TEN THOUSAND, TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN DOLLARS!!!

$10,215.

TEN THOUSAND, TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN DOLLARS!!

GRAND TOTAL OF YOUR GENEROSITY!!

Every single one of you rocks!  Every single one of you is an angel! Every single one of you is a gift beyond description!  And together we are way bigger than the sum of our parts.

I've been waiting to post the final number of the fundraiser for Patrick, as checks continued to come in. But this is where we are at and we exceeded all of our expectations.  I've been part of a few grass root efforts for social change, all rewarding, but nothing like this.  This was money raised through word of mouth, Facebook and email.  I will never curse my computer again!

The donations received ranged from $15-$1000.00, with the majority being between $25-$100.  No publicity, no raffles or fancy dinners with free cocktails (not that there's anything wrong with any of those things!)  Just regular people responding to a need with money or time.  Its amazing and brings tears to my eyes as I write this post.

Patrick is doing great.  He just got back from Baltimore and is VERY close to having his trach removed.  He rocked Kennedy Kreiger (part of Johns Hopkins) and had everyone eating out of his hand.  AND, he actually admitted to missing me!  Once. And then immediately told me to put him in his stander.  I'll take it.

More good news.  I think I mentioned in an earlier post that the guys that announce the Triathlon are amazing and they were particularly kind to me, making a big deal over my finishing and making me feel like a million bucks.  I emailed them to thank them for making the day so special for me and sent them the link to our blog.  Well, both guys wrote back and had read some of the blog and were fascinated with Patrick's story.  They asked that if I do the triathlon next year, I let them know so they can follow us and really give a shout out!  THEN, I got an email from the PR group that covers the Chicago Triathlon and he asked me to definitely contact him ahead of time next year and he would cover Patrick's story and help us raise more money!  So.........

GAME ON!

CRUSHING IT IN 2013!!!

I'll keep you posted......