New Year's Eve we were blessed with SEVERAL 14-15 year olds...I think we had 16 of them..for our Annual NYE Sleep over...It's so great to sit and listen to these young minds discuss all they hope to do with their futures!
January also brought to us a family coming to the finish of a arduous battle...Jim was a man in what should have been the best part of his life...kids were grown, grandchildren around...he and his wife had raised a wonderful family...now it was time for them to move on to the next phase of life...to enjoy their more "golden" years...but what they all got to share was a battle with this unfair disease. I never got to actually meet Jim but from all that I have learned about him...he fought this battle long, hard and on his terms...We were able to provide his family with a few meals in the final couple of weeks and I thank all the people that reached out and helped us make that happen. On February 1st 2014 Jim Bernard Completed his battle with cancer. I say completed and not LOST...I try to explain to people from the perspective of a person battling cancer....I don't EVER want this "cancer" to win anything...when I leave this earthly plane it will be because I have FINISHED my battle! It may seem like symantics but it means a great deal to me. We are looking forward to having Jim's wife, Gloria and daughter, Lindsey joining our foundation and we will be welcoming them with open arms!!
On a lighter note...my son Rob came in from LA on February 6th...it was a short visit but it is always great to have him home. He was only here a few days...and Christian ended up sick through most of those days but they did get to go into the city and see Ave Q! It was a great experience for them with a back stage visit and pictures with the characters. Deana, Rob, Christian & Frankie enjoy the show and all that went with it. Rob left to return to LA on Monday early evening but not until he got to hear his little brother sing at his voice class. A whirlwind trip but worth every moment I get to have my eldest son at home!
The following weekend Len & I took Christian and Sam into the city to see Newsies!!! What a great show. We were fortunate again to be allowed back stage to take pictures and then to a "talk back" with the actors...the kids were thrilled and we took several pictures!!
Valentine's Day...then Christian's birthday...and we celebrated as we recalled the day Len & I joined all of our children...and their friends, my friend and my mother!!...into a delivery room at RWJ hospital and brought our 4th and final baby into this world!! It was a glorious day...crowded... but glorious!! We were the talk of RWJ for quite a while after that!
Saturday Christian and Deana will be attending a basketball game at Monmouth where they will retire Miles Austin's jersey. As some of you know Christian is a die-hard Dallas fan and Deana went to college with Miles so he is EXCITED!!
Sunday you will find me in the kitchen making fresh tomato Apizza (pizza) and a variety of homemade brownies with an ice cream sundae bar to celebrate Christian's birthday.
Monday brings us back to the "must dos" as Deana and I head back to Connecticut for court...again...to try and finalize Aunt Jackie's estate. This has been a never ending battle and just hope this will put it all to rest.
We are also moving right along with our fund raising efforts.
Our first Financial Seminars with "THE PRACTICAL GUY" should be coming up some time in April...keep watching for more info soon. May (not sure of date) we will be at Charmed by Claire.
Our BIG event in the works right now is our Premier Golf Tournament and Awards Dinner on October 6th. We will have a silent auction as well as many raffle items. Our honoree of the evening will be Dr. Bruno Fang, Oncologist Regional Cancer Associates. With out him I would not be here to do this work!! Please check out the outing flyer on FB, here on our website or you can go to directly to register and see the many options of ways you can help:
http://birdeasepro.com/DBDHFgolf
We have several other things in the planning stages and will try to keep everyone updated as we go along.
In closing, I just want to remind you of the quote I posted a while back: Just because you can't help everyone doesn't mean you shouldn't help everyone you can.
Random Acts Of Kindness go along way...and they perpetuate more Random Acts of Kindness...Think how blessed a world this would be if everyone lived their lives that way!?!?
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