Grateful (Five Minute Friday)

 Today, I want to take a minute (or 5) to share my gratitude for a special community of people. Some strangers, some friends, but all united with a common mission.

May is Neurofibromatosis (NF) Awareness Month. NF is a disease that affects roughly 1 in 3,000 people worldwide, and yet it's highly likely that you've never even heard of it. We're on a mission to change that. A community of people, brought together by a love of the Washington Nationals, has teamed up with Ian Desmond, Nationals' star shortstop.

 For the basic rundown on what NF is, you can read this post. Get to Know NF  (Thank you, Nationals 101!)  To hear the story of how the project started, you can read more: The Nats Blog’s follow up post, a post from Patrick Reddington on Federal Baseball, and Matt’s Bats post as well.  And  District Sports page has added their EndNF post.   

To join our team, follow this link and spread the word. Every bit helps. The first step to Ending NF is to know what it is.

We started with a goal of $10,000 in the month of May, and as of tonight we're over $18,000 with 24 days to go. There's some great perks available if you're a baseball fan or know someone who is. But even if you aren't, don't let that stop you.

NF isn't just "one of those things" for me. Ian Desmond talks about his friendship with Ethan. I had the privilege to meet Ethan and his family at Nats Park last summer and we've become friends.

It's personal for me. One of my dearest friends from college is now an NF advocate. Because it affects BOTH of her sweet children. Her kids are the same age as mine. And I see how they're fighting - every day. With faith and strength and courage. She's a mama warrior, and she's using her family's story to blaze a path. There's a lot of unknowns with NF as of today.  The path to knowing is paved by people like you and me. We can talk about it. We can share information with others. We give what we can financially - for some it's a lot, for some it's a little, and for some it's not possible, but we can ALL give our time. We can ALL spread the word. We can ALL retweet a tweet for someone else to see - to share the information in a bigger circle. That's the first step. And YOU can be a part of that. Reminder: here's where you do it.


Tonight I am grateful for Ian Desmond and the community of writers, fans, and friends who have joined forces to spread the word and make a difference. #EndNF.

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linking up with another great community - the Five Minute Friday crowd. For the full story on how it works, read here.  And to read this week's collection on GRATEFUL, follow this link.