Friends, for the 5th straight year, I have decided to participate in this wonderful event to have my head shaved to support St. Baldricks. While I have sent my messsages in the past, and frankly, I pray for a day that no child is ever robbed of their childhood and has to experience the pains, fears, etc. of cancer. So, I want to give you two reasons why I do this, so I want to share a story about two brave young girls: First, I want to tell you about Gracie who was diagnosed with Adrenal Cortical Carcinoma when she was 15 months old. In April 2006, Gracie’s right adrenal gland with the tumor contained was removed in Dayton, OH. The surgery was successful and she spent the next 5 years going for scans, labs, MRIs, ultrasounds, checkups, etc. She was cleared 5 years cancer free on April 8, 2011. She was 6 ½. Sadly, just a few weeks later she began to drag her leg, later that night her arm jerked & she was running a fever. An MRI showed Gracie had multiple lesions on her brain, and unfortunately was diagnosed with a very rare, inoperable brain tumor called “High-Grade Thalamic Glioma”. She began radiation immediately along with chemo, and fought for over 17 months. Most of her treatment was at St. Jude and the last few months at Cincinnati Childrens. She always remained happy, upbeat, loving, kind & positive during her journey. She was an inspiration & a fighter. Gracie had a wonderful, funny personality. She loved to sing & dance. Gracie was a lover of purple, sparkly things, butterflies, Scooby Doo, her family, friends and St. Jude. Gracie became a beautiful, purple, butterfly angel on Sept. 2nd, 2012 as she lost her fight You can get more details about Gracie’s journey at www.caringbridge.org/visit/Hope-Love-and-Gracie Second, Let me introduce you two Emily. She is a survivor of embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma located in the skull base. She was diagnosed in August of 2007 at age 3 years, 11 months of age. She was treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City with 12 rounds of high-dose chemo and radiation. She has been NED (no evidence of disease) since July of 2008. She has significant late effects due to her treatment but stays positive and strong. Currently, Emily is in Second Grade. She loves animals, dance, arts and crafts, and being a Brownie. She also loves her puppy, Ben. When she grows up she would like to be an "animal trainer or vet". I had the personal pleasure of meeting Emily a few times, and when she “Thanked” me for shaving my head to fight cancer, let me tell you it was the most humbling experience of my life. These two young ladies are just some of the examples of why I do this every year. Worldwide, a child is diagnosed with cancer every 3 minutes. In the United States, 1 in 5 of those diagnosed will not survive, and 2/3 of those that do survive will have long-term effects from treatment. Great advances have been made - today more than 90% of those diagnosed with "Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) survive, but we have a long way to go to make the same advances with other forms of cancer and to develop treatments that don't have lasting negative effects.