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.

Wednesday, March 05, 2014

Joy and Purpose

It has been a while since I made a blogpost. A lot has been going on!  Our friends in TX held another Texas-sized Bake sale at TCH and brought in $4,000 for the CNCF.  Thank you, Blair, Kim and Julie and all the bakers and volunteers for all of your efforts.  It's amazing!  Kevin was able to tack a quick visit to The Woodlands onto a work trip to Houston last month.  He visited the Team Hans section of the hike and bike path there.  Amazing!  I recently had a whirlwind tour of LA this Oscar's Weekend with 5 girlfriends from Texas.  Our hearts are full of gratitude for our many opportunities to follow Hans' little spirit as he guides us towards Joy and Purpose.

I heard an interview with Deepak Chopra a while ago.  He said that in order to find our authentic purpose in life, we can start each day by asking ourselves three questions - Who am I? What am I grateful for?  What do I want?  I know that when I ask myself what I am grateful for, the first thought in my mind and the first word on my lips is HANS.  His little spirit fills my soul.  When I ask myself what I want, the best answer that comes to me is joy and purpose.  I will probably forever be figuring out my authentic purpose, but I know that that little boy is at the center of it.

We  have had some opportunities to give service to Hans' life and his fight for it against his neuroblastoma.  Locally, we are working with the Bakersfield Memorial Hospital patient advisory council to try and improve the experience for patients and families in the ER.  Regionally, we are trying to create a Neuroblastoma Family Group in LA as a forum for connection, support, education, and a network for grassroots fundraising efforts.   Kevin and I are honored and humbled to be added as parent representatives to the New Advances in Neuroblastoma Therapies (NANT).  I have been invited onto the Parent Advisory Council and Kevin has been invited as the parent representative for the research review board for the NANT at the annual conference.  We will carry with us the spirit of Hans and each of his buddies that we love so well as we attend this meeting, and our hearts will be full.