We Will Return After This Short Commercial Break

Not really a commercial...

More of a Public Service Announcement.

I want to let folks know that my fellow Mommy blogger and tae kwon do mom, The Goober Queen, is participating in a very worthy cause. She and her daughter, the ass-kicking Kasha, will be breaking boards WITH THEIR BARE FEET to raise money for Buffalo's Women's and Children's Hospital. Goob, very eloquently, describes her deep appreciation for this institution which has helped her younger fille, Emmie Lou Who who has asthma, in a post in December.

I am in Chicago, but grew up in the Buffalo area (GO LOCKPORT LIONS!) where my brother was a frequent "guest" at what was then known as just Children's Hospital. It was not asthma that got my brother treated there, but Cystic Fibrosis. Children's was the regional center for CF in Western New York (or the Niagara Frontier, as I prefer to call it). My brother was diagnosed when he was a month old, which at the time (1972)was amazing. Most kids had to fail to thrive for years before someone stumbled onto the truth. Luckily (NOT) my brother aspirated his own urine and developed pneumonia which he couldn't shake. That was how he was diagnosed. He was sent to Children's Hospital and placed under the care of Erika Bruck, M.D. who worked with him until he recovered and began to thrive. After Dr. Bruck semi-retired (she is still a professor emeritus at UB Medical School) his case was followed by Dr. Gerd Cropp. Dr. Cropp, who has since moved on to the University of California at San Francisco, was P.J.'s last doctor. The day before he died, I sat with him as my folks went to get some lunch. When they came back, they had Dr. Cropp with them and found me cying and holding P.J.'s hand. Dr. Cropp pulled me from the room and hugged my as I continued to cry.

Children's Hospital is a special place filled with special people.

That is why I have pledged my support for the Kick for Life Board Breakathon. Goob and Kasha and the rest of their dojang will be breaking 5,000 boards on January 28th. To donate to the cause, please go to Goob's blog and click the "Make a Donation" button. By doing so, you will be helping kids like Kasha's sister, Emmie Lou Who, my brother and thousands of other children who are treated at Women's and Children's Hospital.

Thank you for your support.