my awesome family

My awesome cousin, Regina, who happens to be a highly qualified ICU nurse, will be flying down from Boston to Haiti - any day now - to lend her medical expertise and compassionate heart to the victims of the earthquake.

She'll also lend her humor.

And possibly teach those in her company some of her suave dance moves.

I'm certain that she will do a great job and I am so proud to be related to this incredible woman. Oh, and to add to the awesomeness factor? Regina will be doing the 3-Day walk with me later this year. Yup. You read it here.

(FYI: Regina. You're doing the 3-Day walk with me later this year. Hugs! Kisses!)

My awesome cousins, Margaret and Lisa, who happen to live in South Carolina and have dedicated themselves to homeschooling their children, have also dedicated themselves to keeping their father's memory alive. Because my Uncle Bill never gave up his hope for a cure to lung cancer - his daughters haven't either.

A few years ago, Margaret worked tirelessly to have a license plate adopted by the South Carolina legislature, which would benefit lung cancer research. Now, Margaret and Lisa are trying to help spread the word about lung cancer research legislation that is currently before the U.S. House and Senate which will declare lung cancer as a public health priority.

I've written about my Uncle Bill before. As you may recall, he was an extremely healthy man who never smoked a day in his life. And yet, he was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. Although the doctors only gave Uncle Bill three months to live, he made it almost five years because he was so strong in both body and spirit. It's not as unfathomable as I once thought, that someone who never smoked a day in their life would be struck by this horrific disease. Tomorrow, my boss will be flying to the funeral for his 60-year old cousin who died of lung cancer this past weekend after a diagnosis in October. Of 2009.

(He was also a nonsmoker.)

What I didn't know until just today is that over 60% of new patients are former smokers or people who never smoked at all. Moreover, one in five women that is diagnosed with lung cancer never smoked. According to the Lung Cancer Alliance website, there is currently a piece of legislation before both the U.S. House and Senate called the "Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act of 2009."

This critical piece of legislation "declares lung cancer a public health priority, authorizes the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Defense and Veterans Affairs to combine their key assets and to develop a comprehensive and coordinated research program with a goal of cutting lung cancer's mortality in half by 2016. The first year of the five year bill would be funded at no less than $75 million. Additional sums are authorized as determined by these three agencies in the overall five year plan."

Wow. That sure seems like a lot of money.

But did I mention that lung cancer will kill:

• More people than breast, prostate, colon, liver, kidney, and melanoma cancers combined;

• Nearly twice as many women as breast cancer;

• Over three times as many men as prostate cancer;

• An average of 437 people a day?

Did I mention that??

So please consider signing the petition and sending a message to your congressmen and congresswomen, today. It's extremely easy to do and a wonderful opportunity to stretch your democratic muscle.

(Believe me, he would if he could.)

(FYI: Margaret and Lisa. You're doing the 3-Day walk with me later this year. Hugs! Kisses!)

So here are people from my family - doing what they can to help the scores of people that have been devastated by the recent earthquake in Haiti, raising their voices to help spread the word about passing a critical pieces of legislation that will reduce the mortality rate of lung cancer patients by 50% over the next six years. That's some pretty incredible stuff. What else could I possibly tell you?

Well ... my husband he is an extraordinary man.

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to juggle clumps of sand?

It takes coordination, balance, dexterity and SPEED.

Yet look how he does this so effortlessly.

My husband is a man of many talents.

And he is a man of very good looks.

FYI: Charlie...

Regina, Margaret, Lisa and I will be doing the 3-Day walk later this year...

Which means I'll be gone for a few days...

But I have every faith that you'll be TOTALLY fine...

Hugs! Kisses!

Me.