My mom passed away Sunday morning 3.22.15. She was my greatest cheerleader and I could never do any wrong in her eyes. She was always trying to make people laugh and she always managed to find or create the silver lining in every cloud she encountered. Many would describe her as "quite a character". I love that she had the names and birthdays of our cats listed in the family registry of her Bible. She loved God, she loved life, she loved her family and friends and she loved helping others. More than once, I've seen her give her last few dollars to help someone less fortunate. She was a cancer survivor and she had a tremendous love for children. Several of her former kindergarten students have sent condolence messages to share how she inspired them and how much she meant to them. She was a huge supporter of St. Baldrick's, not so much financially because of the fixed income, but lots of moral support. She knew that I believe in the integrity, the stewardship and the determination of the St. Baldrick's mission to end childhood cancer and that was good enough for her. It's like when I played high school football. I considered becoming a starter one of my life's greatest achievements. But she was just as proud the year before when, in her mind, warming the bench must have been the most important position on the field. Back then she was collecting football programs and photos. Now she was collecting St. Baldrick's related newspaper clippings and any poster that contained a photo of me and/or my son. She was truly excited that someone was finally doing something to help find cures and better treatments to help kids with cancer. The day I write this is also the day I made my mom's funeral arrangements. Her final resting place is next to her little brother who is forever 4 after a brief battle with leukemia. Believe me...there is no greater gesture you can make to honor my mom's memory than a donation to St. Baldrick's Foundation.

I'm raising money for childhood cancer research! Did you know that kids' cancers are different from adult cancers? It's true. And childhood cancer research is extremely underfunded. So I decided to do something about it by raising money for cures.

Now I need your help! Will you make a donation? Every dollar makes a difference for the thousands of infants, children, teens, and young adults fighting childhood cancers.