Reid My Mind

I’ve been really focusing on the preparation and promotion of our 2013 Penny PushUps Fundraiser during the last week. It’s been occupying a lot of my mental space. What I don’t enjoy is what I think is the very natural process of our brains, doubt.

Initially, when the idea came to mind, I got really excited. I thought oh boy number one this could really help raise some money for Daisy’s Eye Cancer Fund to support the mission of “Life and Sight for every child.” Then I started to wonder if I was missing something;

Is this really not a good idea?

Is there something that could potentially harm the organization by pursuing this venture?

Will people think I am crazy or trying to promote myself?

I went from thinking fully about the idea to second guessing myself and worrying about others. Seriously! C’mon, “Aint nobody got time for that!”

If there’s any doubt about why my family and I are doing this, let me put it all out on the table…”It’s about the children!”

My childhood experience with Cancer was in my mind, truly no big deal! That’s because my parents were and are so freaking cool! Whether teaching me to think of my prosthetic as a Bionic eye as my father did, or just making me feel so special and loved as my mother did during every treatment and exam throughout my childhood; I learned an incredible lesson that I would need to draw upon later in life.

Even so, I remember the times when I looked in the mirror and didn’t like that prosthetic looking back at me. I doubted myself.

At some time in our lives we all do this and hopefully we get to a time when we finally declare, “Aint nobody got time for that!” Yes, twice in one post!

As a parent watching your child go through the diagnosis, treatments, surgery and the post experiences, it doesn’t really get easier. I thought I would be able to pass on lessons to my child even better than my parents. I thought it would be easier because she could talk to me and I would really understand what she feels. Then again, keeping with the pattern of doubt, I thought she would hate me for passing on a set of mutant genes. Would she despise me every time she looked in the mirror?

I sure hope not!

Penny PushUps is for the:

• RB children, from the new born to the elder
• Little three year old who can’t understand why she keeps throwing up after each round of chemo
• Parent who is numb and in search of answers
• Parents who think about choosing whether or not to have children based on the fear of passing the gene and never being satisfied with the final decision
• Teenager who feels everyone in school is looking at him strangely because his eye looks a little different.
• Adult survivors who still have doubt; about their prosthetic and about whether any little bump on their body is the second, third, or fourth tumor they’ve feared

It’s for all of those experiencing Retinoblastoma.

You can bet that from pushup number one all the way to the final 3,000; I’m thinking about my very special RB Warrior!

If you feel like sharing this effort with your friends and family, we made it easier. Just tell folks to head over to www.pennypushups.org.