I picked up a new order of Shannon shirts this week in preparation for the golf tournament. I think this may be our tenth different shirt. That's good and bad all at the same time...
It's bad of course, because it means she's been gone long enough for us to produce ten different shirts for ten different events. Hockey tournaments, golf tournaments, Brains Together For a Cure walks, etc. We're working on our fourth year of fundraising. How is that possible? I can't think too hard about that because it hurts deep down in my marrow.
But, when I showed up to play tennis on Tuesday and my three friends were wearing three different versions of Shannon gear, well, that's just pretty damn cool. When I see the shirts, it doesn't make me think of what I've lost, but what I've gained: deep friendships and unwavering support from family and friends If someone is willing to wear a shirt in honor/memory of my daughter, that warms my heart and makes me want to keep going...
We sell t-shirts to fund our scholarships and make small donations to support brain tumor research. We'd have to sell millions of shirts to raise the kind of funds needed to really support the research, and that's probably not in the cards for us. But, we will keep doing what we can on a small level to honor our girl.
Shannon's desire to donate her cells is making a difference, though, and that offers us hope to see a change in the way brain stem gliomas are treated. Dr. Richard Vile and his research team have been inspired by Shannon's story and they are working with her actual cells in there immunotherapy research. An article was published this week online by Mayo Clinic that covers Shannon's story and the legacy she is leaving behind through Dr. Vile's research.
You can read the article here: Mayo Clinic In The Loop
Go Shannon, go...
