I’ve never really been one to take things seriously.
“Wow, you’re getting married; will there be an open bar? Aww, you’re having a baby; wanna make it famous on YouTube? Cheers to your new job; now who’m I gonna party with on weeknights?
Sometimes, however, things get seriously serious and really real. What? I can be serious at times… watch me,
A few weeks ago, I was introduced to Bailey, an adorable 8-year-old undergoing treatment for a kidney tumor at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Her cancer was diagnosed in 2012, which, coincidently, is the same year doctors found a malignant tumor in my brain. [Oh that’s where he went]
I know every victim’s fight is different, but it’s safe to say that what we endure is scary and painful—to us and our loved ones. It’s so physically and emotionally demanding that, as an adult, I couldn’t begin to imagine how kids could handle it… until I started treatment at a children’s hospital in Chicago.
I expected the kids there to be sad and quiet, but, like Bailey, they were full of life and energy. They ended up inspiring me to laugh and smile through this battle. They taught me to absorb and share positivity from people around me: my mom, hospital staff, taxi drivers, my extended family, my co-workers, my friends, my co-workers’ friends, total strangers…
And that’s where you come in, stranger.
St. Jude is not only committed to continue its research to fight this nasty disease, but to treat the children affected without ever having them see a bill. Because of this, Bailey and the other young patients of St. Jude receive the treatment they need – for free. So we’ve teamed up with the lovely Ashley Tisdale to help spread the word about childhood cancer and the inspiring work St. Jude is doing to help these deserving kids.
What can you do?
Obvi’ ShoeDazzle will make a donation and we want to share our stories so you can help be part of this fight. We all agreed that it is equally important to encourage more people to send positivity to some anonymously awesome kids they don’t even know. Energy, thoughts, vibes, prayers, wishes, whatever…they all trickle down to those who need them. I’m living proof that it helps; I def’ didn’t pull this one off solo.
Seriously,
Richy T.