On October 1st, my Aunt Jacqi, heard the words no one ever wants to hear....

"It's cancer."

The cold, calculated word that means that your life has been irreversibly changed. And while my family is still reeling from the shock of this unavoidable reality, we are also preparing ourselves for battle. 

Some of you may know my Aunt personally and some of you may only know her by name so let me introduce you. Jacqi is a teacher. A small insufficient word to describe someone who poured their heart and soul into a career that defined not only their lives but the hundreds of lives of students who were lucky enough to find themselves in her class. In her triple decade career as a kindergarten teacher she nutured and stood beside each and every student to support and help them in their first steps into the educational system. She created such a positive impact that children of her previous students now excitedly enter her classroom each day. Even I and my cousin were lucky enough to count ourselves one of her many students but were  even luckier still to be her nieces.

And now, she needs us to stand beside her. She needs us to nuture and support her as she begins to navigate this daunting pathway. She needs us to lift her up and show her that in the fight of her life, the fight for her life, that she is not alone.

Unfortunately, as we all know, teachers are underappreciated in this country and severly underpaid and therefore we will be struggling in this time to afford the necessary treatment and care that Jacqi needs. So we're asking for your help. We don't want Jacqi to worry about money or medical bills or how much a treatments costs. We want her to worry about staying strong and destroying this cancer in each and every battle she is about to face. So any help, even small, would be extremely appreciated now.

And please, if you can, take a moment to pray, think about, send positive thoughts to my Aunt Jacqi everyday. We love her and we need her.

Thank you everyone!