Sept 20 09
It was a very difficult and emotional day on Friday as we gathered to honor the life of a young B+ Hero, Savannah Pauley. The church at St. Elizabeth’s was filled and the service was very moving. Savannah provided her Mom with some incredible strength to be able to stand before the assembled and present the eulogy. I had such a lump in my throat as I watched the Salesianum lacrosse team (with uniform shirts over their shirts/ties & wearing their pink helmets in honor of Savannah) form an honor guard as the hearse left the church. Standing at the cemetery, I couldn’t help but think of another brave young lady, Erin Brennan, whose memorial stone is not too far away in the cemetery. I must say that it was uplifting to see some of our other B+ Heroes & their families there, including Sydney Lysinger, Molly Zahner, and the Koenigs. There may have been many others there as well but I just didn’t get a chance to see them. When you walk down this road, you become part of a community. The bond that connects our families is very strong. And, we will NEVER forget Savannah. Carey said that Andrew McDonough has his arm around Savannah and showing her around Heaven. I have no doubt that you are right, Carey!
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Today, we were very honored to have several people run the Philadelphia Half Marathon with Andrew watching over them. A group from the Wilmington (DE) Police Dept. ran wearing B+ gear, as did Adrienne Dever, who completed her first half marathon. Congratulations to all and thank you very much for spreading Andrew’s message throughout Philadelphia.
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I would like to thank all of the kind folks at Cephalon in Frazer and West Chester, PA, who hosted us last Tuesday and Wednesday for their “Community Connection Fair”. It was an honor to be included in the day and we appreciate the opportunity that you gave us to spread the B+ message. Thank you also to all of you who so generously donated to our mission.
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We were very touched that four young ladies decided that instead of receiving gifts for their “Sweet 16″ birthday, they would prefer donations be made to The B+ Foundation or a local breast cancer organization. How kind? Young people, in particular, continue to impress and amaze me. I certainly wasn’t this mature when I was 16 (or maybe even now??? :) Thank you very much, and Happy 16th Birthday, to Meghan, Meg, Jamie, & Kelly. I hope you ladies had a lot of fun last night at your party!
Well, that’s it for now. We’ve got a big day tomorrow and I’ll give you an update tomorrow night.
I hope you all made the most of today. MAKE tomorrow the best Monday you’ve ever had!
Live Like Andrew - SMILE!
B+
Ali’s & Andrew’s Dad
www.BePositive.org