A Chucktastic Cause

Chuck and I in Arizona... celebrating a birthday of mine and visiting a piano bar!

 I am not sure exactly how I met Chuck but I do know that I will never forget the friendship I had with this man. I became friends with he and his wife through church. He was horribly funny and so terribly honest. He was quietly generous though he would never admit it. He enjoyed the oddities of life at times could truly be cynical. He was a critic, opinionated, creative, intelligent, well-read, and phenomenally funny.  He was a son, sheriff, father and, to me & to many, a dear friend. We took trips, discussed my failing love life (at the time), talked over beers, laughed, cried, and went to countless baseball games.

In July of 2008, Chuckles (as he was often called) was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He underwent a few medical procedures and began chemo. The details of his sickness were many, but they are not how I choose to remember him. Watching him grow weary and how the ccancer took this man away from so many people who loved him despite how grumpy or particular he was, is truly not how I chose to remember him.

Angels Spring Training Spring 2008

I choose to remember him as the man that would make jokes with me in an elevator at a baseball game or the man who would lovingly hold the car door open for his wife and any woman who happened to be joining him. He was the man who I made fun of when I saw him in his sheriffs uniform for the first time when I called him "Deputy Fife." He was the man who nicknamed me "the girl who has no filter" (that's my Indian name, by the way) because I tend to be the person who shares her mind without thinking sometimes, maybe always. I tend to remember him mostly as the man who is dearly missed and who loved his family regardless of any inconveniences that they brought upon him. He may have complained but beneath it all he cared.

I share this with you today not to gain your pity, but really to share about what pancreatic cancer can take away. In my case, it took away my friend and to his family it took away a son, father, husband, brother, and so much more.

This is the reason that I have chosen to flaunt My cause. If I could help to do one thing in this world it would definitely be to erase cancer, of all types and forms, from this world. Because of Chuck, I choose to try and erase Pancreatic Cancer. This is my cause. Since Chucktastic (another nickname) passed away, I have organized a team to walk in his honor and to help raise funds for Pancreatic Cancer. (I will be honest, we did not do the walk last Fall, but I have plans to do it this coming Fall!) In honor of Flaunt Your Cause, I will be sending a donation to add to all the donations I have made in the past! 

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCan for short) is a great organization and has a huge task ahead of them. Pancreatic Cancer is difficult to detect and usually when detected it is often too late. Pan Can seeks to help those who are already struggling with the disease while also seeking to find a cure. They help families to deal with surviving while also helping the patient as well. I love that. 

So, what's your cause? What is on your heart? If you share.... please remember to link up with   Lindsey @ Trial By Sapphire and Emily @ Emmy June! 

PS. Chuckie, my memories of you are far from faded! Thank you for what you taught me about life anf friendship! Love ya!