A Tribe Called K2 Buhl-oog!

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A Diver, a K2 Family Member, and a Friend, is an Angel and Fighting the good Fight against Cancer so Spread the Word. . . and Give!

Mike Laban is one of those individuals that gives and gives and gives and just being around him you walk away better having known him.  So unconditionally I throw K2 Support behind him.  Please reach down deep with your $$, with your time, give your love.. .

Here is his thoughtful and worthy plea. . .

What are you doing on the 18th & 19th?

Dear Friends & Family,

As most of you know, Betsy and I are very active with the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, happening this year on April 18th and 19th (this weekend!). Eliminating Cancer is a cause that we are both very passionate about. After participating as a team the first year, and serving on the organizing committee last year, I agreed to co-chair the committee this year.

Mike Needs Our Help

However, due to unforeseen issues in mid-January I became the only chairperson for our local Relay For Life event. Unfortunately that has taken much of my time, so if we have not seen or talked with you in a while I apologize.

 
As you can imagine, it has been a rather difficult year for fundraising. The past two years we have just let folks know what we were doing, and hope that if you were interested you would donate. Many of you have, so thank you for that. But tough times call for tough measures so I am asking you directly (apologizing for as impersonally as an email is), to consider donating to this cause.

Please Give. . . anything you can!

I realize donating to charity is a personal thing. You must give where your heart tells you to, so I fully understand if this is not something you wish to do. For me, it is hard to find a cause that affects more people I know than cancer does, or that has the devastating effect that cancer does.

We have all been touched by this disease either directly, through a family member or a friend, and for most of us all 3 apply. 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, and in 2010 despite the advances that have been made in prevention and treatment, cancer will become the #1 cause of death worldwide. This disease must be stopped.

Please Go to the Website and Learn More!

Here is a link to my website for the Relay. I am hoping to raise $1000 in the week I have left before the event. So if it is within your means and you believe in this cause, please donate. Donations can be anonymous, can be made online or mailed in. Anything helps, there is no minimum. 
I hope you will join with me in this fight.

Here is the website:

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/Mike.Laban

Gratefully,
Mike Laban
Event Chair
2009 Relay for Life of Monrovia

 Seeded from  Marc Warnke Family First Entrepreneur on Thu, 02/12/2009 – 17:19

I received this story in my email yesterday and I knew I had to share it with you.  It is the only story I have ever read that actually brought tears to my eyes.  I read it last night to my 4 year-old.  He may still be a little young to have fully understood it, but I believe that every parent should read this to their children.  Please take the time to enjoy this incredibly moving story.

Two Choices

What would you do?….you make the choice. Don’t look for a punch line, there isn’t one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: “When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?”

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. “I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.”

Then he told the following story:

Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, ‘Do you think they’ll let me play?’ I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, ‘We’re losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.’

Shay struggled over to the team’s bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.

In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay’s team scored again.

Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay’s life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.

The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.

As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.

Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman’s head, out of reach of all team mates.

Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, ‘Shay, run to first!

Run to first!’

Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.

He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, ‘Run to second, run to second!’

Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.

By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball. The smallest guy on their team, who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.

He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher’s intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman’s head.

Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, ‘Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay’

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, ‘Run to third!

Shay, run to third!’

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, ‘Shay, run home! Run home!’

Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team

‘That day’, said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, ‘the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world’.

Shay didn’t make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

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Join Technical and Advanced Wreck Dive Instructor, Richie Kohler, and Master Instructor John Flanders with the Academy of Scuba as you learn how to wreck dive in San Diego’s World Famous Wreck Alley
Over a two day period (July 25 and 26, 2009), you will be exposed to expert wreck diving instruction and techniques.  

You will be doing four world famous wreck dives over two days in Wreck Alley and have over 6 hours of classroom instruction from Kohler and Flanders.  You will build a “concrete” foundation in deep, wreck and NITROX diving.  At the end of the course, you may qualify for your TDI Nitrox certification and your SDI Wreck Diving Specialty certification.  

Best of all, your dive education foundation will be laid by the most progressive wreck divers in the business.  Join Richie Kohler, John Flanders and their staff for a weekend of fun and excitement. Folks, this is a chance of a lifetime, and my friends John and Richie will knock your socks off with both personality as well as mad skill!

Learn more at http://www.wreckalley.com

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Please share this with everyone you know and love.  Power and courage with grace like this overcomes all!

My Friend, my Ally, my Master:

As your dreamskeeper, and the arbiter of your inventory of desires. . . it was my hope that all your heartfelt wishes for 2009 all come true.

That you find yourself surrounded by friends, laughter, and good times.. . .

That your cup runneth over financially, romantically, spiritually, and creatively. . . . 

That good health be your faithful companion, that peace be your guarded ally, and love your perpetual guide. . . .

When suddenly, it dawned on me that you my master. . . as an infinite, powerful, fun-loving gladiator of the Universe, with eternity before you and the power of your thoughts to help shape it. . . it is you. . . .

. . .  you are the dreamskeeper who will wield the power to grant your heartfelt wishes this year!

Master, your wish is my command. . . . What is your ask?

 The Universe