One Less

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I spent a wonderful long weekend at home with family, best friends and the man. AND I got the greatest news -- I will be an auntie for the SIXTH time :) Life is good!

Now that Turkey Day is behind us, all the focus is on Christmas! It seems the planning and stress of where-are-we-going-and-when started extra early this year. Despite the stress of planning, I know I am one of the lucky ones. I have three different Christmas celebrations where I will be surrounded with family that I love more than anything. 

Last year, my outlook on Christmas changed a little bit, and I want to tell you about it as the holiday season sneaks up on us.

It started with a little girl named Willamina, who was supposed to be a part of my senior project, but thankfully she was released from the hospital before I could even get to her! She was diagnosed with Hepatoblastoma (a liver tumor) in June of 2008 and has had 10 rounds of chemo, a liver transplant, stem cell rescue and four lung surgeries. 


And she's three years old.

Her mom, Katie, keeps a blog to update friends and family about Willamina's progress. Last December, she challenged her readers to buy ONE LESS Christmas gift and use that money to donate to CureSearch which does research to cure childhood cancer. To read her post, click here, scroll to the bottom, and read her post on November 30, 2009. Prepare to cry.

Now I am challenging YOU. Instead of buying your sister ONE MORE scarf, or your child ONE MORE toy that they'll forget about by 2011....buy ONE LESS and donate that money instead. Send it to CureSearch. Or your local food pantry. Or a homeless shelter. 

And then send me an email about what you did  (spennerphotography@gmail.com), because I want to hear about the difference you made.

If you're planning on buying anything for me for Christmas....please don't. Send your money to CureSearch instead. 

Be the change. Make the difference.