There IS Hope for Humanity!

I haven't posted anything about what my little sister (Colleenia) and her husband have been going through because this blog is a "Happy" blog. It's where I show you all the fun things that me and my family do. But I'm going to now.


My sister's husband (Sean) was diagnosed with Cancer back in April. Since then he's been going thru Chemo treatments every other week. Together, Colleenia and Sean have been putting on a brave face for everyone around them, including their daughter Kaylee - 21 months old. They haven't told a lot of people until recently because they didn't want sympathy. They wanted to be treated like they always have been.

Sean works for a great company which have let him work as much as he feels like he can, when he can. He tries to work every other week (his off-chemo weeks). Colleenia took on a second job, so she works all day on the days she works. She tries to work both jobs on the same day so that when she can stay home, she can spend a whole day with Sean and Kaylee. Not only that, but she sells Avon on the side.

Until recently, they have tried to do everything themselves (as far as paying for things). Generosity from family members and close friends has allowed them to "stay afloat". But every treatment that Sean has, they are responsible for around $1,000 of it (and that's after insurance has paid). When they applied for assistance thru different foundations, they told Sean that since he can still work some that they couldn't help him. (And I know that rules are there for a reason, but can I just say how stupid it is that because he's still trying to work when he can to support his family that he can't get help! GRRR!!)

Well, Colleenia finally admitted that they needed to do something and ask for help and let others in. So yesterday she had an "Avon Clearance / Cancer Bill Help" at my mom's house. It was sort of a last minute idea, so it was totally a word of mouth event. My mom told people she worked with at the Hospital, Colleenia told her friends in Heber and I texted everyone with a cellphone in my phone and sent out an Evite to my email friends. She didn't want to ask for "Donations". She just told people that she would appreciate them looking at her Avon Inventory and purchasing anything that was of interest to them at a discounted price. (My sister had quite a shopping problem when it came to Avon before Sean got sick, so there was a LOT of stuff.)

People filtered in and out of my mom's house from around 5pm to 9pm. A lot of people bought around $12 - $20 worth of products and would donate the rest of the money to Colleenia. Some just brought what they had in money and gave it to her, but she would insist on sending them home with something from her inventory. A lady my mom works with (not directly, but just a lady from the hospital) spent $30 at the party, but gave $50. She also gave an envelope to give Colleenia AFTER the party. My mom opened the envelope as the Open House was winding down and lost her breath. There was a cashier's check for $500 from their family. I can't explain how much excitement and love that brought to Colleenia. That someone who really didn't even know her would be so generous! Just blows my mind... From what we can tell, they didn't want to be recognized publicly, so I'm just going to say it was amazing.

I want to send a huge THANK YOU to everyone who was able to come and help out my sister and her family. It really does mean so much. It's great to know that there are wonderful people in this world still. I tend to get a little jaded and disenchanted with the world these days, but this brought back some faith. Because of the kindness of Family, Friends and Neighbors, Colleenia was able to earn around $1,500! She is going to probably have another Open House / Clearance in Provo and in Roy. I'll send out the info and if you're interested, you should come. It's great to see that there really is GOOD in this world.

Kaylee's First Christmas

A Cute Engagement Photo

A Recent Family Photo - just before he found out

Proud Daddy Sean at the Family Reunion