About Me

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Bakersfield, CA, United States
Hans was a busy, happy, sweet and fearless three year old when he was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma. He fought his disease like a "gladiator" for nearly 6 years. Hans was an animal lover to his core. He was 'guarded' at home by his three cats, Black, Orange and Cotton. He also had his Golden Retriever, Honey, to keep him company. Hans enjoyed swimming, biking, gardening, grilling (he had his very own grill!), horseback riding, playing video games, building Legos, and flipping between Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Animal Planet. Hans loved all members of his family and he was a loyal friend. He had to go through a lot of treatment in his life. But Hans powered through it. His attitude was let's get this done! His motivation was always to get back home, to his family, pets, favorite foods and pool.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Memorial Run

   
I have to pause from my recap of the COL to let you know that our friends in The Woodlands are hosting a special Memorial Run for Hans as a Fundraiser for the CNCF.  It will be held in The Woodlands on Nov 10th at Barbara Bush Elementary at 8am.  Cost of the race is $1, plus any additional donation to the CNCF.   It is very special to us that the race will also be a PJ and Toy Drive for the kiddos at TCH! Six years ago on that weekend, many of these same friends hosted the Run for Hans on this same course.  The original Run for Hans brought in over $20,000 that was gifted to us to use in Hans' ongoing treatment.  That money kept us fighting, and it sent us to our very first Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation Conference in Chicago, 2007.  Having received such a gift just three weeks to the day after first hearing the word "Neuroblastoma", we made a family promise to try and pay it forward and to match the amount of funds raised for our family in eventual research dollars.  We can proudly say that we've since been able to help raise more than that amount with the help of our family and our friends.          

If you would like to participate or support the Run or the Toy/PJ drive from afar, thank you!   You may send a donation made out to the CNCF or a Gift Card for the Toy/PJ Drive to:  Michelle Nolen 26 Shallow Pond Place The Woodlands, TX 77381.  Hans sure loved getting gifts cards!  In our second to last hospital stay we ran out of clean PJs and the charge nurse was able to come up with a pair of donated Lego Batman PJs and I can't tell you how it REALLY saved the day!  Hans liked to shop for toys from Toys R Us, Amazon.com, and Target, and he usually found PJs he liked at Target.  I know the kids up on the 9th floor will appreciate a special treat just like Hans always did.

Thanks to Beth Whiethead!  You contacted me just days after we lost Hans wanting to do this Run.  Thanks to Carmen, Michelle, Jennifer of Silly Nilly, Katie and Little Saints,  Charon, Pizza Tonight!, Dosey Doe, Luke's Locker, Chick-fil-A, and Fast Signs for making this happen.

We still had some donated frequent flyer miles to use up, and we went ahead and used the balance of them to book flights to Houston.  The three of us will be there on race day.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

CHEERS to Hans' fabulous friends in The Woodlands for their dedication on behalf of Hans and the neuroblastoma research so necessary to prevent and cure the disease!

Now that I have met Hans' "lady friends" I have will have wonderful images of you running side-by-side with Lara, Kevin, and Elle...just as you have done so for the past 6 years!

Love and best wishes,
Aunt Susy

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful way to use your miles. I know Hans will be with you there in Spirit & this is a beautiful tribute.
Blessed Be,
Jenny

Ingrid said...

Wow! What a great interview in The Villager about Hans's life and the upcoming memorial run. I completely lost it when I caught sight of his beautiful smile unexpectedly greeting me on the front page. We hope to be there.