Dec 18 08
As you know, of course, I usually introduce you to brave young kids and ask you for your prayers. I’ve never asked for so much from so many people in my life. It’s not something that really comes naturally either. But, that’s neither here nor there.
Tonight I want to direct you to the site of an adult who I met tonight at Christiana Hospital. His name is Steve Romeo. Steve has been diagnosed with an aggressive, rare form of cancer. While our situations are certainly different, I felt like I had so much in common with Steve and his wife, Maureen. Just like Andrew was healthy one day and fighting for his life 48 hours later, Steve was a seemingly perfectly healthy guy one day and then on July 2, 2008, he got his diagnosis. As I’ve said before, you just never know what’s around the corner. Check out Steve’s Caringbridge site and you’ll see beautiful pictures of their two little kids. Steve has an incredible attitude; he certainly has the “B+” attitude. Steve, Maureen, our prayers are with you!
I have to admit that I had chills walking down the floor in 6b at Christiana since my brother-in-law was on that floor this past summer.
www.caringbridge.org/visit/steveromeo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A young man from Salesianum, Jonathan Cap, is working on his Eagle Scout project to benefit the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware. I was never a scout, but I have to tip my hat to the scouts for all the good work they do on these Eagle projects. I have a funny scout story about Andrew, but I’ll hold that until the end.
Back to Jonathan, he’s looking for donations of:
food items (popcorn, tea bags, snack foods)
kitchen items (paper towels, etc)
office supplies
cleaning supplies
toys
Donation can be dropped off at Salesianum School or at Immaculate Heart of Mary School and Parish (the box is inside the vestibule). Collections will be taken until January 14, 2008. If you have any questions, you can reach Jonathan at: jonathancap@comcast.net. Good luck, Jonathan.
~~~~~~~~~
Now, to the “Andrew Story”. Andrew decided he wanted to join Cub Scouts so we signed him up. Shortly after he joined, they had their famed “Soap Box Derby”. Not being a scout myself, I was apparently under the EXTREMELY naive impression that this was an activity that I was to do with Andrew but that the opportunity to actually BUILD the car is the child’s. Oh, was I wrong. :) I made a couple of basic cuts in the wood with the saw and Andrew did all of the rest. He painted it, put the wheels on, etc. etc. It looked great. It looked like a great job by an 8 year old. So, we go to the Church for the big night and boy, were we in for a surprise. I swear to you that Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt couldn’t make cars like what we saw. Andrew entered about 8 heats and got smoked in every one. I think he took 2nd to last in 2 of the heats, and last in the others. But, it was HIS car. In fairness, a few of the cars looked like the kids made them, but an awful lot looked like Mom or Dad had a real big hand in them. No big deal. Andrew walked out of there with a ribbon and he was so proud of his car. I was so proud of how he handled himself.
~~~~~~~~~
If you’re local, mark your calendars for 5:45pm on Dec. 27th for the Opening Ceremonies of the Diamond State Classic. It’s going to be great! We have paired “Heroes” - brave young boys and girls who are battling cancer - with teams from around the country. Our “Heroes” will be introduced at Opening Ceremonies at the St. E Center at St. Elizabeth’s High School. These kids deserve to be put up on the pedestal; as do their loving families.
~~~~~~~~~
Finally, congratulations to one of our “Heroes”, Pearce Quesenberry, who was on the CBS Evening News tonight with Katie Couric. Boy, Pearce, you ARE a natural! Great job tonight and thanks for wearing your B+ tee shirt. That was exciting for us to see.
Live Like Andrew - get a laugh at your own expense.
B+
Ali’s & Andrew’s Dad