Because of One

(Written by Chad, Megan's husband and one of Kyrie's uncles)

While my wife can write circles around me, I still thought that I would take this opportunity to post an entry. Seeing all the comments and response to this site made me reflect on the one person that created the means for it: Kyrie Dawn Thome.

Because of one little girl, a large community of people view this site every, single day. They also express what they are thankful for and, sometimes, become more closely knit with others they have never met. These people also sometimes buy t-shirts and use GoodSearch.com (with The Kyrie Foundation as their designated charity). While this seems so simple, it could one day snowball itself into a research grant that could help pave the way for a cure for pediatric brain cancer. I would not have written the last sentence if I did not believe, in my heart, that it could not be achieved. It can. Because of one, we can triumph together.

Chad T. Eickholt
President
The Kyrie Foundation
www.kyriefoundation.org

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for dirt roads. Anymore, the most authentic things in our American culture are not the prettiest, most coiffed or sculpted ideas. I'm thankful for addresses housed on dirt roads, the places far away from 24-hour anythings and drive-thrus. I'm thankful for the washboard ruts, the dust and the tiny pings against a vehicle's metal exterior that symbolize how difficult, how blinding and how real our life roads are, indeed. I'm thankful that dirt gives us roots.

What are you thankful for today?

p.s.
Just checking: Is there anyone out there that has ordered a Kyrie tee but has yet to receive one?

Good thought.

This is not a political endorsement by any means but rather a good, simple suggestion:

We reward people a lot for being rich, for being famous, for being cute, for being thin... one of the values I think we need to instill in our country, in our children, is a sense of 'usefulness', in other words, are we useful, are we making other peoples' lives a little bit better?

Barack Obama
U.S. Senator from Illinois

Keep going.

The awareness that the newspaper article created was good, wasn't it? More people knowing yields more people caring. I love that. And though we are further along this road of time, we hope that you are still up for our journey.

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.

Ayn Rand

Shooteth.

Hey, Wichitans, have you checked out today's Wichita Eagle? You'll find a nice article+photo about Kyrie's Gift, Kyrie and a little about the Kyrie Foundation!

Thank you to Lee & Leslie Clark, the Custer family, Via Christi Medical Center, Jordan & Lacie and Joe Rodriguez. Well done!

The power of several.

Last weekend, Chad & several of my dearest friends hornswaggled me with a surprise slumber party ambush. These dear friends have been in my spirit for decades and are also staunch supporters of the Kyrie Foundation.

After hours and hours of much-needed laughter, a few tears, stories, memories & queso dip, we slumbered until rousing in the morn for brunch at a local cafe, a somewhat dive-y hangout serving up free, delish cinnamon rolls. We marched into Neighbor's Cafe in uniform: all of us in our Kyrie tees. Everyone—everyone—noticed. The hostess. The cashier. The waitress. Fellow patrons. And we told them Kyrie's story. We told them about the Web site. We told them about plans. We shootethed.

After omelets and hashbrowns, we popped into several stores. The shopkeeper at m. culture noticed our shirts, and we told Kyrie's story again to this dear woman who ended up in tears recalling her own daughter's brain injuries.

We told Kyrie's story in Traditions & Cameron's, two home decor & furnishings stores. As a team we shopped The Bath House, and that shopkeeper, too, noticed Kyrie's tees. The whole morning, as my insides were torn between heartache and perseverance, I marveled at the impact just a few friends had as a team roaming the world. The gestalt of friendship.

So thank you, again, to all of our friends who are talking & wearing. That's how a grassroots effort like ours turns the tide.



p.s. We're still happy to post photos of Go, Kyrie, Go! t-shirt wearers! Just send 'em our way.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am deeply thankful and truly honored for friendship. Posting a little true story tomorrow, but for today, I marvel at what it means to extend care to someone outside your family unit, to care for someone as if they were family or perhaps as the replacement of family. How lovely is it, too, when relationships with spouses, siblings, cousins & parents mature and tether into true friendships. Laughing & crying, hugs & apologies, silliness and compassion, differences & similiarities, friendship is a miracle.

Jordan sent me an e-mail, which I'm sure you've seen, that outlines the different kinds of people that come & go, to & fro, within our lives. Some are there for a season, some for a lifetime, some for a day—all intentionally put in place, sometimes even painfully put into motion, as opportunities for us to give or to receive. Must be divine, no?

What are you thankful for today?

One+one+one.

Wa-hoo! We're over $14! Wa-hoo!

The power of one.

A friend mentioned that sometimes people may feel overwhelmed by giant research goals like ours, meaning that someone may doubt that their $1 would do much good when we need so much. That's understandable. And one person may, indeed, wonder about his or her own isolated contribution. Luckily, we have mustard.

And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.

– Mark 4:30–2

One lil', ol' mustard seed ends up growing into something magnanimous. From little acorns grow mighty oaks. My little dollar combined with your little dollar combined with their little dollars ends up being something bigger than anyone of us could do on our own. One + one + one. We shooteth.

The point is not how large your actions but that you act at all.

Maybe it's a coincidence or maybe it isn't that we could quite possibly be in the midst of the butterfly effect, like It's a Wonderful Life, where just a tiny reverberation impacts with sweeping scope. Maybe we're in our own Bedford Falls. And maybe we have an angel to remind us that you matter.

And you can grow this mustard with your words, too. Tell someone what you're doing with the Kyrie Foundation. Put it on your resume. On your blog. On your person. One + one + one.

Percolating.

Several Kyrie Foundation fundraising ideas are percolating as these words type. Hope to share more news in the next week or so. In the meantime, made my first GoodSearch shopping purchase. They've made doing good so easy. Love it.

Did you see?

The Kyrie Foundation is up to $7.01 on GoodSearch! Way to go!!! Very thankful for you searching today!

Thankful Thursday

"You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father."

Matthew 5:13-16

Today I'm thankful for salt. As salt—you & me—we preserve & we season the world with our lives. So what we do and what we don't do really does matter, like ripples in a pool. Even our attitudes matter: Do we accept or not? Do we help or not? Do we forgive or not?

Another great thing about salt is that a little goes a long way. So something small, like a sweet, little girl or a "what if" idea or a search on a a charitable Web site, can really change the entire trajectory of a path, a life, a community. That's powerful.

What are you thankful for today?

Wow!

Did you see how much you've earned for the Kyrie Foundation on GoodSearch? We're already up to $3.51! Wa-hoo!

If you've read on their site, they do not advertise. Our earnings are based on word of mouth. So if you are inclined, we'd certainly appreciate it if you could spread the word to those in your circles: friends, family, colleagues--anyone who you think might help the foundation.

Thank you SO much for GoodSearching for Kyrie!