My Benefit From My Perspective

It was so much fun.

At first I got there and it really was set up like a benefit. There was a table of donated items for a silent auction. Gift Certificates, Computers, a fabulous painting of my father, gift baskets, a guitar from Styx!! It was so cool.

So everyone was eating BBQ and Mary was calling numbers for raffles. They had so many donations.....

Then we watched this awesome DVD of pics from my life. Mary sat next to me and I pretty much cried the whole time!! Some pics I hadn't seen before!! Mary and I in Hawaii when we were in our early 20s!!

I was overwhelmed!! It was like a high school reunion, a church reunion, friends from Des Moines, people I didn't know. A mixed bag of people!! All there to help me!

Then the band started. For a minute it was like they were interrupting the benefit. Some people left or moved outside so they could continue to talk. But all of a sudden the benefit turned into a party!! People were partying hard!!!! The band was great!!

Don't know how I did it but I stayed until after 1 am!! I was lip syncing Purple Haze by Jimmy Hendrix and my mom said, "You KNOW this song?" My mom was a trooper, too. I mean this turned into a regular party......I think the owner of the bar was probably pretty pleased because people were really buying lots of drinks!!! I had several glasses of water and a couple Diet Cokes!!!!

Todd and the lead singer came down and sang me a Lynyrd Synryd song!! That was so cool!! Todd was running around the crowd playing the guitar!! Jeff wants to go back to Omaha and see the band again when they play around town!! I think Jeff likes my high school buddies!!

They raised a lot of money for my cause!! Thanks so much because I am waiting for disability to kick in and the doctor bills are coming in faster than I can keep track of them. I have had to stay at hotels several times and that is always at least $100 per night!!

I also was very happy that Mary and Todd made an effort to inform people of leiomyosarcoma....that is the kind of cancer I have and it is so rare!! I think they did a good job of raising awareness!!!