Make A DifferenceFor Single Mom Lisa & Her Daughter Chelsea
As a result of being on the Internet, I am, on an average, receiving approximately 150 E-mails per day. Some are filled with inspiring or heartwarming words, others heavily laced with frustration and exhaustion. The following E-mail is a combination of the two. It's a true story of sadness, hope and friendship. It's a story of love and reality. It was also accompanied by a telephone call from it's sender, M.O.M.S. Member Jaimee Olson.
Everyday I deal with stress, either my own, or someone else's. Sometimes I hear a story that makes me appreciate the life I have, regardless of how difficult or stressful it is. This is one of those stories and I want to share it with you in hopes that you might want to take a chance, a very small chance, at Making A Difference.
I was hit very hard by this. Perhaps because M.O.M.S. member Jaimee Olson is recruiting so hard for Chelsea, Jaimee sold hot-dogs in front of a local grocery store this last Saturday (in the rain, no less) in an effort to raise funds for Chelsea. Over $900 was raised in on that rainy afternoon. She has spent her evenings faxing press releases and making phone calls to blood banks. But more likely it was the incoming telephone call I received on Sunday night. I was cuddled up with my daughter jaimi in front of the fireplace, Disney was on Television, it was a typical Sunday night in our home, and then the phone rang. It was Jaimee apologizing for not organizing a chat in our new chat room. It hit me like a ton of bricks. How insignificant everything is in comparison to the life of a child. Here I was cuddled up, safe in my environment and this other woman's entire world was crashing around her. I hugged my daughter after that phone call and imagined that it was my daughter and I in this woman's place. I fought tears and swallowed hard. That is when I realized that an opportunity to encourage others to TRY to help Make A Difference is (with my database), at my fingertips. And really, that's all any of us can do in this lifetime, is to try.
On that note, I close thanking you for your empathy, kindness and generosity. Anything you can do to help promote Chelsea's needs will be appreciated by every mother and father who have ever had to face a moment like this and by those of us who hope that if we ever are that there will be support like this for us. And I hope that if in my lifetime I find myself in need for my own daughter, such as this woman and her daughter, that I am blessed with the kindness of people such as yourself, who make every effort to do what is in their power to help.
.....Spencer
Chelsea underwent her Bone Marrow transplant recently and is currently at Children's Hospital in San Diego waiting to see if the transplant will take. The donor was an umbilical cord donor, which is supposed to be the best blood stem cells! It was only a 5 of 6 match, so Chelsea had to undergo chemo and radiation for the week before the transplant. She really had a tough time with that. Hadn't been able to keep any solid foods down for about 2 weeks, but last I heard is feeling a bit better.
We are having a fund raiser in Carlsbad June 2 at The Old Village Theatre at 8:00 p.m. It will be a comedy night (Chuckles for Chelsea) and will feature Kelley & King; formerly of KFMB talk show fame, along with other comedians. We are also having a drawing at the end of the night, with lots of great prizes being collected, the grand prize will be Two Nights stay at The Carlsbad Inn. Tickets are $7.50 for show (includes raffle ticket) and $5.00 for drawing donation only!
If anyone would like to write to Chelsea or her mom; the address is:Lisa/Chelsea ChamnessAny questions? Feel free to call me @ (760) 729-7220 Thanks,
c/o Ronald McDonald House, Rm. 221
3101 Berger Ave.
San Diego, CA 92123
......Jaimee Olson
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