Adventure Day One – Connections
May 2, 2008- We have all heard someone say “Knowledge is Power”, but how do you gain the power when you don’t know what to ask? How do you connect to what you need to know, when you don’t even know what you need?
Adventure Day One’s Blogroll is our way to start some connections between you and the knowledge you will need along the way. When I started researching the right connection links to post I found a goldmine of knowledge. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has posted a report called Facts 2007-2008, a 24 page document describing the signs, symptoms, possible causes, treatments and survival rates for Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma. This type of knowledge was not something I was able to locate in 2002.
The Life Mosaic is located inside the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society website and it is a wonderful “Mosaic” of people sharing their stories and those of their loved ones to inspire others - I counted over 180 AML stories alone! Remember “Tom”? In 2002 we had a hard time even finding the story about “Tom” – this type of knowledge and connection to others was not readily available to us like it is today. As I clicked through the Life Mosaic I was taken aback by the large amount of stories – what a wealth of support for people affected by Leukemia – in 2002 I was not able to locate these stories, but now you can!
And there is more…as I continued to look around the main page of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society website I found the discussion threads under “How to Help” and the topics tugged at my heart so strongly I have to share a few that stuck with me. To set the stage, I was searching the site on December 26, 2008, the day after Christmas. A person wrote in, “I just found out on Tuesday my Mom has leukemia, how do I know what to do?” Another person wrote, “We failed consolidation, what happens next?” Still another wrote “What should we expect, we just found out my Dad has AML?” Oh my goodness, it all came flooding back to me – how I felt in 2002 was with me again through these questions - I felt lost in the unknown all over again. All the scary feelings about what happens next, what if we don’t survive…how will these three people get connected to the knowledge they need to help them on their journey? I knew then that we really needed to connect people to people and people to knowledge – and although the statement “Knowledge is Power” may be true, its really about how knowledge that is shared can change the world!
Before I go - one last thought about connections – we are all connected to our communities – whether they are big cities or small towns – we all have people that touch our lives and make our adventure just a little better. Here in the Shenandoah Valley there are two such connections for me and Rickey – The Fort Valley Nursery www.fortvalleynursery.com and the Woodstock Café www.cafeshoppes.com
Today at the Fort Valley Nursery was “Green Thumb Friday” – a silly little game that is just simple enough that anyone can get involved. The idea is that the staff will paint your thumb nail green with a bright green nail polish and even put a butterfly decal on it if you like. This doesn’t cost a penny and makes everyone smile – I heard that one of the Fogle Boys even got his thumb nail painted today to support the staff and the customers that come in with their green thumb nails already painted!
Today at the Woodstock Café I returned an apron – why is that so special you may ask? You see I don’t do any of the cooking, Rickey does – and Tuesday night I stopped by the Café right before they were closing to pick up some of their home cooked meals to go. I was planning to pretend I did the cooking. They came up with the idea to loan me an apron to use at home to make the meal more authentic – that’s just the way they are – they make you feel like family!
Until our next blog – remember life is an adventure, embrace the journey. You can make a difference one day at a time.
Share your adventure with us!
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