For The Men In Our Lives.

A group of us family and friends were part of the SEA Blue Prostate Cancer Walk this weekend at Lincoln Park. SEA stands for S-Support E-Educate A-Advocate. Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in American men and it is the second leading cause of cancer death for men in our country. The event was for all the men in our lives who have, who are and will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. Our team walked in honor of those we have lost to the disease like the great Don Kelly and for my father-in-law, Antone who we affectionately call, "Papa." Papa is a kind soul who gets the most joy from his family. He has battled the disease for over five years. A key treatment for him has been the use of Lupron. The drug arrests cancer and keeps it at bay, but it does not work indefinitely. Sometimes it never works, other times it does its job for 5 years before it stops performing allowing the cancer to metastasize. Once it stops working, there are limited options. Our hope is the walks will fund the research needed to discover new, longer lasting treatments so we can keep men like Papa here as long as we can.
1)Runners and walkers get ready
2)Papa and his groupies
3)Part of our team
4)John and Ali

We've Got Spirit, How 'Bout You?

Saturday night was Spiritfest for Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire. SHS is one of the largest around here with 4200 students, still they manage to have an average class size of only 22 students. This year they dedicated their Spiritfest to CASA of Lake County! They had a 5K walk, a record setting glow stick word spell and fireworks. Their goal was to raise 25-thousand dollars for CASA. This money allows us to provide more services and help for the children we serve as their advocates. It also provides more training for CASAs throughout the year to keep us educated on areas of concern we may face with the families we work with during their cases. So, a HUGE shot out to Stevenson High School!

In Rememberance

Today my children helped lower a flag to half staff. The questions they had about 9-11 were tough to answer so they could understand the scope of what happened. How do you explain it to a 5 and 3 year old because it could open up more questions and scare them about things like planes or skyscrapers or... So, I tried to keep it short and honest. I told them some very angry people hurt and killed many, many people in our country. After some deeper and more specific questions, my daughter simply replied, "Well, that was not very nice of them." Nope.

Like everyone else today,I think about and pray for those lost on 9-11 and for those they left behind because of evil intentions. Has it really been ten years since we watched, worried and mourned the loss of lives and our country's innocence?

Where were you? Most of us adults know exactly where we were. My mom called just before the news station. Instantly, I knew this was no accident and my instincts told me it was far from over. Those instincts have almost always been right, so I felt sick at the same time. This was going to be really horrific.

I was the crime reporter at WISH TV and was already familiar with those in the midst of devastation. If you have ever held someone at a time of absolute and desperate grief...you understand. You hold them, you allow them to fall apart in your arms. They are tortured over the minute details of those final moments of those lost loved ones. Every...final...detail. There are no answers. There are no solutions to ease their pain. And this was on a much larger scale, so how do you hold up an entire country? And unless you are there in person, you can never imagine just how it truly feels there. I know I couldn't. Those on 9-11 in NY, PA, and D.C. know it all too well.

And so, ten years later, we remember those lost, the loved ones who navigate life in a different way,and for our world that is now very changed. Our young children will never know the world as most of us adults once did. That is incredibly sad. But then we are also reminded of our resilience. We are proof of being stronger and through hope, we will continue forward.

Where's your other shoe?

This seems to be the ongoing question in our house each morning as we attempt to get to school in time. Why does it seem like shoes can just get up and walk off on their own while we are all fast alseep? In the midst of the clothing chaos, we have found a new rythum to our school mornings.