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As people come in and out of your life they all have an impact on who you are and may even change your outlook on life.  I believe that we learn something from everyone.  Today is the second anniversary of the day that Jim left this world and became an angel in heaven.  Although the day marks a terribly sad event for our family it also brought a lot of love.  Throughout the day I received text, phone calls, and emails from friends, coworkers, family and even a few people I didn’t know but they knew Jim.  Most of them reflected on how much they missed Jim and what they loved about him or how he impacted their lives.  It was wonderful to hear from everyone and made me think about how important it is to remember many of the lessons Jim taught me in life.  The most important ones were to be a good friend, loving unconditionally and to live a mindful life.   He really worked at being a good friend to everyone.  He was the kind of friend you knew you could count on to help out and do the right thing.  When you were with Jim he...

Who knew there was such a thing as World Cancer Day?  I sure didn’t.  It was founded in 2008 by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).   This year they named the campaign the “I Am and I Will” campaign to highlight the need for early stage detection, screening and diagnosis to significantly improve cancer patients chance of survival.  So this your reminder to get your preventive screenings this year – the earlier the better.  Remember many of them are paid for 100% by the insurance companies and if you happen to have a cancer, critical illness or wellness program you may be eligible for a wellness benefit that is usually around $50 just for going! Are you ready for some good news?  We are starting 2019 off with a bang!  In the last couple of weeks we have received 3 applications and have verbally heard from 2 others who said they will be working on sending them in!  WOOHOO we thrilled to say we are having the better start to 2019 than we expected. Thank goodness we have been lucky enough to be named the charity for the Rotary Club of St. Johns Golf Tournament for the second year in...

You may never know what affect your actions may have on other people.  My son’s have been blessed to participate in a wonderful football program at their high school that is coached by an outstanding group of men.  The head coach is often times quoted as saying his job is not only to coach the football team but to make these young boys into great men.  Recently he decided to have the players wear specially made jersey’s for a game against their rival that they have never won a game against.  The jersey’s for this game would not have the players name on them but instead they would have the name of a person who is currently or has battle cancer.  It could be a survivor or someone who lost the battle to cancer.  Instead of putting our family name on it to represent my husband I decided to put the words Dream Big on it then after the game frame it and put in a shadow box for the team to put up at the high school so the players could also hear Jim’s message to Dream Big. Before the game the players had the opportunity to meet the...

I believe attitude is such an important part battling cancer.  When Jim was first diagnoised he was determine to not have cancer define him and he was committed to fighting a battle against cancer for as long as possible.  I believe the hardest decision he made was the move to go to hospice.  Even then he vowed to be one of the longest hospice patients!  Daily he inspired me to be a better caregiver because he was such a fighter. As Dream Big! is getting off the ground we have been so fortunate to meet many wonderful people and hear their cancer stories.  I am inspired by these people and thier caregivers every day.  I am in awe of how so many people find the strength to work through chemo and radiation.  I found out a friend of mine had cancer and kept it quiet so nothing would take the attention away for her daughters’ upcoming wedding, another friend recently found out she is beginning her battle with an aggressive breast cancer and wrote to me and said and I am mentally, spiriturally and physically ready for this fight.  Wow!  One of the best part of helping people out with...

What a fun holiday – by far one of my favorites!  Nothing beats a holiday where all you have to do is cookout, hang with friends and watch fireworks.  Does it get any better?  We have a wonderful tradition in our house that happens on the Fourth of July.  Every year, usually pretty early in the day we read the Declaration of Independence.  This started when Jim and I were dating.  I will be totally honest this was not my idea and the first time I wasn’t sure I would want to do it every year.  This was a huge deal for Jim.  We sat down and he read the whole thing to me.  His passion and excitement over this document was contagious and I eventually began looking forward to our annual tradition.  When we had kids and they were younger they didn’t share the passion – that is a simple way to say they were bored out of their minds but they saw Jim’s excitement and love for this tradition and settled in each year to listen.  As the years went on they began to ask questions and we had some really great discussions.  That is my favorite...

Last week the Dream Big! Foundation sent it’s third gift out.  This time it was extra special because we mailed it to help the family of a little boy.  I really have a hard time with cancer but when it comes to cancer for little kids it is even more difficult.  The good news for Kai is that it is our 3rd gift – why is that good new you ask?  Well, it was Jim’s favorite number and he use to say good things happen when the number 3 is involved.  Hence we have 3 kids and not 4 🙂  So for Kai I am praying the 3rd gift will be a blessing and he will fight and win the battle against cancer.  Plus, I put the package in the mail on a rainy day – that is also supposed to bring good luck.  It rained on our wedding day and we had a wonderful marriage.  I think Kai is in for a good dose of positive vibes coming his way.

Before Dream Big! Foundation got started I was out cutting the grass one day and a couple who lives in my neighborhood stopped and chatted with me for a while.  When they asked the questions, “how are things going for you?”  having recently lost Jim this was a question I was asked often.  I responded that I was doing ok but still extremly sad and commented that is was not the life I had dreamed of.  I really expected to grow old and retire with my husband.  They both smiled and said in unison, “Welcome to Holland!”  They gave each other a loving smile like they had a special secret between them.  I looked at them and told them I didn’t understand.  They went on to explain that when they had an unexpected turn in thier lives some one said to them, “imagine being on a plane heading to Paris and you are very excited about that trip and there are problems with the plane mid flight and it is forced to land in Holland.  Then you can’t get a flight out for a couple of days and you are stuck in Holland.  Once you go out and explore...

When we began the Dream Big! Foundation we knew we had to come up with a logo.  Susan and I bounced around a bunch of ideas but nothing really stuck with us.  We asked some of our friends to help us and still we couldn’t find the “thing” that felt right.  Then one day Susan called me and said I think I have it and sent me a picture of a van.  I agreed it was right image for our logo and would be our brand along with Jim’s handwriting of Dream Big!  Let me explain the the van… It all started years ago when our kids were a bit older and I had gotten tired of driving the minivan.  I told Jim that I didn’t like driving the minivan any longer and he reminded me that it was paid for and we were enjoying not having a car payment.  However, he came up with a solution and suggested we trade cars. I thought he was kidding, who in their right mind would choose to drive a minivan.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved the minivan for the functionality but it wasn’t my first choice of cars.  I was...

What an emotional rollercoaster the last two days have been.  After I put the first wish in the FedEx box I got teary eyed.  Susan and I have talked about actually giving the first wish and when it really happened it was a pretty great feeling.  I walked away and thought how cool it would be to be there when she recieved the package  – then today I got pictures!  It was so thoughtful of our Dream Big! recipient to send them.  Thank you so much!  Today is Jim’s actual birthday and I wasn’t sure how it would go.  I thought it would be sad but wasn’t sure what to expect.  It was tougher than I thought.  Birthdays are all about celebrating the person and when the person isn’t here to celebrate with it is difficult.  However, throughout the day I received text, facebook post, snapchats, instagram post, and calls from friends and family remembering Jim and sharing stories and pictures which made the day brighter and helped me remember that Jim will always be with us.  Once again I find myself so grateful for the love and support from everyone.  It is that love and support that drives...

I am so excited to announce we are granting our first wish this week.  We were contacted a few weeks ago from a woman who has breast cancer and is going through treatment but has to travel often for chemo and an upcoming surgery.  We really wanted to grant a wish by March 14th since that is Jim’s birthday.  It is the first year we can’t give him a gift so the best way to honor him on that day is to give someone else a gift.  On Tuesday morning I will be sending the FedEx package – be sure to look for pictures 🙂 When someone applies for a wish to be given we ask them to tell us a Cancer Bonus. For those of you who don’t know what a Cancer Bonus is they started with my husband.  When he was first diagnosed with cancer he was determine to find something good in all the bad that can come with cancer so he looked for Cancer Bonuses – good that happens because of cancer.  A good example of a Cancer Bonus is when Jim would receive chemo therapy I was able to work from the hospital and be...