I've answered the call to be a hero! I'm having my head shaved to stand in solidarity with kids fighting cancer, but more importantly, to raise money to find cures.

Please support me with a donation to the St. Baldrick's Foundation. This volunteer-driven charity funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government.

Your gift will give hope to infants, children, teens and young adults fighting childhood cancers. So when I ask for your support, I'm really asking you to support these kids. Thank you!

Click "Make a donation" to give online, or donate by phone or mail.

On a personal note, when I was five I ended up in the hospital for a seizure. This was back in the day when kids who had isolated seizures had to go to the hospital for observation and all sorts of tests.

My roommate was a young girl who seemed so full of life. I found out later that she had leukemia. She helped me feel more at ease in surroundings that were very strange for me and taught me the Spanish word for jeans. We shared a room for two days, and then she was gone. She had died. I remember thinking, "no, no, that's not right."

It's not right at all.

I wish I could remember the Spanish word for jeans.