I have been talking with the staff at Ballet San Jose about Emily Pepper, and we have put together a wonderful set of experiences for her and her family! I am completely thrilled about this and will update this blog as things unfold. As things stand now, she and her family have been invited to a run through of the ballet's Spring Rep program where she will get to meet the dancers and will be given a gift that will include all sorts of exciting opportunities to participate in various special experiences with Ballet San Jose and Ballet San Jose School. I don't want to give anything away here, but I will definitely update this blog with photos and more information as soon as I can.
Here is a photo of me with Emily Pepper, Girl of the Year, and Aidan James Bowen, Boy of the Year.
As I said in my last post, meeting them was truly inspiring, and I feel very lucky to have met two such special children.
My mother, whom I wrote about previously and whom I hope to honor with this campaign, sent out a very moving letter to some of her friends in Brentwood with the help of her excercise teacher Cheryl Ortiz. I found her words very touching, and would like to share them with the photo she included in her letter.
"Dear Friends,
By donating to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, we can be sure that we are helping to save lives, like that of my daughter Dalia, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkins Lymphoma when she didn't even realize that she was ill. She underwent chemotherapy, radiation, and an auto-transplant (using her own stem cells harvested from her blood), and participated in a new trial that injects cancer-killing cells grown in the lab from some of the left-over blood used in the transplant.
With my donation I know that I am helping other cancer patients to recover, as so many people before me with their donations helped to save my daughter's life.
Thank you for considering this request to donate to the LLS.
Sincerely,
Zivile Rawson"
Mom and I at my wedding reception, September 2006
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