I just couldn’t.

Maybe it was seeing this quote on the site…

“Nobody can help everyone, but everyone can help somebody.”

Or, maybe it was looking into the eyes of her beautiful young daughter Lexi in a family photo…

It may have been the letter she wrote to her daughter on her blog that I read with tears streaming down my face….

“One day, when you are all grown up, and you are a mom of your own, this may make more sense to you. I wish I could find words to tell you how much you mean to me. I never knew until I held you for the first time what true love was. You are the reason why I breathe everyday. I could not imagine my life without you in it.”

It could have even been Rachel’s personal strength and humor that I followed on her Facebook page…

“I find it completely unfair that in one day I have to clean the hair off of my pillow that is falling out of my head, and pluck my over grown eye brows. Shouldn’t one benefit of taking chemo be that I just have no hair maintenance at all? Sheesh … “

I have no clue what made it impossible for me to walk away from this family, but I am hoping that you find it impossible also.

What can you do?

First, before ya do anything else, please take a moment to send Rachel a few words of encouragement. While you are there, maybe you will consider donating a few bucks to help this family with the expenses they are incurring during this challenging time in their lives.

Still want to do more?

Wonderful! Why don’t you do everything that you can to spread the word! If you have a blog, create a post sharing Rachel’s story.

If you are into social networking sites perhaps you could share a link to www.got-marrow.org and ask everyone you know to do the same.

Together, we truly can make a difference.

Thank you  for being a part of my life, and especially for allowing me to be a part of yours . . .

Edit 12/07/10
Rest in peace in the arms of an angel my beautiful friend…
August 4, 1986 – December 7, 2010

In a time when most the world seems a little nuts these days, yeah I am still very proud to be an American, maybe more now than ever.

No, I am not hiding my head in the sand. I see the headlines about our nation’s economy and the current unemployment rate, but when I look at countries where so many people live a life surrounded in hunger, sickness, and war, I feel so very blessed.

As we walked through the C-5 (not shown) the look on the kid’s face was one of pure fascination. I was so incredibly impressed by the pilot (female) who spent time talking to Haley about what she does, how she got there, and above all for offering encouragement.

That same care and patience was shown in every flight crew member we spoke with at the 2009 Randolph Air Show.

The air show was a reminder of who we are as people, as a nation.

The strength of our country . . .

Our history . . .

When the F-22 Raptor flew overhead (not shown) the feeling inside of me was almost overwhelming. I looked over at the kid and asked if she felt it too. She told me it made her feel very proud.

Yeah, me too kid . . .