Blue Monday

I heard that this past Monday was "Blue Monday" - they said more people are depressed on this day than any other day in the year. One psychiatrist said it is because the holidays are over, the bills are starting to roll in and the dreary weather. His suggested treatment was to smile at everyone you see that day and that would at least get you through to Tuesday. (Yeah, he said that - to Tuesday)
Though the suggestion of smiling at strangers seemed so elementary - it sounds like a great prescription for such a condition. But couldn't we smile on Tuesday, and Wednesday, and Thursday, and Friday, and Saturday, and even Sunday?
Who could stay depressed when their smiling all the time.
So if your feeling a little blue - get your smile on!

LiveStrong Day 2008

Save this date: May 13th, 2008

LiveStrong Day this year is May 13th and we (LiveStrong Army Upstate SC) are going to host an event at AnMed Health Campus in Anderson. This will be one of 500 organized events taking place on Livestrong Day all over the country. We are hoping to gain some major attention from Congress with this year's effort so that we can expect change upon our return to Washington.

Be sure to spread the word and wear YELLOW!
More info will follow.....................

Also, we are in the very beginning stages of organizing a Dragon Boat Team.

Stayed Tuned

The SC Cancer Alliance (SCCA) Family & SurvivorTask Force is presenting the 1st Survivorship Conference: Living With & Beyond Cancer to be held on March 14th & 15th, 2008 at the Columbia Marriott Hotel. This two day event is geared toward the hundreds of thousands of South Carolinians who have been affected by cancer including those who are currently in treatment, those in remission, and survivors and co-survivors, as well as non-profit organizations and medical professionals who directly deal with cancer related issues and we hope to have approximately 200 participants for the first year of this conference.The registration fee is $30.00 per person for the two day conference. Visit www.sccanceralliance.org for additional information and to register.

He has to be the survivor!

My life-long best friend called me today to let me know that her mother lost her battle with cancer last night. My friend seems to be on auto pilot - making all the arrangements and trying to tend to her father.
I had such flash backs of my childhood, primarily because not a day went by that I wasn't invading their home and overstaying my welcome.
She had just retired and the two of them were making big plans. The thing about cancer is that it really doesn't care about your plans.. for this family - cancer changed everything.
My friend's father has to go on - He has to be the survivor!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas......................

White Envelopes

Today, I read about a family who practiced a family tradition of placing white envelopes on their Christmas tree for their children to open on Christmas Eve. These envelopes were gifts to charities given in each of their children's names. Each child would have a donation made by their parents in honor of them to a different charity or need in the community. 
What was so cool about this story was the parents said that as their kids got older they would actually be more excited about opening their envelope to see who would be the recipient of the gift that would be given in their name than any of the other gifts under the tree. 
Now the two boys are grown and have founded the "White Envelope Project," which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring and enabling individuals and organizations to GIVE! 
It's obvious how these parents influenced their children by their dedication to serving others. I was thinking during all of the chaos of Christmas shopping over Thanksgiving that maybe I would just wrap up some donations on the behalf of my family and friends 
...something to think about.

Delayed But Not Denied

Recently, I caught a story on the news about a young girl who was running in her State Cross Country Meet. She misstepped resulting in the breakage of the tibia and fibula. Crumbling to a heap on the ground, she crawls for a bit and then returns to her feet in an attempt to reach the finish line only to collapse again. She then decides to crawl on her hands and knees for the final eight yards to the finish line.


...Delayed, but she refused to be denied!