French Word of the Day: un don– donation

I participated in the lupus walk two weekends ago with my younger sister, roommate, and friend, but I’ve been completely blown over by how many people have donated to our team!

My roommate found out that before Benlysta was approved for lupus last year, there hadn’t been any new drugs for lupus in 56 years.  You know what’s happened in that time frame?  Vaccinations for polio, chicken pox and meningitis have been developed.  We’ve cloned sheep and transplanted hearts and livers. (And by “we,” I mean people who are actually good at Biology.  Although I was there in spirit.)  We’ve created embryonic stem cells out of human skin cells.  Al Gore invented the Internet.

And yet they couldn’t even approve one drug for lupus.

Rocio thought this was completely ridiculous, so she went online, found a lupus walk taking place in our area the next week, and signed us up.

Rocio, Meeting Planner Extraordinaire, is dying to get on the committee for next year.  She was already sprouting ideas for next year as we were on the walk.  (It’s an occupational hazard.  We tend to do this at every event we attend.)

I was surprised by how many people showed up!  There were so many volunteers. It was really heartening to see so much support for everyone.  Everyone was there because they are people who are either living with the disease or the friends and family of someone with the disease- which is just astounding.  It really puts into perspective how many people lupus affects.  You could feel the love throughout the day.

Speaking of feeling the love, I really appreciate all the support everyone has given our team.  To date, you’ve helped us raise over $1,000!  I knew I had supportive family and friends, but you’re all fabulous for coming through on such short notice.  I was just expecting to walk with Rocio for fun, but you all turned it into so much more and it makes me feel blessed to have you.  I love you all!

As a thank you, here’s a dog that went around the walk wearing butterfly wings: