What could I possibly say to a distinguished crowd of the Twin Cities Finest? 25 of the best and brightest individuals who were selected based on their career accomplishments and community involvement were set to be recognized on this special night and I was to address them in a formal speech. Along with their recognition as a Twin Cities Finest honoree, they had been asked to raise funds and awareness for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Many of these people had no personal connection to the rare disease or knew what the consequences of CF were. And yet after only a few short months, all of them became completely sold-out to the cause of finding a cure. During the culmination of their experience, our family was invited to attend the award ceremony and say a few words to the winners; all of whom were far more successful and lucrative than I would ever be. So what could I possible say to encourage the Finest? After pondering this for a few days I finally decided to just speak from my heart; not to impress or sound smarter than I am. But to simply express our family's gratitude and awe for the hard work these individuals have done. Here is what I told them...
"It is incredibly humbling to be among this group of outstanding, professional individuals.
We congratulate you all on being named among the 2016 Twin Cities Finest! You’re here to be recognized for achievements in your careers and community involvement. I can only imagine the long hours, motivation and hard work it has taken to get you here.
With that success also comes an opportunity for you to be a role model and advocate. And you have used that pedestal to make a difference, raising awareness and funds for a cause that is very near and dear to our hearts. Carson our oldest and Anders our youngest are both living with Cystic Fibrosis.
I have to admit, I’ve been spying on you these past few months; looking at your profiles, seeing your various events and ideas to raise money for the foundation. And you need to know, as we’ve seen your fundraising totals rise, it has brought us so much encouragement! I can’t stress this enough. Every single dollar you raised lifts our spirits knowing we are that much closer to a cure. CF may be a rare disease, but YOU remind us that we are NOT alone in this fight.
To have all of you amazing people out there advocating for families like ours, we are just so grateful! From the bottom of our hearts we thank you. Now, most of you are younger than Nathan and I. He is 40 and I’m 39 and holding. But we remember being 20-something, newly married, with no kids. Both of us were working hard in our respective careers and we felt confident with a promising future ahead of us. Sure, we thought about settling down and having a family at some point. We both pictured from time to time what that life would be like with kids. We imagined teaching them important things like how to fish, ride a bike and catch a football. I promise you, we NEVER imagined the worry of having a seriously sick child, being told our son has an incurable disease with a shortened life expectancy, or sitting in a hospital waiting room during one of their procedures. Me personally, when I was just starting out in my career, I thought about entering the medical field… for about 10 seconds. I couldn’t stand the thought of dealing with certain bodily fluids, being around needles or sickness. And yet now here I am using syringes on a daily basis to administer 1 of 20 different medications for my boys, operating costly medical equipment and occasionally, having to collect bodily fluids from time to time.
Who knew? I believe God did; and thankfully He has given me exactly what I need- WHEN I needed it! You just do what you’ve got to do when it comes to your kids. We don’t have a say about what kinds of experiences we will have on this earth. There’s good and bad. When the good happens, we’re glad; and when the bad happens, we need to consider how we can learn, and become stronger as we make our way through it. For us, one of the lessons Nathan and I have learned after having two children diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis is to cherish time and people. Family time has become so much more of a priority for us. Slowing down, making memories and participating in meaningful and worthy causes is now our life’s purpose.
I’ve heard it said that at the end of our lives, we won’t wish we had spent more hours working at our jobs, or care about what kind of car we drive. Instead, we will long for more time with the people we care about. And possibly wish we had loved more, forgiven more, helped more and said sorry more. It might be hard to believe but Nathan and I actually feel blessed to have this unique insider information. Cystic Fibrosis is a daily reminder that life is precious and fleeting and we need to make the most of our time on earth. Nobody is promised 80 years- so don’t wait! Over the last few months, I’ve seen you all use your unique and respected position to help do good things for other people.
You’ve made a positive difference and we’re really proud of each and every one of you. And I’m sure you know it doesn’t have to stop here. Whether it’s continuing your work with the CFF, mentoring young people, involvement in a church or even something as simple as paying for the person behind you in a drive-thru; Investing in what truly matters will never be a regret. Thank you!"
