Why am I shaving my head, and why should you care?

Putting the TLDR here at the top, feel free to read the whole thing if you're so inclined. I shave my head to raise money for childhood cancer research and awareness. It's that simple. If you have a dollar to spare, send it my way. If you don't, please share my profile to help me with my fundraising.. If you've even taken the time to read this far and consider it, I love you.

Now the long part:

For me, it's personal. I remember exactly where I was, and what I was doing, when I got the news that my brother-from-another-mother Jamie's son Brayden had been diagnosed. It's one of those things that you know happens, but it doesn't happen to people that you know, right? That's not fair.  That happens to other people, and you hate to hear about it, and you're so thankful that it doesn't happen to YOUR friends, to YOUR family.

But it does.

Jamie put out the call to action, and I saddled up, and I never looked back. Our team, Balding4Bray, has been active for more than a decade. Brayden is alive and well and thriving in college life now. It brings joy to my heart every time I see him. Sadly, not every case has as happy of an ending.

1 in 5 kids diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. won’t survive. For those who do, more than 96% have severe or life-threatening conditions by the time they are 50.

So I shave my head to gain attention and raise money. It's just hair, it will grow back. And the year that it doesn't? Well, I had a good run. What's a little less hair? At my age it's starting to come out of my nose and ears anyway.

So join me, help me fight this fight. Because that's what it is.