As many of you know, I start every school day with an hour drive into Walled Lake. 99% of those morning drives are spent on the phone with my buddy, Mrs. McFadden... What do we talk about 180 mornings a year? Well, we talk about our students, our children, our families and about the students, children, and families of all of our friends. Last year, most of our conversations included an update about, Brendan, her best friend's son. Sadly, Brendan lost his battle with cancer after a very brave, year long struggle. And so, my first reason to become a "Shavee" is to honor this courageous little angel. During our daily conversations, while Melanie would share with me how Brendan was doing, tears would stream down my cheeks as I drove into the bright morning sun on I-96... I wasn't crying because I knew Brendan personally, I was crying as a mother. I was crying for his mother. As parents, I don't think we can hear these stories and not think about our own children. And so my second reason to become a "Shavee" is for my three children, that, God willing, they will never have to face this terrible beast of a disease. And...try as we might, to avoid talking about work, our conversations always include some "shop talk." ...Why do we talk about our classrooms at 7:30 in the morning? Because we love our kids and we love what we do! How could we not love these kids... who come to school every day, ready to learn, ready to confide in us, ready to trust us (regardless of the struggles they may be facing at home)? How could we not love these children that come in and say, "Mrs. Martin, I'm putting $20.00 into the St. Baldrick's jar! ...It's all MY money, it's from MY piggy bank!" How could we not love these students who say, "If you shave your head, then I am going to shave mine too!" And so, finally, I am doing it for them! I am going to have my head shaved because I promised them that I would... In the hopes that they, like my own children, will never have to add the word "cancer" to their daily vocabulary. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and from all the kids in room 17, for helping us reach our goal!