Dear Mazzy: Sooner or later, we all quote our mothers

Light the Night

My childhood best friend is participating in the Light the Night Walk to earn money for Lymphoma & Leukemia research. Lymphoma has touched both Carrie and her husband’s families, and I wanted to share their stories with my readers in the hopes that if any of you can spare a few dollars, you might consider a donation.

I can attest to the fact that Carries is “daddy’s girl” through & through. The Dew family has been my second family for years. The strength that they have had in dealing with “Daddy Dew’s” cancer over the years is beyond what I could imagine. If you can help at all, I know they will appreciate your support.

From Carrie & Sean:

Anyone who knows Carrie knows that she is a Daddy’s Girl. Anyone who knows Sean knows that he is who he is today because of his Dad.

Sean’s Dad, Ken Brannon, was first diagnosed with Hodkgin’s Lymphoma at the age of 28 and given only a 15% chance to survive five years. He beat those odds. In 1999 he was diagnosed with Non-Hodkgin’s Lymphoma. He beat those odds again. Unfortunately, in 2003 he passed away from other health complications.

Carrie’s Dad, Wilson Dew, was diagnosed with Non-Hodkgin’s Lymphoma in 1999 which has in turn morphed into Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. He has fought this courageous battle for ten years and he will continue to fight this battle for ten plus more.

In 2010, the Brannon family will start an annual tradition and raise money for a very important cause: finding better treatments and cures for blood cancers so patients can live better, longer lives through The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light The Night Walk.

This team is named “I KEN DEW IT” after both of their fathers. Not only will Sean and Carrie be walking but they are including Will and Kate as well. Will is 4 and Kate is 3. Ken passed away before they were born but they know he watches over them daily. Will (Wilson Ryan) is named after Carrie’s Dad. They couldn’t think of a more fitting name for the child they waited for for so long. Sean and Carrie want them to know a cure for blood cancers in their lifetime.

Carrie will also walk for Deana Reynolds who died from Burkitt’s Lymphoma at age 39, after an 11-month battle to live so she could parent her two young boys – Zane and Zach. Deana was a fellow adoptive mother who gave Carrie faith when she thought she would never realize her dream to be a mom.

Light The Night Walk is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s evening walk and fundraising event. It is the nation’s night to pay tribute and bring hope to thousands of people battling blood cancers and to commemorate loved ones lost.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) funds lifesaving research that has contributed to major advances in the treatment of blood cancers and treatments for other types of cancer, such as chemotherapy and stem cell transplants. New targeted therapies that kill cancer cells without harming normal tissue are providing drugs and procedures that are improving quality of life.

We are asking you to help by making a tax-deductible contribution! Please visit Light the Night with Team “I Ken Dew It” to donate online quickly & securely. You will receive an email confirmation of your donation as soon as it is made.

We thank you in advance for your support which will make a difference in not only the lives of thousands of patients battling blood cancers but their familes as well.

We really appreciate your generosity!!

Light the Night with Team “I Ken Dew It”

Thank you,

Sean and Carrie Dew Brannon

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Apparently God Reads My Blog

We went to a new church on Sunday. Actually, it wasn’t a totally new church, it’s the church Brett’s dad and family attend. Over the past year of his dad being in and out of the hospital, we have become acquainted with many of his dad’s church friends, including the pastor, and we really like them and wanted to give that church a try, in spite of it being a much longer drive than the church we had been visiting.

I nearly fell out of my chair when the sermon got started and the pastor started talking about the VERY thing I blogged about last week. In essence, he said that those people who go out and rally against gays or spread hatred about them, people who are judging and seeking out people to point fingers at, all in the name of God – those people may think that they’re Christian, but they aren’t.

I was pretty stunned that he chose to talk about that on the day I was there. I’m sure it’s not something he says every week. And while I listened to the rest of the sermon, I felt something I hadn’t felt before. I felt like the Grinch and that my heart grew three sizes that day. It was kind of surreal. I didn’t expect it, but it was almost overwhelming. I could feel my heart expanding, and I felt like I was going to cry throughout the whole sermon.

This still doesn’t mean that I know what I believe, but I think I believe that something real is out there, up there, with a hand on me. And that’s a start.

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Tell Me All Your Thoughts on God

Following the death of his dad, my husband has been going through a pretty intense spiritual journey. I’ve had my own questions that I’ve been exploring for years. I’m trying to put my past judgments and opinions behind me and looking at everything fresh again.

I don’t really know what I believe. I used to go to church. I used to be a Christian. Now, if anything, I lean more towards being Buddhist, but I couldn’t actually call myself “Buddhist.” I just know that it’s pretty hard for me to wrap my brain around the idea of identifing myself with a group who not only truly believes that being gay is a sin, but who often seeks out and discriminates against those who are gay. From what I recall from my church days, aren’t all sins the same in the eyes of God? So even if you think being gay is a sin, how is it any worse than any other sin, and aren’t we all sinners? So it just doesn’t add up to me.

I do know that I think Jesus was one cool cat. His teachings make sense to me. But how do I differentiate between God/Jesus/Spirituality/Church/Religion? I’m interested in how others approach this.

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Quick Takes

In the interest of getting SOMETHING posted without having the time to properly transcribe the events of the last month, I’m borrowing the “Quick Takes” idea I’ve seen on some fellow bloggers’ websites. Details, if needed, to come…eventually.

1. Brett was at the grocery store in our little town recently picking up some things I asked him to get and one of the women who worked there asked to look at his list so she could try to figure out what I was going to make. We thought that to be a little odd.

2. We just got home from a week on the beach in Florida with some friends and family. It was the first time we’ve taken a real vacation since before I got pregnant with Mazzy in 2005, so we were long overdue. It didn’t disappoint.

3. The reason we went on this vacation had to do with the fact that Brett’s father passed away earlier this month after a long battle with heart problems.

4. Even if you’re halfway prepared (or expecting) for someone to pass, you still aren’t at all prepared for it.

5. Our friends and family, as well as people we hardly even know, have amazed both Brett & I with the amount of love, caring and generosity they have shown us recently. We have realized how lucky we are to have such a great extended family. I came across this quote recently & it was just so fitting: “Friends are the family that we choose for ourselves.” – Edna Buchanan

6. Every time I see a Camaro on the road, I sing The Dead Milkmen’s Bitchin’ Camaro to myself in my head.

7. Fifteen hours in the car with a not-quite-two-year-old is about 8 hours too long.

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July 4th Fun

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Where to begin?

It’s been pretty crazy around here recently. We had a loss in our family, and that’s been very difficult for everyone.

We will have some downtime next week, so I hope to get you all caught up soon. Until then, I hope everyone out there is doing well.

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Hippie Daycare, For the Win!

A couple of months ago, we moved the kids to a new daycare. We’d been having minor issues with our other daycare, really since Jack started going there, but the things just started really adding up and we decided it was time to stop trying to wait it out and make a change.

We found this small private school that also had a child care facility. I’ll refer to it as Hippie School. It’s really cool, it’s in a group of old houses in an old part of town. They only serve vegetarian food and the kids spend a lot of time outdoors playing. Every Friday in summer is water-play day where they run through sprinklers & play in wading pools. Basically the same kind of stuff we’d be doing at home if I didn’t work.

Brett & I have both been really amazed with how well the kids are doing. Of course, the new place isn’t all perfect; they’ve already had some staff turnover since we started, but the people who run the place are great, and they have the kids’ best interests at heart, which is by far the most important thing. The kids haven’t complained a bit about the cashew-cheese “mac & cheese” or the soy milk they serve, and Mazzy has even started asking for salad with ranch dressing.

One of the things we like about the place is that the classes are small. There are only two classes, and less than 10 kids in each. The kids eat together family-style and Jack & Mazzy get to actually see each other throughout the day instead of being in completely separate classrooms. I think my favorite thing about it is that it’s relaxed. The overall structure is just so much looser and natural, and I am really happy we moved them when we did.

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Wordless Wednesday

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Help!! Do All Boys Hit?

Lately, Jack has been hitting. A lot. He hits you when you’re changing his diaper, he hits you when you ask him to do something or when you don’t ask him to do something. He walks into daycare in the mornings and hits the sweet little girl who is minding her own business eating her blueberry muffins and he hits his sister anytime she gets near him. Sometimes instead of hitting he pinches, scratches or bites.

I have no idea what to do about it. He’s 21 months old – is it his age? Is it just because he’s a boy? My sweet Mazzy has never been a hitter, so I’m completely at a loss as to what, if anything, I can do about it. It’s actually kind of funny because we finally told her that if he hits her she should hit him back, but she just can’t bring herself to do it. She’s getting tired of it so she’s starting to experiment with ‘how to hit’ but she just loves him too much to actually try to hurt him on purpose.

So you parents of boys out there in the interwebs, help me, please! What can I do?

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