Mix 101.5 Radiothon for Duke Children's Hospital

This event is near and dear to my heart.  I love the people involved and am passionate about the cause.  The radio station I listened to when I lived in NC (Mix 101.5... this is not a product placement, but I do love them :o) ) has a radiothon every year to raise money for the kids at Duke Children's Hospital in Durham, NC.  I drop everything to listen to them, including TV (which, if you know me, means that I'm serious).  I've listened since the first year, when I was 7, and began volunteering by answering phones when I was 13.  My friend Rebecca and I were the youngest ones in there, and we still talk about and treasure those memories.  

Over the years as I volunteered (up until I moved to New Orleans after college), I met so many amazing people.  Jeff, who lost his daughter Haven to hydrocephalus.  Kathy, who lost her son to cancer.  Susan, who also lost her young daughter.  Alan, Cooper and Jonathan, who survived their battles.  Vanna, Jim and Bill, who remain my friends to this day.  All of these amazing people have changed my life forever.  The radiothon changed my childhood, and now impacts how I parent my own daughter.

It started out as a 5 day event, where the radio hosts would literally wear themselves out, getting no sleep for 5 days, raising money.  Then, I assume thanks to internet technology, they went down to 3 days and raised even more money in a shorter time!  Now it's down to 2 days.  I know this makes sense because they can raise just as much money in that amount of days, but selfishly I wish it lasted longer.  I wait for it every year, like connecting with old friends and coming together to celebrate the miracles Duke has given to children, and remembering the children we came to love who lost their fight.  

Linda, Bill's co-host, spoke a message today to people who were listening to the radiothon as first-time parents.  She said maybe we listened in the past, and we pledged and we cared, but now that we've held that little baby and moved into this new stage of life, we get it. I cried listening to her, as I was rocking my sweet baby to sleep.  I think that I cared whole-heartedly before, but I desperately care now.   Maybe it's that I have more emphathy now, although I can't begin to truely emphathize with parents who have actually walked the Duke road.  There is more of a heart-ache in me for these children and, more so now, for their parents.  

I do proudly own t-shirts from volunteering, a signed coach K viser and basketball (although I gave the basketball away to raise money for another children's medical charity... ironic, huh?), and they remind me throughout the year of this amazing fund-raiser.  It's important to me to give every year, although I can't give as much as I used to, because it feels to me like I'm helping my family.  These people have become like family in my heart, and I want to be a part of helping the kids & parents.  

The radiothon reminds me to charish each moment I have with Gia.  I know that we are not above having illnesses strike our family, but sometimes I take our health for granted.  I let myself get stressed when Gia has a bad night or is crying all day.  I think about the friends I've made through this event, and how they would give anything to have a bad night with their baby.  I pray that the Lord will protect Gianna from any sickness and spare her from pain, but if something were ever to happen, I'm so glad there is Duke.  If no one else can help, Duke can give hope.