What brings us closer

I don't even know where to begin with this post so I will just pick a sentence and go from there.

I am amazed at all the good that comes from the bad.  It wasn't that long ago that some very dear girls in my life lost their dad in a snowmobile accident.  Rest in peace Mike Garner.  These girls...Amanda and Caycie...I love them like they were my very own...and they didn't get to say goodbye to their dad.  They didn't get that "one last hug."  They didn't get to tell him, just one more time, I love you.

If I could do anything for them, it would have been that.

If there's something in this world that I hate...it is seeing people that I love, hurt.  And you girls know I love you.  My heart felt like it weighed a ton the second I was told the news.  All I wanted was to hold you girls while I found a way to make it better for you.  Better for all of you.

I thought of Mike's wife, Kelly, who is such a sweet woman.  She always had a smile on her face when I saw her.  I thought about the burdens that would be put upon her.  Decisions that nobody thinks they will have to deal with until "later."

I will try to keep this short because this subject makes my heart hurt for my own dad.

I have many times, caught myself thinking about how precious every memory of Mike is now.  How each "first" holiday will have just a little more special meaning to everyone that loved Mike.

It won't be easy...as most of us know.  But they will get through it and they will get stronger for it.  I still wish there were more I could do for them.  I will continue to love them and support them and be there for them in whatever they need me for.

I wasn't able to attend Mike's funeral but I was at the visitation and I remarked at how I felt like I was at the All-School Reunion.  People from my past that I hadn't seen for years.  People that I didn't recognize until someone told me who they were.  People that I didn't have a clue about, even after being told who they were!  It's amazing that something so sad can bring so many people together.  All in the name of love and respect for one person.

I just couldn't let this go without saying something because I still feel so much pain for all of them.  Again, rest in peace Mike.  You will never be forgotten.  Many, many people loved you and looked up to you.

Sometimes it seems as though we are saying goodbye to too many people these days.  I'd like to turn that around for many of us right now.  I'd like to give a shout out to baby Landon Shaw.  5 month old fighter from Tarkio, Missouri.

If you haven't heard about baby Landon by now well...you must be living under a rock!  This little miracle...at only 5 months...has undergone more than what most adults go through.  At 4 months, he was taken to Children's Mercy Hospital, in Kansas City, because of his vomiting and weight loss.  A tumor was found on his kidney and that was quickly removed.  As if that wasn't enough, doctor's then found a mass on baby Landon's brain.

Baby Landon wasn't expected to live through that night after the surgery.  He had lost a lot of blood and his heart had even stopped during surgery.  But he survived.  And is still surviving.

And then..........."Plunge for Landon" came about.  People started taking the cold water plunge, in the name of baby Landon.  They videoed themselves, introducing themselves and laying out a challenge for three or more people to do the same in 24 hours and state their donation preference.  Then they turned to the water...the cold, cold, water...and either jumped in, ran in, got pushed in, were dunked in...however they could get in, they got in!  And then history was in the making.

More and more people started doing it.  Facebook became alive with video after video of people of all age groups...all parts of the country; the world...immersing themselves in the icy goodness of the nearest body of water.  All in the name of baby Landon Shaw.

I have taken the plunge and would do it over and over.  What a fantastic cause!  Look at how we all came together for the sake of a little baby boy that the majority of us "challengees" don't even know!  I don't know about you but I am proud to be a part of such a large group of people that took some time out of their day to take the plunge.  Proud to be part of something to help someone else.  Proud to say "I took the plunge for baby Landon!"

For everyone that plunged, YOU ARE AWESOME!  For those that donated, YOU ARE AWESOME! And for those of you that prayed...and continue to pray for baby Landon, YOU ARE AWESOME!

I read in an article that at one point, even Facebook lost count of how many videos had been uploaded for this cause.  I once heard a saying.  It goes like this, "Alone we can do so little, but together, we can do so much!"  (Helen Keller)

Until next time.....thanks for reading!!!