In 1986, my daughter, Christina, was diagnosed with cancer. She was only 15 months old and when I looked at her walking around, all I could think was "how is this possible?" I had to absorb everything the doctors were telling me, in order to relay it to the rest of the family. The news was especially difficult for my parents, who lost my brother, Danny, to leukemia when he was two years old. Her dad had to return to duty and I spent most of the days at the hospital, leaving her older sister with her grandparents. I felt guilty leaving Christina at the hospital and I felt guilty for the time away from her sister. I got through it with support from family and the medical staff. Someone once asked me how I managed to stay strong through all of it, and I told her, "I can't lose Christina, so I will do whatever it takes for her to survive." Christina is now an adult and doing well. I am thankful that her cancer was caught early, the treatment worked, and she has been able to experience many of the joys that I had hoped for her. There are far too many families who have not been as lucky as ours. One in 5 families who have a child diagnosed with cancer will have to bury their child. Others must battle the cancer repeatedly for years on end. My hope is that one day, no parent will be told your child has cancer. In order to help make that dream a reality, I will be shaving my head to raise money and awareness for childhood cancer research.

Please support me with a donation to the St. Baldrick's Foundation. This volunteer-driven charity funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government.

Your gift will give hope to infants, children, teens and young adults fighting childhood cancers. So when I ask for your support, I'm really asking you to support these kids. Thank you!

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