Cystic Fibrosis Gala--San Diego

Alicia and I were graciously invited to attend the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Well-Healed Breath of Life Gala in La Jolla, California on Saturday. Though I started the process nervous and anxious enough to ask for help from our readers, I came away with a profound sense of awe and gratitude toward the organization and those who support us.

The most humbling thing wasn't the amount of money being spent at the gala in the form of gifts and auctioned items (it was a lot!), rather it was the fact that this support was given to those of us affected by CF from those who have no connection to the disease. What would make some of these folks help us so much? Because they can? I don't know, but it left me grateful. I wish I could say more about that to make it more striking, but it's difficult to put the thought into words.

I did wear my uniform, as a friend suggested (after discussing it with the director of CFF San Diego). Alicia wore a gorgeous dress and got so many nice compliments from both the director and many others. Here we are before leaving for the event:

Alicia had to work pretty hard to get me to smile for this picture. I'm notorious for how bad my pictures look before events. Even our wedding pictures look bad before the ceremony was over. I couldn't smile then, or now, to save my life! I don't know if this is the one that Alicia tickled me on to get me to smile, but something funny must have just happened, else it would have looked like this:

The event was simply amazing. We sat at a table with the CEO of A-MED Health Care as well as the Territory Manager. Also at our table was a doctor and the owner/partner of BJ's Restaurants. I was a little taken aback by it all, but once we settled in things went very well. Again, I'm just grateful that we were able to go.

I did receive some thank-you's for my service, which I'm also grateful for. The attitudes displayed by those who are (worldly-speaking) much better off than I am helped me to feel like I belonged there. And I did. The upper-right picture on this banner proves it:

It was so fun to look up there every now and again and see Samantha's picture. I pointed her out to everyone at our table and everyone was happy to hear our story.

Alicia and I came away feeling fired up to raise money for a cure. The last thing I told her before we walked into the house to relieve our care-provider was, "This gave me hope that we can make a difference too." I know we can. We have loving friends and family who support our Great Strides team (Team Sam), we have wonderful friends who lend advice and support through this blog, and we have a great team of leaders at the San Diego CFF.

As long as God wills it, we're going to whip this thing called cystic fibrosis. What a wonderful day that will be!