We all have dreams and aspirations, but how many times in our life do we tell ourselves that we are too old, too much time has passed, or it is just not possible any more? Because of limitations that we put on ourselves, we decide that what we want is unachievable – we just can’t do it. However, the reality of the situation is that putting up a wall in front of us that keeps us from what we want is completely ridiculous. If we truly want something, and are willing to… Read More

Do you ever feel like your past is holding you back? There are just certain things that you can not shake and for one reason or another they tend to keep you from moving forward with your future. We all have things in our past that we would rather forget. Some minor unfortunate ones, others are things that had a profound impact, but we just can not seem to let them go. No one is immune from being haunted by the past. The key word in all of that is the word… Read More

The thing about birthdays is the older you get the faster they seem to come. When we were younger it seemed to take forever for another birthday to arrive. However, now before you know it you have gone through a whole series of holidays throughout the year and you find yourself adding another digit to the total. Because my birthday falls around Thanksgiving, every few years it is actually on Thanksgiving day. However, it is always within the Thanksgiving celebratory season, which gives me the opportunity to reflect and be thankful for… Read More

Today communities across the country are celebrating #GivingTuesday.  #GivingTuesday refers to the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States. It is a movement to create an international day of charitable giving at the beginning of the Christmas and holiday season. This year Facebook and PayPal are joining together to match the first $7million in donations that come in starting at 8:00AM EST today. If you are considering donating to a charity on this #GivingTuesday, we hope you will consider Bring Smiles to Seniors.  Donations can be made on our Facebook page at… Read More

When you watch the daily news, you would think that is absolutely impossible for the world to get along with each other. You would assume that everyone hates everyone, every country is in a constant battle and people genuinely dislike one another. For those that take solace in their televisions and use the news to learn about the world, they take that to be truth because they know no different. Because it comes from the news, they assume it to be gospel. However, that could be farther from the truth. The one… Read More

The turkey has been eaten, the pie is gone and the dishes are washed. Thanksgiving is in the rear view mirror. We now enter into the season that brings bright lights, carols, shopping, parties and a myriad of things that go along with the upcoming holidays. It is a time where moods are lifted, spirits brightened and for at least this point in time, the world usually seems to get along, hopefully! Many will celebrate religious events, others others will see it as just a festive season and unfortunately there are those… Read More

Once Halloween goes by it seems that the holidays just all run together. We now find ourselves at Thanksgiving, a day traditionally set aside to give thanks for all that we have been blessed with. In reality, every day should be Thanksgiving if we truly look at what is good in our lives and give thanks for those things each and every day. This past year has had its share of good and bad for many people, including me. Facing dad’s Lymphoma diagnosis was certainly not something that I expected. However, seeing… Read More

On Saturday evening I had the opportunity to attend the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s “Light the Night” event. It is an evening where supporters and survivors come together to join in the fight for a cure for blood diseases, in the hopes that they will one day be eradicated. It is a celebration of all the hard work that many people put in raising money for LLS to help them continue the good work they do. As I stood among the 4,000 people I started to think about my journey to that… Read More

One of my favorite things to do when I am out and about is to answer questions about the Bring Smiles to Seniors program. I have had an opportunity to do that a lot lately with the recent Lightning Community Hero Award and my involvement with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The question I get asked most often is how I manage to have a full time job, family life, social life and the demands of the program and do I ever get an opportunity for down time? My answer is always… Read More

“I’m not scared to be seen, I make no apology, this is me”. The greatest thing about taking some down time is that you get a lot of time to think. This past week while I was away, I had an opportunity to watch the movie “The Greatest Showman” again with Hugh Jackman. A movie about P.T. Barnum, with some pretty amazing music. The anthem of the movie is a song titled “This is Me” and I have attached the first rehearsal of the song so you can take a look for… Read More