Thank You

Pre-ALS I was not very good at sending out Christmas cards. Post-ALS there’s not a chance that anyone will get a Christmas card, so I want everybody to consider this their Happy Holidays / Merry Christmas greetings. =)

We could not have gotten through this past year without the help of our family and many friends. Since there isn’t a way to say thank you enough to those who have helped us, what our family (my parents, brother, etc.) has chosen to do this year is adopt a family who is in greater need than we are, instead of exchanging gifts amongst ourselves, as a way of paying it forward (Tana made sure to clearly define that it was all family members 18 and over who were foregoing gifts! =).

Having been the Tempe Chase site contact for Adopt-a-Family for a number of years, I felt confident that we would easily be able to find an appropriate family. However, after contacting both the City of Tempe and City of Chandler agencies which coordinated adopt-a-family in the past, we learned neither cities were doing it this year because the need was so great. Instead, both cities were working through the school districts, asking each school to identify children / families who were most in need. The schools created lists of items the kids need as well as coordinated with the cities to provide food boxes for each of the families.

Although we really wanted to support a single family, our whole goal was to be able to help others. Earlier this week it dawned on me that one of my longest friends, Amy, is a teacher at one of the lowest-income Tempe schools where the majority of the kids are on reduced or free lunch. Amy reached out to her administration and discovered that there were eight unclaimed tickets regarding items of clothing and shoes. Our family is pitching in to purchase these remaining items. Even with everything we’ve gone through this year, we haven’t had to worry about the basic necessities of food and clothes like these families (although it would have been close for Joshua if it hadn’t been for hand-me-downs and E-Bay!=) It just reminds us that with all of challenges there are others who are even in greater need.

Although I can’t thank everyone who’s helped us, there are several whose help has been so significant I want to acknowledge them. They are: Julianne and family; Jolie, Terry, and family; Al; Helen; Amy and the Pico / Reyner gang; Julie, even from afar; Kim from the ALS Association who goes above and beyond; Olivia and family; Tina, Henry, and family; our neighbors, the Pyatt's; and Wayne. My family was able to help support us most of this year; however, when our needs became too great these individuals did not hesitate to step in and take on some of the burden and provide additional support. There aren’t words to express how grateful we are to have such great friends and support network.

Happy Holidays to everybody and again our family as a whole is grateful that we are able [in a small way] to help pay it forward as a thank you to everyone who has helped us this year. Happy Holidays to all!