Hi everyone!
Happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful Dads out there!
(Picture: one of our favorites of Sammi's senior pics....she's wearing her "Alex" bracelet...it came out a little small on here)
It’s been a little while since my last update. We have been pretty busy with Sammi graduating this year. We had a nice graduation/18th birthday party for her. We are very proud of Sammi and the young lady she has become. She graduated as 1 of the 24 valedictorians from her school. Wow! She has worked very hard and deserves the recognition. The ceremony was very nice. We were blessed with wonderful weather and what a joy to see Sammi sitting in the front row with her beautiful smile! (And her new short hairstyle! She cut her hair for locks-of-love...very proud of her for that too) We definitely missed Alex not being there, but I pray that she was aware of her little sister’s accomplishments! Sammi blew Alex a kiss at the end of the ceremony…I know she was there in spirit!
I have decided to participate in the Team in Training Women’s Nike Marathon Run/Walk. The event will take place in San Francisco on 10-18-09. I have never done something like this before….and it’s definitely a physical challenge for me. I’m planning on doing the ½ marathon (13.1 miles). Others have said to shoot for the whole, but we will see how the training goes. We did 4 miles on Saturday…part running, part walking…and will increase to 6 miles next weekend. I have never been an athletic person, so this is a challenge. But I just think of all that Alex had to go through and it gives me the strength to keep going. I’m doing this totally for her and every other cancer patient….and I hope I’m making her proud. I need to raise $2800, and have a little over $1000 right now! Thanks from the bottom of my heart to everyone that has donated to this extremely worthy cause! It means so much to me! Whether is $50 or $5, every dollar is important. I’ll post the link to my TNT page and please feel free to share it with others. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society needs all the donations they can get to continue researching for a cure. We can’t give up!!
Well, better go for now. Thanks for checking in on us and for your continued thoughts and prayers for our family. We continue to miss Alex each and every day, but are grateful to the Lord for His peace and comfort. I’m also thankful for being able to share more about her life while training for the marathon. I love every opportunity I get to share about the beautiful gift that God gave us.
I have bracelets for sale with Alex’s phrase on them if anyone is interested. Proceeds go to my fundraising efforts.
God bless you all and remember to always BELIEVE!!!
Jodi
Here’s the link to my webpage for the marathon. If you'd like to make a donation, you can do so through the website or let me know if you'l like to send a check.
http://pages.teamintraining.org/cca/nikesf09/jodiforalex
