Historically, Thanksgiving, as with other holidays, had been something we looked forward to – it was a natural time to reflect and give thanks for the wonderful blessings and good fortune that had been bestowed on our family. Then, August 7th 2018 happened; we heard 4 words that changed our life forever…”we found an abnormality”. From that day forward and up until recently, looking for things to be thankful for seemed impossible, our days were filled with anxiety, desperation, panic and profound sadness.
In the months and years since we lost Emerson we have begun to see the fog lift, we have started to find joy and happiness that we thought were gone forever. The heaviness of our loss remains, but the idea of being thankful has returned.
As we finish this Thanksgiving holiday, we wanted to thank each of you. To thank you for your endless text messages, phone calls, letters, financial support for Smasherson and for simply knowing you are thinking about our family.
We also wanted to share an update on how your contributions are changing the game as we fight against pediatric brain cancer.
- Earlier this month, The Smasherson Foundation was a major sponsor for the 2021 Buckhead Art Company’s Annual Holiday Market. Our sponsorship along with a portion of the proceeds from this year’s event is funding critical research for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Neuro-Oncology team – more details to come here, including a check presentation, but this sizable donation will accelerate much needed research that has really suffered due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- The whole Smasherson Team, particularly the Piggy Pals, have been busy filling requests for radiation calendars for both Emory’s Proton and Photon Radiation Centers. We wanted to share an especially moving note that we received from one of the CHOA Social Workers regarding a radiation calendar we made for one of the families:
“I continue to hear incredible things about the calendars including the letter you write to each family and the daily clues for the children. One mother told me that the messages bring her to tears every day when she reads them.”
Lastly, we wanted to ask for your help. This Tuesday, November 30th is Giving Tuesday and this year, Smasherson will be participating in a more organized fashion sharing ways people can get involved with our mission. Below is a graphic on the 5 ways people can get involved. Our ask is simple, please share, promote and evangelize our mission to your networks, friends and family. These graphics will also be on our social media feeds leading up to and including Giving Tuesday.
As a young non-profit foundation, we are very much in the beginning of our growth phase. Actively getting the word out about our mission is vital to our success. Having more people want to be a part of our foundation is important. The more people who are aware of the good we are doing, the more children we can help with both research and comfort care.
If you have any questions, please let us know. Thank you again for everything you have done for Smasherson, our family and the children fighting this awful disease.
Jeff, Celeste and Regan
