Thank You: Isabella Day 2011

August 1st is drawing to a close and, while this will be brief, I certainly need more than the 140 characters Twitter affords me to say Thank You. I am not sure how many characters Facebook allows but I'm sure I am not capable of living within the limits so I come here....a place I need to visit more often...my blog. I want to make sure everyone knows how grateful Crea and I are of all the support you showed us today. It would be hard to thank everyone individually but please know we read every single tweet and every single Facebook post and every email. While we personally know many of the folks reaching out to us with support, we honestly have only virtually met most of you and I find that incredible. Today's world allows a voice to people like myself to find amazing people such as yourselves. The fact that you took the time to read my story means a lot. The fact that you took the time to help us remember Isabella is priceless.

Before I close, I wanted to say a few quick things.


"There's always going to be bad stuff out there. But here's the amazing thing -light trumps darkness every time." Jodi Picoult


Mine is but one story of millions that are out there. My story involves my father and Isabella and my wife fighting cancer twice. There are other stories all around us. Tomorrow, Isabella's Day is over but somebody else will be mourning the loss of a loved one. Someone will learn they or a loved one has cancer. Somewhere, someone will get bad news. Somewhere, someone's life will be turned upside down. This is exactly why I share my story........in the hopes that my words find someone that needs to hear them. There are blessings on the other side of trying times. They will find you.


"May we all give a little piece of ourselves away every day so that when we pass.......who we are continues to impact the world"


On occasion I am asked to share my story for groups of people. When I do, I always like to close with a message tied to Isabella's impact and what it means to you.......what it means to us. Isabella, as I have shared, is a big part of who I am today. Because of her impact on me, I have gone on to play a very active role with Team in Training. Because of her impact on me, I have shared my story to many. Because of these two things...........I have hopefully impacted other lives along the way and hopefully those affected lives have paid it forward as well. My question to all of us is this..........if one little girl that never uttered one word on this planet or took one single step can have such an impact on the world...........what can you and I together accomplish. We all have the ability to make a difference. We all have the ability to change the world. We just need to put ourselves out there and make it happen.



I wanted to close with one last thought and that is tied back to the hardships and the blessings that come from those hardships. I certainly miss Isabella terribly. She was my first little girl and sometimes her missing voice is deafening. That being said, I would not go back and undo anything and that ties to my belief that everything happens for a reason. I have often said I believe my wife might not be here if it were not for Isabella. Doctors found the cancer inside Crea that they would have no reason to be looking for if it were not for my little angel. Beyond that there are countless blessings and people that have come into my life that I otherwise would never have known. Truthfully, I would not have crossed paths with most of you reading this post if it had not been for Isabella. Lastly, and I do not say this too often but this picture is of my earthly angel Thalia. She is #3 for Crea and I. Number 3 never comes if Isabella doesn't volunteer for Heaven and I could not imagine a life without this precious little girl. Blessings come from the most trying of times.


Again, thank you all so very much!!!