Success!

I am speechless.  I am astounded.  It may have taken two days, but we did it!  $600 raised for mesothelioma research!

I never in a million years expected to actually hit $600.  When day one ended we were at $465.  I pushed it some more on day two because it was SO CLOSE.  And it happened!  In 50 hours, 17 people donated $625.  That last $25 came in while I was writing this, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a few more trickle in over the weekend.

I'd like to take a moment to thank the people who made this possible.  Thank you Beth, Marie, Janna, other Janna, Ruth, Rob, Rena, Simon, Katy, Shana, Ian, Jerry, Jeff, Lisa, Kristin, William, and John for your generosity.  Thank you countless others for your tweets and retweets and sharing on Facebook.  I can't even begin to figure out how many of you there were, but I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  The outpouring of love and support was surprising and heartwarming.

You.  All of you.  You took a day that is amazingly difficult for me every year, a day that causes me sadness and grief, and you made it AMAZING.  June 23 will no longer be dreaded.  June 23 is a day to remember how many awesome people there are in this world.  People that I've never met, people I've never talked to, people who have had cancer touch their own lives and instead gave of themselves.  I love you all SO MUCH.

Huge internet hugs to all of you!