Surging across the 50% to goal mark!

(266 Days to Go)

Fundraising Progress Bar

I'm beginning to feel like a junior high school girl waiting for her crush to call. Or a law student waiting for grades to be posted.

Both might be outdated and unrelatable to those of my children's generation, but I get giddy every time I receive a donation. The wonderful people in my world have catapulted me past the 50% to goal mark in a few short days and been so generous in the messages they have shared in doing so.

My parents, ever my biggest supporters in all of my life's endeavors, contributed financially - on top of the innumerable other ways they have provided support. I have always been able to rely on them for any matter large or small. My confidence in their unwavering presence is best encapsulated in the big sister wisdom I once imparted to Carla as she cried over some broken treasure. "That's ok Carla. Mommy will fix it. And if Mommy can't fix it, Daddy will buy a new one." There is nothing that can't be accomplished with parents like mine.

In attempting to describe my relationship with Pam, I have frequently told people, "Well. When I left for college, my dad went out and added a daughter." She burst into our lives when she began working at my Dad's firm at the same time I left for college and has been a part of inumerable Caputo adventures in the more than 30 years since. Unfortunately, the kids' "Aunt Kroll" has been filling all gaps so effectively for so long, no one informed her that the role of family cancer patient was not one that needed to be filled. No sooner had my treatments ended, than hers began. I can't wait to celebrate her final infusion when I head to Michigan next week!

Another woman who has been an intrinsic part of the Caputo family in multiple ways, Lynne Pratt's generous donation brought me back to sleeping on her living room floor and watching Saturday Night Life with Jennifer - and caravaning to the Olympic Training Center in Marquette with stops for canoeing and other adventures. These trips down memory lane with some of my favorite people are the absolute best part of this newest adventure so far.

Fast forwarding to the most recent donation and one of my newer friends, Susan is one of those people that I just knew was special the first time I met her and discovering more about her reinforces that first impression. She is a person that looks at an opportunity to share her love miscellaneous people that come into her family orbit and jumps right in adding them to her family. Each time we walk, I love our conversations about her grandchildren and her kids, particularly her daughter off in Mauritania for the foreseeable future.

I am having a blast recalling past adventures as I embark upon this new one and am so thankful for all of those who have chosen to be a part of it.