700 Reasons to Smile

I'm having a hard time believing this, but in the past day, Mom and I have received $700 in donations! I am so grateful, and I'm beginning to think that we might just reach our $6000 goal! As I've said before, it's hard to express in words how much your support means, but it's worth a try, right?

My first thank you today goes to Shelley, a friend and former coworker of mine. Shelley and I worked together for eight years, first at the American Institutes for Research and then at the Homeland Security Institute. Just before I left HSI last year, Shelley moved onto a new job as well, and we are both so much more satisfied and happy now than we were before! I feel lucky that she and I remain in touch, and I'm so thankful for her donation to the 3-Day.

And then there is Jennie, who has known me almost forever. We first met when I was 10 and she was 11, at a church choir rehearsal. We were an unlikely duo--she was lovely and tall, and I was the shortest one in the group, still wearing those awfully huge glasses on my face. Over the course of our weekly rehearsals for the next six years, we became lifelong friends. She and her partner, Janis, to whom I also extend a huge thank you, live all the way across the country in Oakland, California. These days, our paths cross far too rarely, and I miss seeing Jennie every week as I used to when we were younger. But Jennie, being a dear friend of my heart, is with me everywhere I go. She has always supported me in everything that is important to me, and I am appreciative of her gift today and for her forever friendship.

Thanks to Shelley, Jennie, Janis, and so many of you, Mom and I have now raised $3643! We are 61% of the way toward our goal. Yay!