So…just a couple years later…we have almost finished the Tillman House.  We have some small details to finish up, but the house is ready for a new owner!  These pictures are not great; they are cell phone shots on a cloudy day.   

We replaced many windows, removed an old chimney (we couldn’t save it, unfortunately), and had some structural repairs completed. 

We have learned A LOT during this process, and we are very glad we took this house on.   We were able to work with some really great, local contractors to finish this house.  Honestly, next time around, we would get a contractor involved sooner.  Lesson #1, we didn’t have as much free time as we thought.  Surprise, surprise! 

We still need to finish up some trim work, install switch plates and outlet covers, and do some paint touch ups.  We also need to replace the front storm door and clean up the yard a bit. 

The cabinets are custom, the HVAC is new.  We installed new electrical and plumbing, as well as the new flooring, drywall, lighting, and moved some walls. 

I can’t decide if the bathroom or the kitchen is my favorite space…I do love that sliding barn door.

The kitchen and bath are small, but I feel that we were able to install much more function and some on trend features.  

I also love this bright laundry room on the main floor! My laundry is by our back door, so being able to close the door when we have guests over is very appealing to me!

I love the cabinets we put in to surround the refrigerator.  A wine rack and sheet pan cabinet are ideal for this little corner.  

I am so grateful for this experience, and, while I’m not sure it will be any time soon, I can see us taking on anther project in the future.  We have had several people contact us with interest, and we have even had our first offer!  Please, say a little prayer that the perfect family finds their way to this home.

I am so proud of my husband for managing this project and keeping our life going at the same time.  It has not been easy, we’ve had a long year and a lot of changes.  This house forced us to realize we can only do what we can do.  This project had to be put aside several times in order to prioritize other important parts of our lives.  All in all, we think it turned out really well.  I would have loved to do a little more, and even staged it for prospective buyers, but time and budget constraints definitely came into play.  

Thank you for following along on this journey.  What is your favorite update? 

So, we are halfway through 2018…it seems like forever since I’ve posted, and the time has has flown by.  I have some updates coming to you over the next couple of months.  We are almost (Praise the Lord!) finished with the Tillman house.  It should be on the market within the month, so I will have a lot of pictures to share.

There is a lot happening in our little town.  We have some new businesses to show off, and I am so excited to write about them this summer.  We held our 9th Annual Casey Williams Memorial Volleyball tournament, which seems so surreal.  Our Blade Runners Lawn Mower Poker Run to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital was a huge success this past weekend, and we have Assumption Fest just around the corner.  The Casey Williams Foundation has moved to a new location, and we have a lot to share about the new promo shop and events.  Keep following along for these exciting updates!

In personal news, my little family is expecting TWO new additions in September, and, of course, I will keep everyone posted about that!  Our little ladies are doing great so far, and we are getting very excited and a bit nervous about bringing them home.  Their big brother is warming up to the idea, but I’m not sure he has a clue what is about to happen.  There is so much to do in a very short time, including a big move.  I can’t wait to share about the new house, it’s going to be a big change for us!

 

How are you all doing with your “Word of the Year”?  It may not seem like it, but I feel like I’ve held my focus on our family and “tended” to what we needed.  Honestly, I didn’t have much choice.  The cards were dealt for us this Spring, and even though we were faced with some curve balls, we held it together.  It was a very busy school year and an even busier planting season, but we survived.  Things naturally fell away a bit.  We have some very large projects that will be off of our plate sooner than later…just in time to welcome home the girls.  And, we’ve managed to prune back some of our commitments…okay, my commitments.  I think we are shaping up for a season in our lives that will require us to “tend” to our family and home.  Honestly, there won’t be much time for anything else for a while.  I’m nervous about having three babies 3 years old and under, and how that will pan out with our work, but, it will all fall into place.  On a side note, if you have a lead on a planting/harvest evening nanny, send them our way!  Kidding, sort of.

I’m excited to blog more this summer, I have really missed it.  I sure hope you will stick around to see what’s happening in our little community.

I’m jumping on the bandwagon of people who choose a word of the year instead of setting resolutions. Usually, Brian and I sit down and talk about what we would like to accomplish individually and as a family. This year he told me he didn’t want to accomplish ANYTHING! I think I’ve worn him out, haha! 

For us, I think 2018 needs to be a year of refocusing. We need to get a few things off of our plate (cough…flip house…cough), we need to take care of eachother and work through the emotional roller coaster that was 2017.  

When thinking of all of that, the word that kept coming to mind was “tend”, as in tending the garden.  I need to tend to my family.  I need to tend to the foundation. I need to tend to my work.  I need to tend to my community.  

That doesn’t sound like slowing down much, but we have open projects and goals that have been started in each of these areas. I need to clean up, wrap up, and let go of these things.  It may take all of 2018, but I need to tend to my business and get myself to a place where I don’t feel like I’m letting things slip. 

I need an orderly environment to focus, and I feel like, lately, all of these unfinished projects and ideas have been weighing heavily on my mind and heart. I always needed my room clean to do homework, and I need my office organized to focus at work. It’s time to tend to our life so that 2018 and beyond are calmer and more peaceful for us as a family.  

Do you have a word of the year? If so, I would love to hear about your selection! 

When I started my blog, a good friend told me that 90% of it was just showing up. Unfortunately, I allowed life to get in the way, and I stopped showing up. This past year has been hard, in some ways there were challenges that were good for us, but in some ways the challenges almost broke us. 

When I left off last, we were preparing for the annual volleyball tournament, I was interviewing for a new job, and after I accepted the position, things got very busy, very quickly. I wanted to post then, but I was swamped with training and I had to hit the ground running at work. This new job is so very rewarding, I absolutely love it.  It feels like home, and my staff is fantastic. I enjoy going every day, and I’m often sad to leave. I lose track of time while at work. I’m inspired by the students and staff that I work with. They make me want to work so hard to give our kids the best education and more opportunities. It is a lot of hours away from home, which we knew when I took the job, but nevertheless has been an adjustment. Harvest was hard. We had to shuffle our boy from sitter to sitter for weeks.  We know that we will figure out our new routines, and it will be fine once we get this first year under our belt.

In July, we found out we were pregnant, and again, I wanted to blog, but I was a bit shocked and life was already crazy. In late September, I went to a regular check up. I was eighteen weeks and my sister was getting married the following weekend. Brian was in the field for harvest, so I took my mom to hear the baby’s heartbeat and to help with George. As George colored on the floor, the nurse and my doctor struggled to find a heartbeat. I was a nervous wreck. This pregnancy had not felt the same at all. I was anxious and crabby, completely different than my first. I was having nightmares about losing my baby. As an ultrasound confirmed that my baby had no heartbeat, it told me something I already knew. I was given pamphlets of information about miscarriage and various procedures, but on the way home I received a call telling me that those would not be an option and that I would have to deliver my baby.  My doctor gave me some time to process the information.

In the mean time, My sister had an amazing wedding day, our friends and family traveled to her husbands family home in Indiana to share in her big day. It was a great weekend, and looking back, I am so thankful I was given that extra time to be with my baby.  I think that time to process this horrible news with him was a huge blessing. I had asked everyone to be as normal as possible, because I could not handle dealing with such sadness while we were supposed to be celebrating. I did not want this news to dampen Chelbi’s big day, a day that she very much deserved. 

When we came back from the wedding, Brian and I checked into our hospital. We were prepared for a long, difficult delivery. We were told it could take hours, and be very painful. I had prayed, and asked others to pray, for a fast, easy delivery. George took his time getting here, and I could not imagine how difficult a repeat of that would be without a baby to take home. 

On October 3rd, Gus Andrew Hiler was born, after a brief, easy labor. We were able to spend a few hours with him, snuggling, rocking, and singing him songs. We told him how much he was loved, and all about his big brother. We laid him to rest the following Sunday, in the same place Brian and I will someday be buried. It was all a little surreal, honestly. This experience ushered us into a club that we never wanted to be a part of, but one whose members are so kind and gentle. So many people reached out to us is so many ways, and we are forever grateful for their love. These past few months have been so hard in unexpected ways. It has taken its toll on our marriage and our work; every aspect of our lives has been touched by this. I am sure we will come out stronger for having gone through it, and we are better now than we were in the beginning, but things are still hard. 

The holidays were almost too sparkly, too colorful. They hurt my eyes a little, and my heart a lot. I hung two new stockings, we had new ornaments for both of our boys on the tree. George was so fun through the Christmas celebrations, he really is starting to experience the joy that is the season, and I am so grateful for that. Brian and I took it easy and had planned to get away to Mexico for a week to celebrate our upcoming anniversary, unfortunately, we had to cancel. We will get there. Hopefully, we will be able to take things a little slower in 2018, and take care of each other a little bit better.  We’ve had a nice break, just being together, celebrating with friends and family. 

I know this has been a long post, and maybe a little disjointed, but I needed to put it all down so we could move forward. I couldn’t jump back in to writing about the amazing things happening in our lives and in our little town until I shared this. I look forward to continue showing up on this little blog in 2018, I am also hoping to write about some of the events that I’ve missed these past few months.  May this new year be a chance to flourish and focus, with many blessings and prosperity to us all. 

We have this group of women that we call “the Foundation girls”.  They have come to us in varying ways, but over the years, they have become a part of our family.  We have grown up with each of them, some of them started as Casey’s friends, some were mine or Chelbi’s, but now they make up the Board of Directors of our foundation.  These girls give up hours and hours of their free time to organize events, collect donations, and work at our merchandise shop.  They have walked in parades, popped popcorn, handed out fliers, and very rarely receive adequate recognition for their efforts.

Over the years, we have attended their weddings and watched their families grow.  We have become close friends, and we call on each other in times of need.  I am so thankful to have each one of them in my life.  Each of them have a different connection to our cause, but their loyalty, friendship, and perseverance keep me motivated to forge on.  They take on different roles on the board, all working with their strengths to bring something new to the team.  Each of them work full time, some of them more than one job, most of them have families of their own, and still they show up for us. every. single. time.  They inspire me to do better, to work harder, to get it together, because if these girls can put their heart and soul in to what we do, then I can too, even when it’s hard.

The group has grown and changed over the last eight years, but we greatly appreciate the efforts of everyone involved.  Each person has brought something to the table, and they have helped us shape the foundation into what it is today.  Our family is eternally grateful for the hard work and love you have poured in to this team.  From the bottom of my heart, thank  you.

We are preparing for the 8th Annual Casey Williams Memorial Volleyball tournament on Memorial Day weekend.  If you are local, join us at Timbuktu in Mt. Zion on May 28.  There will be great food, a lot of fun, and the opportunity to see what we are all about!  It’s our biggest fundraiser, and it allows us to put on all our other activities throughout the year.  It’s a big day for us, and we would love to see you there!

I know it has been a couple of weeks since my last post, I have been in a lull of life.  My time as an alderman for the City of Assumption has come to an end, sadly.  Since my schedule has been freed up a bit, I have been taking some time off from other projects.  What I have discovered is that, left to my own thoughts, I can get pretty negative.  I have found myself worrying about how we are going to make all of this happen.  I have focused on the negative information and “no’s”…and, I need to snap out of it!

 

I have to remind myself how far we have come as a community.  We have dozens of people working together to make positive change.  It is so easy to get discouraged and to lose sight of the bigger picture.  Personalities clash, choices are hard, but, we all need to keep moving forward for the betterment of our town.  We just need to do the next right thing.

 

If this sounds like a pep talk, it is, for myself.  We all have our highs and lows, and I need to remember that big changes do not happen over night.  We have big, expensive, long term goals in the works, and I need to focus on the fact that my cohorts are achieving impactful goals every day.  Our town has had several new events for our youth, a new yard of the month program has started, an old building is being remodeled.  We have a city wide potluck this weekend, and new gardens being planned.  People are talking about what businesses they want to open, not just see in town, ones that they personally want to open!  Businesses that will bring a lot of people to our town, and in turn, those people will be able to support the businesses that are already here.  Things are happening!  It has been barely six months since we began this planning process as a community, and people have stepped up to the plate and gotten to work!

I challenge you to look at what you say about your town, what you think about your town.  If it is negative, you are spreading that feeling…if it is positive, you spread that too.  Why not think positively, focus on the good that is happening.  It will give those doing the work a boost and it may inspire you to lend a hand.  The support and positivity that is spreading in my little town is what pushes me to keep going.  I hear a negative comment, and it does bother me, but I have to remember, that is the kind of thinking that got us to where we are.  Only positive thinking is going to get us where we want to go.  Now, it’s time to get back to work…

All artwork can be found on my Pinterest page at https://www.pinterest.com/cjwilliams/atown/…not all links work to give credit where credit is due!

Everyone tells me, “I just don’t know how you do all that you do”…the answer is, I don’t.  This guy picks up my slack in every way, and he makes my life better in every way.  No matter how easy people make their life look on the outside, know that no one has it all together all the time.  Something always has to give.

Brian does the laundry (and folds it), he does the dishes, and gets George ready for the sitter in the morning.  He pays our bills, goes to the post office, buys groceries, cooks dinner, fixes things, runs errands for the foundation, takes George to the doctor, takes care of the dogs, and never complains about it.  If I were doing as much for him as he does for me, I would be unbearable to live with.  He does all of this because he believes in what is happening in our town and he knows that we both can’t be involved in everything we would like to, but mostly, he does it because he is a way better husband than I am a wife.  He gives so selflessly of himself, no questions asked, no debt to repay.  He is the biggest blessing I have ever been given.

Brian’s birthday was last week, and instead of celebrating with a nice dinner out or with family and friends, he got desert with leftovers a day late.  He spent his actual birthday farming and attending meetings for our little town.  Brian looks at life in a way that I can only hope rubs off on me.  He appreciates the simple things, he likes life at a slower pace.  To him, all of his biggest life goals have been accomplished, so from here on out, every thing else is just icing on the cake.  He loves my family as much as he loves his own.  He never complains when our plans revolve around family needs, city functions, or volunteer work that I have signed us up for.  He calms me when I’m crazy, holds my hand when I’m sad, and celebrates my accomplishments.

I am so thankful that he chose me to spend his life with.  Of course, we have our ups and downs, I have my complaints, he has his…but overall, there is no one else that could take better care of me.  I can only hope that he knows just how much I appreciate him for who he is and for all he does.  I am forever grateful that he is mine and I am his.

 

Liz Hager is the one who started it all.  Liz is our Regional Coordinator with Life Goes On, the organ donor registry program through the State of Illinois Secretary of State’s office.  When Casey passed away, Liz was with us from the beginning.  She brought us green bracelets, stickers, key chains, and a purpose.  Liz grieved with us and helped us understand the organ donation process, and how we could help others through our loss.  Liz inspires us, keeps us motivated, and works circles around us!

Liz is a great grandmother, she has five children, 11 grandchildren, and 10 great grandchildren.  She loves to cook and read.  Liz has plenty to keep her busy, but she has no plans to retire.  She says she feels like she won the job lottery!  In a recent interview, Liz told me “Each day is a new beginning as a Regional Coordinator.  I get to meet new people, help those who are grieving and celebrate life with those who have been fortunate enough to receive transplants.  Recipients are always so willing to “pay it forward”.  Donor families want to continue to honor their loved ones.  As a result, I am able to draw on the strength of those people and share their stories so that others may live.”

Liz started her journey with the Secretary of State in 1985, and a few years later she became the Manager of Program Development and Implementation.  Not knowing the numbers of people who actually signed the back of their drivers licenses, she helped to develop a computerized registry which would enable the Secretary of State’s office to not only register people as potential donors, but to track the registrants geographically.  In 1999, Liz helped to establish Life Goes On Committees, the concept of city wide committees was to saturate each city with information about the critical need for donated organs and tissue.  The following year the Life Goes On Program expanded from the pilot program in Peoria, to Bloomington/Normal, Carbondale, Decatur, and LaSalle/Peru.  Today, many cities still have very active committees, in fact, the Casey Williams Foundation works closely with the Macon County Life Goes On Committee in Decatur.

Liz shared that she was very excited when Secretary White proposed legislation to create a “first person consent” registry.  The legislation was signed in June 2005 and became effective January 1, 2006.  Prior to that time Illinois had an “intent” registry where a person registered their intent to become a possible donor.  Family consent was required at the time of death, and oftentimes families would not honor their loved ones wishes.  With the passage of First Person Consent, family consent was no longer required.  This legislation made it possible to save approximately 100 more lives per year.

Throughout her career, Liz has been able to be a part of programs and legislation that has greatly increased the amount of people who are registered as donors.  Public Awareness and Education is a very important part of the organ/tissue donor program.  Since education is key to the success of any program, Life Goes On staff provides speakers, works at health fairs, works with driver services facilities.  The field staff are very important to the program since they are the “front line” people who actually greet possible registrants.  The CWF helps Life Goes On by providing sponsoring events and providing volunteers to host donor drives and other activities.

This past winter, Liz was invited to attend the Rose Bowl parade as a representative of Life Goes On.  She was given the magnificent experience of watching the Donate Life parade float being built and attending the parade.  She brought her CW wings with her on her trip so that a part of Casey could be in attendance, too!  When I asked Liz what she loved about her job she replied, “perhaps the best part of my job is knowing that each day, in some small way I am able to help others.  Meeting donor families and recipients is very rewarding.  Over the past 27 years, I have come to know so many wonderful people and those friendships remain today.  Seeing donor families helped through the grieving process because of their loved ones decision to donate and seeing the recipients whose lives have been saved because of donation makes my long hours worth it.  I am very proud to say that today there are more than 6.2 million people in the registry.”

One of the reasons we do what we do is that Liz inspires us to keep going.  Liz gives so much of her time and energy to this cause.  She tirelessly works donor drives, attends events, and provides us with resource upon resource that helps us do our job.  Liz takes time away from her family and friends, during a time of life that she should be able to do whatever she pleases, to show up for the Casey Williams Foundation and Life Goes On.  There is no doubt that without Liz Hager, the Casey Williams Foundation would not be what it is today.

Thank you, Liz, from the bottom of my heart, for all that you do.  You have given more to our family than you can ever know.

Visit http://www.lifegoeson.com to learn more about the happenings through Life Goes On, or better yet, to register as an organ, eye, and tissue donor.

 

 

 

 

April is National Donate Life month, so I plan to share stories from people we have met on our journey with the Casey Williams Foundation.  Gillian and Grace Irons are two of the toughest little girls I have ever met, Gillian is 11 and Grace is 7.  They live in Maroa, IL with their parents, Mike and Leslie.  Through the years, we have watched them face set backs and successes with their genetic kidney disease.  Gillian has been on dialysis daily for two years, waiting for her second kidney transplant, and Grace has just recently undergone her first kidney transplant.  I asked their mother, Leslie, to share with me about their experiences…

What is the hardest part of dealing with kidney disease?

The hardest part for Mike and I is we never know what tomorrow is going to bring. The girls can be great one day and the next in the hospital. It’s scary having to live life day to day like that. The hardest part for the girls is they’ve missed out on so much of their childhood, especially, Gillian. She’s been on dialysis for 2 years now. She can’t eat the foods kids like, go to sleepovers, or play the game of soccer that she loves. It’s also been an emotional roller coaster for them, trying to figure out “why me”.

What would you like people to understand about people with kidney disease?

People with kidney disease are always told you look so great. Kidney disease is an invisible illness. Just because they look good doesn’t mean they feel good. Kidney disease causes nausea, low weight gain, and major loss of energy.

What would you like to share about the process of organ donation?

I can’t say enough great things about organ donation. It gives the gift of life. What can be more important than that?! For Gillian it will mean sleepovers, no dialysis, eating what she wants, swimming, and much more. For Grace, she feels better, she’s starting to slowly grow (finally), she’s eating the foods she wants. Who knows what the future can hold for my girls because of organ donation?

While organ donation does not cost the donor family, the expenses of a lifelong illness, like kidney disease, are great.  Thankfully, donors can give to COTA, the Children’s Organ Transplant Association.  This organization helps fund the necessary medical expenses and living costs for families with children going through the process.  When I asked Leslie what expenses COTA will cover, she shared that they pay for anything kidney related; dialysis, appointments, procedures, surgeries, and medications.  They also pay for food, hotel and any other travel expenses.  You see, when a transplant has happened, the fight is not over.  There are doctor visits, hospital stays, and extremely expensive anti rejection medicines.  Many of these doctors are located in large cities, so many families have to travel to appointments, and stay for extended periods of time.

Until we began our work with the Casey Williams Foundation, our family did not understand the ins and outs of donation.  We didn’t realize all of the ups and downs these people have to face.  The families that support people going through the organ donation process have to work and fight almost as hard as those receiving the organ transplant. Leslie is a warrior.  She works so hard to maintain some kind of normalcy for her girls.  She fights insurance companies, advocates for her girls with doctors and nurses, schedules appointments, and fits in time to volunteer with Life Goes On and show up to the CWF events.  Meeting people like the Irons Family has changed how I look at life.  I still sometimes take for granted that I can go to work everyday, that my child can have vaccinations, that we don’t have to worry about the common cold putting one of us in the hospital, but when I see how strong Gillian and Grace are, and how hard they fight for a piece of a normal life, my focus changes.

Please, consider donating to the COTA account for Gillian and Grace, go to COTAforTeamIrons.com.  If it is on your heart to become a living donor, call Barnes Transplant center at 314-362-5365 ext. 4.  You can also follow the Irons Family on Facebook at Keeping it “renal” with Gillian & Grace.  Please, keep this amazing family in your prayers.

 

Of all the causes and committees I work with, none of them are as much a part of me as the Casey Williams Foundation.  I’m sure most of you who are reading this post know all about our work, but on the off chance that someone out there is new around here, I’d like to share our story.  (Bear with me, this could be a long one.)

 

In 2009, my baby sister died in a car accident.  Casey was 23, and while she was very young, she had crammed a whole lot in to her two decades on this earth.  Casey did things her own way, no matter what anyone said.  She was fun, she was chatty, she was everyone’s best friend.  But, to Chelbi and me, she was so much more than that.

We were the Williams Girls.  You didn’t see one of us without at least one more in tow.  We did everything together.  We were loud, we were a little bit wild, and as Casey once said, we were a force to be reckoned with.  You see, we had a bond that most people don’t understand (the selfish part of me hopes they never will).  We fought like cats and dogs; yelling, throwing things, calling names, but in the same breath would make plans for later the same day.  But when the time came to have each other’s back, there was no protection more fierce.  We would stand up for each other, and support each other when we couldn’t stand alone.  We loved each other so deeply, that when we lost her, we physically changed.  When you lose someone you love that much, and are so connected to, the way you breathe changes.  Every decision you make is affected.  There are two stories to your life; before and after.

In the hospital on the day of the accident, we were reminded that Casey was an organ donor. We had always known what to do if something happened to one of us, we talked about it often.  At the time, we all agreed, it was the best thing we could do in such a terrible situation, the only positive in such grief.  The circumstances of Casey’s accident made it impossible for her to donate her vital organs, but she was able to donate her tissues.  On the day of her funeral, we received a call that her corneas had given the gift of sight to two people in Missouri.  Months later, our mother received a letter from the mother of a teenager who was able to play sports and have a great quality of life because she was the recipient of Casey’s ligament (we assume ACL).  While those are the only two notifications we recieved, we know her heart valves, rotator cuffs, major arteries, bone marrow, and even her skin tissue have gone on to improve the lives of dozens of people.  So many have been helped because of our girl.

Through the encouragement of our coordinator, Liz, we started helping with our local Donate Life and Life Goes On programs.  Donate Life is a federal program used to educate the public on the need of organ and tissue donation, and Life Goes On is the donor registry through the Secretary of State’s Office in Illinois.  I attended high school driver’s ed programs to talk about registering as a donor.  Chelbi helped to organize a blood drive at GSI, where many of our family members worked.  Just a few months after Casey passed away, her friend Lindsay approached our family about a memorial sand volleyball tournament.  My sister and I were on board, mostly because we knew we wanted to start a scholarship at our local high school.  We gathered a few of Casey’s friends, and we got to work planning.

On the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend 2010, seven months to the day after Casey’s accident, we held the First Annual Casey Williams Memorial Sand Volleyball Tournament.  It was such a huge success!  There were many tears, many connections made, and a lot of money raised.  The success of this event gave us the idea and confidence to start a foundation in Casey’s memory.

The Casey Williams Foundation is now preparing to host the 8th Annual Casey Williams Foundation Sand Volleyball Tournament.  Through the years, we have added events to our calendar; a golf outing in late summer, an outdoor movie night in the fall, and a .1k dash in November.  We organize donor drives at area businesses and community events.  We have given over 30 scholarships, and we have started helping one family a month who is working through the donation process.  We have donated money to St. Jude’s, and we have provided goods to local food pantries, given books to libraries, and supported programs in our local schools.  Our board is made up of 8 loyal and motivated individuals, who are all now a part of our family.  They give tirelessly to our cause, and their dedication to the Casey Williams Foundation amazes us.  Every year, with every event, there is a sense of sadness.  We all wish that we didn’t have to do this.  We would give any amount of good we have done to have our girl back with us, but we know what we do is so important and so very needed.

We have met so many amazing families who are fighting every day to support their loved ones who are waiting for or recovering from a transplant.  The process is gruelling, and expensive.  They fight, day in and day out, with illness, insurance companies, doctors, and scheduling.  We have met kids who are so much stronger than we could ever be.  Moms who are champions.  Grandparents who have been given a second chance at life.  Babies, who, without a new kidney, or liver, or heart, would not be given the chance to grow up.  Our work is valuable, and it is necessary.

We will never know how many lives have been affected by Casey, how many transplants have taken place, or how many donors have been registered because of her foundation.  What we do know, is that our “after” is worthwhile and her memory lives on every day.

April is Donate Life month, and to celebrate, I will be posting about some of the families we work with and about the foundation activities.  If you would like to support our cause, either with your time or a donation, please, go to http://www.caseywilliamsfoundation.org for more information, or email me at cjhiler2013@gmail.com.