The beginning of something big.

You know how when you see an amazing movie or hear a song that just blows your mind, you want to tell everyone about it? Next thing you know you have so much you want to say that it doesn't make sense or you end up sounding like a nonsensical idiot. Well, that's how I feel about my posts for St. Jude. I have so much I want to say, but I do not know where to begin. So let's begin at the beginning.

The Fandads are St. Jude Ambassadors.  It's kind of strange to say, or in this case, type that out, but we are St. Jude Ambassadors. In the past I ran the Warrior Dash as a St. Jude Warrior and in October I will be running the Chicago Marathon as a St. Jude Hero, but to say that we are ambassadors is pretty big. So what does this mean for the Fandads? What's going to happen in the coming months? Well, let's tell you a little about it.

First things first, being ambassadors does not mean that we will be walking around wearing St. Jude gear from head-to-toe or shouting out "St. Jude rules!" wherever we go. What this means, is that we will be using our online presence to help promote some of the happenings of St. Jude and share it with all of you. We will talk about what the hospital does and share a few things that we learned from our visit.

I was invited to participate in the #StJudeBlogTour in August. I originally was invited earlier in the year, but I was not able to make it because the timing was not right. This time when I received the invite, I accepted right away and prepared myself for an emotional journey.

I mean, we have all seen the commercials from St. Jude before. We have all seen profiles of children at the hospital and requests for donations. Being a father of two I did not know how I would fair at the hospital. Would I be sad and depressed everyday or would I be able to put on a brave face and be happy while I was there? Well my friends, I was completely worried about nothing.

My experience at the hospital was eye opening. It did not feel like a hospital, it felt more like a community of people working together for the common goal. A community that helps each other and wants to erase the problem of cancer in children. I walked out of that hospital feeling inspired and hopeful and wanting to do more to help spread the message of St. jude. 

I have so much to say about the events that went down that weekend, but I am going to break them down into smaller posts. As much as I want to let you know everything, there is just too much to say to condense into just one post. This post would go on for ever and I think people would get tired of reading. 

I am going to do a monthly series talking about my visit at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. I will talk about former patients who are now working for St. Jude and one that is a doctor there. I will talk about the housing for the patients and everything that St. Jude does to make it comfortable for the families to stay there. I will also talk about upcoming events that you can participate in and help out to find a cure for children's cancer. 

One of the great things that I have to share with you is that families pay nothing at St. Jude. Not one single bill. I think that is just a fantastic thing. 

I want to share below the video of myself being interviewed at the end of my trip and what the trip meant to me. Enjoy and see you next month.