More on the Forum

SECAUCUS, NJ – July 25, 2007 – Chris Matthews, MSNBC's election anchor and host of "Hardball with Chris Matthews," will serve as co-moderator along with seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong for the first-ever Livestrong® Presidential Cancer Forum. Presidential hopefuls from both parties will gather in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on August 27 and 28 to discuss how best to fight cancer. The Democratic forum will be held on Monday, August 27 and the Republican forum on August 28. Both forums will be held in the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (ET).Viewers can submit questions prior to the forum in one of several ways: by sending their own videos to www.hardball.msnbc.com, by sending a question to the Lance Armstrong Foundation at www.Livestrong.org, and by sending a question to MSNBC.com's politics page, http://politics.msnbc.com, where viewers will also be able to watch live video streams of the two-day forum. MSNBC.com's interactive features also allow viewers to learn more about where candidates stand on important issues, vote on the candidates' performances, and post their thoughts on the message boards.
As announced on July 16 by the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the Livestrong Presidential Cancer Forum will serve as the first forum that will allow candidates to detail how their administration would work to fight cancer, a disease that kills more than half a million Americans ever year. The forum stems from a commitment by Armstrong and his foundation to unite citizens, government officials and cancer organizations across the country to make cancer a national priority.
"I am tremendously honored to be chosen to co-moderate this event with Lance Armstrong," said Matthews. "Working on a cure for cancer should be a national priority and I look forward to working with Lance to bring more attention to this cause."
"Hardball with Chris Matthews" will telecast live from the site of the presidential forum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on August 27 and 28 with a live audience. "Hardball with Chris Matthews" telecasts Monday through Friday at 5:00 and 7:00 pm (ET). Tammy Haddad is Executive Producer and Vice President, Washington for MSNBC. Bill Wolff is Vice President of primetime programming and Dan Abrams is General Manager.
07/25 04:35 PM

Home

I just arrived home from Jekyll and St. Simon's Island. Though we had a great time, it's good to be home.
While there, we decided to take a ferry to Cumberland Island to hike through the ruins of the Carnegie family estates, also known as Dungeness, built in the mid 1880's. Before you board the boat to go to Cumberland Island (which is larger than Manhattan), you are required to sit through a brief orientation to familiarize you with the rules of the island and the wildlife you may encounter while there. As soon as we arrived on the island and stepped off the boat, we were thrilled to spot a manatee playing in the water by the dock and a large group of wild horses grazing just off the beach. We were fortunate to spot many of the wild horses, a creepy little armadillo playing under some bush, and a long necked wild turkey. However, we were thankful we did not have the misfortune of crossing any of those venomous snakes everyone was warning us about. 
The ruins of the mansions that are still on the island are incredible and it's obvious that the Carnegie family lived the 'finer' life. There was a little church standing that seated about 18 people located on the same property. Back then a minister would come over by boat once a month to hold services. 
I found it interesting that John Kennedy Jr. was married at this homestead on the island and think I remember pictures from that wedding. 
The Carnegie family called this island home for so many years and now all that is left is just the remains - evidence, if you will, of their existence on this beautiful island. I gazed at these remains in wonder and imagined what it must have been like in those days - even tried to imagine myself walking down the steps of the back entrance out to the meticulous gardens. 
The story of this family were all but the perfect picture I had so carefully painted in my mind.


There lives would be described as being filled with discovery, challenges, tragedy, despair, loneliness, joy, and excitement. I guess this could be said about all of our lives whether we live in a mansion on an island or a mid-size home in the Carolinas. And we are leaving remnants everywhere of a 'life lived.' Lucy Carnegie faced many trials. One of which was when her husband died in 1886 leaving her to raise 9 children alone. But, somehow she would always manage to start over again. 
We all have a story, we all have trials. It is what we do with the ruins from the trials that will make the difference. Maybe one day someone will be looking over the ruins of your life - what will they see? Lucy ended up owning 90% of the island after her husband's death. She added on to the Dungeness Mansion and built four additional mansions for her children.
Eventually, the Dungeness estates did come to an end, but while there - what a place to call home! What a life!

Fear vs Faith

I caught the interview Larry King did withTammy Faye the day before she died when Larry asked her if she was afraid to die.
I began to think about fear. God addresses fear 366 times in the Bible? That equals out to one for everyday of the year plus leap year. 


Both are consuming, both require attention, both can dictate how we deal with a trial or a decision in our life. And I believe, no, I know, that both will determine the outcome. Life with fear - well, think about that one. Is there really life where there is fear? 
Life with faith - sometimes life can be so incredibly hard that it requires - no demands - faith just to take the next breath. 
You have to decide which of the two you are going to walk in. 


So, what will it be - Fear or Faith?

The Office

I just started watching the hit television series, "The Office," and on one of the episodes that recently aired was the boss, Michael's, birthday. Michael, being a little arrogant, wanted everyone to take part in the planning of his special day. However all of the employees were distracted because one of them was waiting to hear from his doctor as to whether he had skin cancer or not. Michael being irritated at the lack of attention became sarcastic, leading one of the more sassy employees to tell him that no one cares about his birthday because of the situation with the employee waiting to hear from his doctor. Michael immediately pretends to care more about this employee's well being than his own birthday. He decides to make himself a LiveSTRONG bracelet out of yellow card stock and tape. He later raises his fist in support of the distraught employee and calls out "LIVESTRONG!" It turns out it was benign and all was well, and Michael got the birthday he wanted. If you ever get the chance to see this particular episode, I highly recommend it. Hey, It's ok to laugh.... "Laughter does the heart good like a medicine"... Proverbs 11:22

First - Ever LiveSTRONG Presidential Cancer Forum

This is great! - The FIGHT is ON.............FIRST-EVER LIVESTRONG® PRESIDENTIAL CANCER FORUM WILL REVEAL OPINIONS ON CANCER POLICY Lance Armstrong Foundation to unite candidates for discussions in Iowa; Armstrong to facilitate
Austin, Tex. and Cedar Rapids, Iowa (July 16, 2007) - The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) announced today that it will host the LIVESTRONG Presidential Cancer Forum, a two-day event featuring 2008 presidential hopefuls from the Democratic and Republican parties in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, next month. The forum provides candidates with an opportunity to detail their respective policy plans for fighting cancer, a disease that kills 560,000 Americans a year.
Moderated by Lance Armstrong, the LIVESTRONG Presidential Cancer Forum will serve as the first-ever forum that enables candidates to go on record and detail how their administration would work to fight the disease.
"Cancer is non-partisan. It's the number one killer of Americans under 85," said Armstrong, founder and chairman of the LAF. "It's time for all presidential candidates to let us know where they stand on the issue."
The Democratic candidates' forum will be held on Monday, August 27; Republican candidates will convene the following day, August 28. Both discussions will take place at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa from 10 A.M. until noon CDT.
Tickets for the forum are available, at no cost, at www.livestrong.org/forum.
The LIVESTRONG Presidential Cancer Forum stems from a commitment by Armstrong and the foundation that bears his name to build and mobilize a LIVESTRONG Army that unites citizens, government officials and cancer organizations across the country to make cancer a national priority.
"The dream is that we get rid of this disease forever," Armstrong said. "The '08 elections and the LIVESTRONG Presidential Cancer Forum give all Americans an opportunity to ask the candidates 'What's your plan? And where does cancer fit into your policies?'"Details for the event are as follows:
LIVESTRONG Presidential Cancer Forum Hosted by the Lance Armstrong Foundation Democratic Candidate Forum, Monday, August 27, 2007Republican Candidate Forum, Tuesday, August 28, 2007U.S. Cellular Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

We have to tell cancer "ENOUGH"!!!!!! And South Carolina, we have got to rage war. Our representatives have not signed on with us to co-sponsor the legislation that we introduced on May 16, 2007. If you are in SC, please write your members of Congress and if you are a cancer survivor, tell them your story. We have a right to live our lives without cancer.

Got To Get An Early Start

Growing up, there was nothing more exciting than family vacation. 
My dad was one of those "Got to get an early start" 'kind of dads.' 
My brother and I just wanted to sleep, but once we were all settled in the car, the excitement would build. 


While packing for our family vacation next week, I was reminded of that old feeling of excitement. 


Reminded me of life - Maybe we're caught up in 'routine' and everyday resembles the day before. Maybe we have a small view of our lives and we just want to 'sleep.' 


One thing I've learned through cancer is that "Life is too short to be small." 
God wants to see us excited about life and I believe He's one of those "GOT TO GET AN EARLY START" 'kind of dads.'

First Cell Phone

I took my son to purchase his first cell phone today and until now, I didn't know that shopping for a phone could be such an adventure. Everyone dreads their children getting older, but I have found every age with my son to be exciting. Watching my kid grow up has been my greatest adventure!

Reasons to blog

Well, I can't think of a better reason to blog than to talk about LIVING. I learned a lot about living when I was faced with the possibility of dying.