FOJ Gala 2014

This past weekend, I was honored to attend the 2014 Annual Friends Of Jaclyn Foundation Benefit Gala hosted by the Murphy family. Eight girls on the Marist Women's Soccer Team, including myself, were invited to gala to support Jaimie.

Enlightened and blessed are two adjectives that don't even come close to representing the way I felt after attending this event. This was truly a once in a lifetime experience. Not only did I get to spend 6 hours with the Ferretti family, I was also introduced to other children with pediatric brain tumors and had the privilege of hearing their stories.

The Juniors with Jaimie!

The event began with a cocktail hour filled with introductions, appetizers, drinks, and photos. Jaimie was wearing the cutest long sleeve dress, and had her hair and makeup done for the occasion. Her dad told me: "She's not wearing makeup or leaving the house with it on for the next twenty years." After dragging Jaimie to the photo booth a dozen times to get pictures in front of the FOJ logo, we feasted; I opted for the fried calamari, whereas Jaimie chose some plain pasta. We both were Shirley temple fans though, and made a couple of cheers to the night ahead. I learned a lot of things during the cocktail hour period: 1) Jaimie uses the surgery simulator app on her iPad to kill her patients, 2) She enjoys picking up bugs with her bare hands, and 3) She can't wait to go out hunting with her dad... and name a bunny Fluffy and then eat it for dinner. (I know I already told you all that last one, but it's worth retelling.) We can't make this stuff up.

The Seniors with Jaimie!

After we proceeded into the main dining room, we were all seated at a large table together that was sponsored by Pepsi-Co, as a gift to their star employee Debbie Ferretti, (Jaimie's mom). The Murphy family started off the event by announcing the beginning of their silent auction, to help raise money for the foundation, and informed us all about their mission to make FOJ a global program. In my personal opinion, within the next few years, Friends of Jaclyn will be one of the largest international foundations without a doubt!

Jaclyn's friends, family, and participants in the foundation all gave speeches about their personal experiences. Each speaker was great, effectively conveying to us all how successful the foundation is and how it changed their lives completely. My personal favorite speaker was a little boy named Andrew Silsby, who recounted his experience as the University of New Hampshire's Ice Hockey adoptee. His strength, perspective on life, and wisdom is inimitable - and he's not even 16 years old. His conclusion was to live each day as if it were your last, and to have no regrets. Although that sounds cliche, coming from the mouth of a cancer survivor, it means something a little greater.  After an amazing dinner, dessert, and Jaimie winning the raffle of the night, it was time to say a tearful goodbye. I witnessed Jaimie's magic tricks, selfie faces, bracelet making skills, and much more throughout the course of the night.


Since the founder of the foundation, Jaclyn, is now a part of the Marist Women's Lacrosse Team, there was some debate on who ran the dance floor the best, but naturally, the soccer team was victorious. Jaimie strutted her stuff, showing her mastery of the electric slide, as well as the contemporary dance floor moves like the fist pump. However, instead of dancing, Jaimie's activity of choice for the entire night was sliding down a ramp barefoot. Of course, I started the whole fiasco, bribing her with the opportunity of ONE slide if she would come dance. But, I learned that with kids, there's never just "one time" of anything. Soon enough, every child in attendance was stripping off their shoes and sliding down this ramp. Was it extremely dangerous? Yes. Was I overwhelmed with trying to catch everyone's heads before they smashed the ground? Of course. But was it worth it? 100%.

Overall, this was by far one of the most memorable nights I've ever had. Hearing how sports teams are able to play such a positive role in the lives of children, and vice versa, is the most rewarding experience in the world. Events like these teach everyone to be thankful for what they have, and evoke a sense of community and family in the people who need hope the most. Check out the Friends of Jaclyn Instagram account to see more photos from the gala: http://instagram.com/fojfoundation.

Live in the moment. Play in the moment.

Spring Break!

Hi again everyone! Considering last week was spring break, everyone went home and parted ways from Jaimie. But luckily, kids are getting Facebooks a lot younger nowadays, so it's easy to keep in touch! My teammate, Jamie Strumwasser, and I went to Florida for spring break. Thinking that we were out of reach - we soon realized we were wrong. One night, we get a Facebook message from Jaimie consisting of an animated sticker. Naturally, we sent one back, loving every second of it. Realizing she didn't know we were together, we sent her a surprise selfie! It was amazing. See part of the conversation below:

So, after more conversation hearing about Jaimie's week climbing trees and playing iPad games (her favorite,) we decided to have Jaimie answer a few questions herself so you can know more about her! I hope you enjoy the cuteness of her responses as much as we did.



1. What’s your favorite color?

Rainbow


2. What’s your favorite thing to do?

Climb


3. What’s your favorite animal? 

Zebra, because I like the pattern


4.How did you feel when you first met the Marist Women’s Soccer Team?

Awesome cuz they are just awesome


5. What is your favorite part about being a part of the team?

Getting to hangout with my girls


6. How have we helped you?

Make me happy


7. How have you helped the team?

Cheer them on during their games


Come on, how couldn't you love this little girl? Although we are college students on spring break, it is safe to say this interaction was the highlight of our trip. We missed her more than we even realized. Tune in next week for a great post... We have a big event coming up that I can't wait to share with you all!

Live in the moment. Play in the moment.

The Best Kind Of Lunch Date

This weekend, a Marist Women's Soccer player alumna came to visit from her hometown in New Jersey. She hadn't been on campus all semester, so naturally we were all overly excited to see her. Apparently, Jaimie was excited too - she hadn't seen Sam in over four months! Her family took a spontaneous trip to Marist on Sunday and took our teammate Samantha out to lunch. Who better to tell the story of their lunch date from than Sam herself? Here's what she had to say!

"On my first trip up to Marist in about two months, I had the pleasure of going out to lunch with Jaimie and the Ferretti family as well as two other players on the team: manager Bree D'Agati, and captain Marissa Mertens. This lunch trip was spur of the moment when Jaimie’s parents decided to come to Marist last minute. I was sitting on the couch with Bree when Marissa had called us asking if we wanted to go to lunch. Of course, we said yes... How could anyone say no to Jaimie?
Just being around Jaimie and the rest of the family brought smiles to everyone’s faces. We were all so excited just to be all together that the quick lunch turned into a three hour sit down. We all had a blast, we were sharing stories, Jaimie was telling us about how she is doing in school, along with her crazy stories about hunting. 

One of the funniest things that Jaimie had said during lunch was “When I go hunting, I’m going to find a rabbit, name it fluffy, and then eat it for dinner!” She almost had us all in tears. As she said that, her father, Daniel, had never looked so proud, while her mother, Debbie, just chuckled and looked at us and said “She’s Crazy!”

I truly found out how strong Jaimie was during this lunch, and I don’t mean strong because of everything she has been through, I mean physically strong!! As she arm wrestled everyone at the table I was shocked when she finally arm wrestled me. I honestly thought everyone was just letting her win, but I really struggled to beat her. She is ridiculously strong for a child her age!

Being around Jaimie you would never think she is a child who is having such a tough battle against her health. She is just like any other child her age, and is always smiling. The people who truly don’t get enough credit are Jaimie’s parents Debbie and Daniel! I don’t think in a million years that I would ever be as strong as they are or be able to go through what they go through everyday. However day to day they keep a positive attitude and if it wasn’t for them, Jaimie and her brother Daniel truly wouldn’t be as great of kids as they are today!" 
- Samantha Pace


Live in the moment. Play in the moment.

ALL CLEAR

This past week was a big one for Jaimie and myself... We both had brain MRIs.

Up until this point, I never really was able to empathize with Jaimie as she went through her treatments and checkups. Of course, I gave her my utmost sympathy and respect, but was never able to truly understand what she was going through... Until now.

Since Jaimie has to get a brain MRI every three months to check for the recurrence of her tumor, I figured it was routine; not a big deal.

I was wrong.

This past week I got my fifth concussion. Instead of it being from soccer like it normally is, my clumsy self slipped and fell on ice. Being overly cautious, I decided that since this is concussion #5, I should get my head checked out...

An MRI of the brain isn't easy. In fact, it's rather terrifying - and I'm 20 years old. I can't even imagine how Jaimie feels, being half my age, and having to do this four times a year rather than just once in her lifetime.

The process sounds simple, but it is far from it. My experience was truly eye opening, and allowed me to feel for Jaimie things I never thought I'd ever truly understand.

First, you have to dress for the occasion: All jewelry removed, no zippers, no metal bra underlining, and no buttons.

Second, you receive ear-plugs, a neck brace, and head cushion. I wasn't scared until this moment. Ear-plugs? For what? That wouldn't help my concussion...

Third, you lay still, completely immobile, for twenty minutes - minimum. You move an inch just once, and you have to sit for 5 minutes until they redo that segment. For me, I sat for probably an extra fifteen minutes. Laying down may seem like nothing, but it's a near impossible feat. I can't even imagine Jaimie, the girl with the most energy in the world, being confined to a table for that amount of time.

Oh, did I mention you are trapped? Literally, inside a giant tube, also known as the MRI machine, that is definitely no more than one foot tall and two feet wide. Being claustrophobic is not an option. I opted to keep my eyes closed the whole time, because opening them would surely lead me to experience a panic attack. And yes, the ear plugs were necessary. It was the loudest half hour of my life.

I haven't gotten the results yet, but hopefully they come back the same as Jaimie's... ALL CLEAR.

I forgot to mention that? Sorry. YES JAIMIE IS STILL CANCER FREE! It's an amazing and relieving moment to hear the words, "The MRI came out clean" and the Ferretti family is surely celebrating this special occasion. So, if you can, give them a huge congratulations! And remember, each part of their journey is harder than you can ever imagine - even something so seemingly routine as an MRI. This all just reinforces how strong the family is.

Live in the moment, play in the moment.

IHOP National Pancake Day

Attention Hudson Valley Community,

Today is IHOP's National Pancake Day! To most people, it is merely just an excuse to go get free pancakes. (I know that's what it was to me in the past.) But this year, I learned it's something a little more than that.

From 7:00am to 10:00pm at night, the IHOP in Dutchess County, Poughkeepsie on Route 9 will be serving one, free short stack of buttermilk pancakes in exchange for a donation to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.

Since all donations stay local, Jaimie's hospital, Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center, is where all of the local donations will be sent.

So naturally, at 6:30am this morning, the Marist Women's Soccer Team was there waiting outside of IHOP's doors in zero degree weather. We were the first people inside and devoured our pancakes before most other people even sat down. (Cut us some slack - we're hungry after our 5:45am weight training lifts!)

If you're reading this, please stop by at some point today! The donations benefit an amazing hospital and I'm sure Jaimie will appreciate it more than anything. Thank you all so much! Click here for more information or to RSVP to the event on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1465071147053077/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular.

Come on, who doesn't love free pancakes??

Live in the moment. Play in the moment.