Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2008. Mattie was at his school's spring carnival. Next to him was Campbell, one of his close friends from kindergarten and Campbell's sister, Livi. To me this photo was fun and innocent. Of course I thought Mattie would have many more carnivals to attend, as it never dawned on me that Mattie could get diagnosed with childhood cancer.
Quote of the day: The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand. ~ Vince Lombardi
"We have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand!" I truly relate to Lombardi's quote, as the Foundation's Walk & Family Festival becomes so overwhelming it takes over every aspect of my life. Toward the end of April and all of May, I live and breathe the Walk. It is Walk 24 by 7 at home, so much so that even Sunny and Indie are aware of the stress. But as tonight's quote points out, I do remind myself that I am working hard at the task at hand. Though I am not playing football which involves score keeping, there is a very tangible win or lose with the Walk. It translates into the amount of funds raised and attendance. In my opinion we need to meet our financial goal and have hundreds of attendees in order to be successful.
Yet try doing all of this without a staff! Without a team of people behind you who are skilled in fundraising, publicity, marketing, and the list goes on. On most days, I have to serve in all of these positions, even if that means I do not have the experience or skill set. I have to figure it out! A rather daunting task really, especially when the role that I serve is not just a job, it is far more emotionally laden. Which maybe why failing would be unacceptable and much more devastating than a regular job. For me, a failure would be tied to dishonoring Mattie's memory.
I remind myself that tonight we are at 83% of our goal ($82,823). So we are getting there but I am juggling logistics, creating event posters, working on the event program, trying to raise funds, finalizing our raffle items and wrapping baskets, and the list goes on. I feel like I am the jack of all trades, which can be exhausting.
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