Imagine two newborn babies wrestling while having temper tantrums, and that’s the sound this bird in the tree above me is making right now. Seriously, I’ve never heard anything like it, and I so wish I could somehow attach an audio file to this blog.
It’s a gorgeous day in San Francisco, and I’ve spent it in a state of semi-consciousness on the back deck. It makes me think of summer days in Chicago, when my friends and I would rollerblade to the beach and slather ourselves in Tropical Sun dark tanning oil, so we could marinate for six hours while being entirely unprotected from UV rays. This being San Francisco, I’m wearing a sweater and socks, but it’s comfortable, even with the weird avian nursery scandal going on overhead.
Scarlett is in circus camp this week, and yesterday she practiced juggling and walking on stilts. Obviously, I’ll be living vicariously through her all summer, since the main thing I have to report about my day is the noise of a crow with multiple personalities.
Except of course that’s not true. The big news here is that the #WhatWouldYouGive campaign launched yesterday, and is already off to an amazing start. We have 18 team members, and have raised more than $7000. And we have until August 31 to see where we can take it.
The fundraiser will be most successful if we keep adding team members – – that’s how we expand the reach to a multitude of social networks, friend groups, and families. Some people are doing pretty extreme challenges, which I’ll be sharing more about in the coming weeks. But if you want to join the team, and giving up an ability for a day just doesn’t seem realistic to you, that’s fine, too. Have your kids brush your teeth or feed you a meal. Go out to your local coffee shop and order without your voice. I promise that even these brief forays into the world of ALS will be meaningful to you.
Team members will all be receiving #whatwouldyougive signs from ALS TDI, so that you can post about your challenge on social media and help raise much needed money for research.
One of the things that excites me the most about this campaign is that I really believe in the work that ALS TDI is doing, and I love the idea of helping to fund their lab in ways that will be life-changing eventually. I’m selfish, I want treatments and a cure in my own lifetime. But if that’s not possible, I think instead about the other people who can be saved. I think about my friend Trickett’s kids, three children who are facing familial ALS, who lost their mom and their grandfather, and who deserve to have someone tell them this will never happen to you. I think about a young mother receiving a diagnosis, and being given a plan of attack instead of a death sentence. It will happen. I have absolutely no doubt.
#WhatWouldYOUgive to END ALS?
Join the team here by clicking on Become a Fundraiser.
I just started having a vision of moving on two legs again, of climbing onto stilts and racing Scarlett, who is dressed in a miniature clown suit, while a bird with the face of a baby spins in circles above us. It is clearly time to get out of the sun.
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Donated and shared on Facebook! Not a huge donation, but I hope every bit helps!
It does!! Thank you. <3
I love this! I will definitely share this challenge on my blog and on Facebook. I will include the “Frustration List ” I made with my OT to give people an idea of what I and other pALS struggle with. If they can’t give up something major like their voice, I hope they try not using a sink for a day without someone to help with the soap and faucet. That drives me nuts! I found many fans of the “Don’t Talk-A-Thon” and Walk to Defeat ALS, as well as Ales for ALS, so I am confident I can generate some enthusiasm for your brilliant fundraiser!
I made my donation with your nephew’s team. But really I just wanted to say thanks. You made me laugh out loud a bird with the face of a baby? ha ha ha