A major milestone for me was going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's fundraiser, Light The Night Walk. In 2009, Sammy had just been diagnosed and we were still recovering from the shock of it all. Gina had been my guide from the start and she invited us to join Peter's team, The Warriors (so aptly named), and walk with them. We were very excited by this. It was an honor to be in Peter's team. A beautiful banner was even made for Sammy.
Sadly, Sammy was hospitalized the week of the walk, and he and I settled for pictures of the wonderful event sent to us almost in real time to help us feel a part of it.
This year, Sammy had his own team and we did some major fundraising. The support our friends and family have shown included digging seriously deep into pockets....we raised over $8,300! Best of all, on a personal level, Sammy was able to lead his team at the walk...we were a sea of Orange Super Sammy shirts.
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| The Sammy banner that won the "Most Inspirational" award |
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| The boys...from our neighborhood and my class at school |
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| My friends supported us on the cold night |
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| On the stage, counting down to kick off the walk |
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| Strength Together |
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| The firework display - beautiful! |
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| Jimmy Locust with Sammy - his dance company, LPAC, danced on the night to support our family and help fight the fight for all affected by blood cancer |
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| A cold but determined Sammy in his preferred mode of transportation for the walk |
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| This moment moved me to tears...the line up of the survivors. How can Sammy and Peter be up on that stage right now? It finally hit me right at this point...they are cancer survivors! |
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| Heroes |
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| LPAC dancers before their performance |
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| The Warriors - Peter's sisters and students from Special k (my past students). These girls are forever in my heart. |
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| Team Sammy also included students from my current class...awesome kids! |
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| Sammy proudly holding his "Most Inspirational banner" award |
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| Staff from Little Friends, Jack and Sam's preschool - they raised over $1800 for our team and have committed to walking with us next year too |
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| Walking - There were so many of us in Team Super Sammy, we couldn't stay together in the 4000strong crowd! |
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| The walk |
So it was a very emotional night for us. Sammy was well enough to participate, and we were overwhelmed by the amount of people who braced the cold to walk with us. There were over a hundred people on our team that night and many others had supported us with donations from afar.
Super Sammy will walk each year to raise money to fight blood cancer. Each year, we hope to be celebrating Sammy's continued remission and eventual cure. Finding ways to lessen the 'late effects' cancer treatment caused as well as prevent other children going through the grueling and toxic treatment has become my number one goal. We can't change the fact that Sammy has cancer and has to go through this now, but we CAN do something to improve the future for the approximately 43,050 new cases of leukemia that were diagnosed in the United States in 2010.
Even though I got to the event late, I am so glad that I did make it to the walk and met you all. It was a great night for me. If I am still in this area next year I will gladly be there to walk again in celebrating Sammy's continued remission.
ReplyDeleteBarbara J. Wright
It was great to have you with us, Barbara. I hope you are able to join us next year. If not, I know you will be there in spirit.
ReplyDeleteHi katy, I think any disease like this is never confided to just one body. Sammy may have the symptoms of the disease but it is always the people around him who set the boundaries and keep the destruction at bay. You are doing a great job meeting this challenge.
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