Day 210: It’s Never Too Late to Give – Do you Have Your Daffodil?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pATXTel2Hgk&feature=related

I have this philosophy that it’s never to late to give. Especially for cancer. It has touched almost everyone’s life. It’s touched mine more times than I care to admit. Do you have someone in your life it has touched? A friend, a family member, maybe even you. Today my give is to cancer and to show my support by wearing a daffodil with pride. The Daffodil Campaign may be coming to an end but it is never to late to give.

Day 210: Give 210

I will never forget one specific day in my life. I had flown from Vancouver to Toronto as my mother was meeting with the Head of Urology at Sunnybrook Hospital. A mass had been found on her kidney and today was the day we would get the news if she had cancer or not. My mother was scared and I was scared for her. I knew many people that had had cancer already in my life. A dear friend had just passed away of colon cancer a year earlier after a long 7 year fight. But this was my Mom. The women that gave birth to me. She had held my hand so many times in my life and gave me a shoulder to cry on when I needed it most. Now it was my turn to be that shoulder for her. The doctor came in and very clearly told us she had cancer on her kidney and it had to be removed. My mother cried on my shoulder and I told her we would get through this together. 

The same day just a few hours later and I received a call from my girlfriend back in Vancouver. Her son had been hospitalized for an asthma attacked while I had been in Toronto. While he was there they discovered an abdominal lump. It wasn’t small, it was huge. He was just 2 years old – my sons first best friend. He too had been diagnosed with kidney cancer. It was more than I could bare. I cried and I cried and I cried some more.

I cried for my Mother, I cried for my girlfriend, I cried for her little boy and I cried for all the people that are touched by cancer every day.

My mother had not only one but two surgeries to remove her cancer and is living cancer free today. (fingers are always crossed it never returns.)  My girlfriend’s son had his kidney removed too but it returned to his lungs just a few months later. He has just finished 14 rounds of chemotherapy at the age of 3. Today we are thankful he is cancer free and I pray it stays that way as he grows.

There are so many ways you can donate to support Cancer Research. It’s our modern day plague. Through my event production business (not 365give) I have raised 1.5 million dollars to support cancer research. I am proud of that accomplishment but it’s not nearly enough. Until cancer can be treated and cured 100% of the time we need to keep trying. We need to keep the research going and we need to find ways to discover and treat cancer before it can take any more lives.

So today I did one simple thing. I bought a daffodil to wear on my coat.  It is a small gesture of support but if we all bought a daffodil it would mean millions of dollars to help find the cure. It could be me next – it could be you. What will you do to show your support today?

Time Commitment: 30 seconds while in line paying for my groceries

Cost: $2.00 for my daffodil