Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Sorry, Tina Turner, But We Do Need Another Hero

If you’ve ever seen photos of me as a kid, listened to my mom tell one of her stories, or have heard me talk in my sleep, you know how desperately I want to be a hero, and own a time machine.

If you’ve never done any of those things, well, look at the blog’s title – I’ve put it right out there for you. Okay, maybe not the time machine part. I’m still trying to find a way to incorporate that into a more permanent facet of both the blog and my real life. And while some might argue that the world needs to be saved from me rather than by me, one thing is clear: I can’t save it alone.

Last October I wrote about Pancreatic Cancer and how it took a good family friend from us. I wrote that Pancreatic Cancer has the highest mortality rate among all the cancers yet receives only 2% of federally funded money for cancer research. I asked for your support by donating to The Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer and the Pancreatic Cancer Research Walk.

This is where I again come to you. I’m asking you to become a hero in your own right. If reading my rants and perils of wisdom (yes, I meant perils and not pearls…) and random thoughts has made you laugh, cry, or question my ability to parent, please support me on Sunday, October 23 by donating $5 today. Think of it as a yearly subscription that gives you an all access pass to the anecdotes that are my life. Five bucks is a steal. And well worth it if you ask me.

CLICK HERE to support Brady
Even Brady is getting in on the act and has become a hero. He goes to work with his mom every day and takes with him an empty yellow NESQUIK container that’s been transformed into a collection jar. When my wife’s co-workers offer to buy him something from the vending machines (which apparently from his stash of cash happens a lot) he simply tells them “No thank you. But you can put your money in here and help me make cancer die.” At four my son understands that being a hero is more than just putting Underoos on the outside of your clothes and trying to fly to school.

I get that there are a ton of worthwhile causes out there – causes that are equally as deserving as this one. There are actually a couple of other causes that are just as important to my family that we find ourselves supporting throughout the year. But today I am only asking your help in supporting one. The fight against Pancreatic Cancer.

Need help pushing the donate button? Fine.

Remember last week when Steve Jobs passed away? It was all you heard about from Facebook friends and real friends and co-workers for like two days, right? Well how many of those people actually knew that he was killed by Pancreatic Cancer? Not many that I communicated with. Now what if each of those people who said or posted something about his death was to have donated $5 to help find a cure? Or what if everyone who currently owns or has ever owned an Apple product donated $5 in Steve Jobs’ memory to help find a cure? Talk about an incredible way to give back to a man who did so much for the technological society as we know it. So why not do it? Today?

I purposefully waited to publish this post, not because I didn’t want to ask for your support, but because I didn’t want to provide you the chance to put off until tomorrow something you can do today. Too many times we keep putting life off until tomorrow, creating an endless loop of things we regret not doing and moments wasted by not living. Now is our chance to prove 1985 Tina Turner wrong. Now is your chance to be another hero, to be like Brady and want to make cancer die.

The walk is October 23rd. Eleven days to try and make a lifetime’s worth of difference. Will you support me by donating $5 to the Pancreatic Cancer Research Walk?

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