A Way You Can Help

First off, let me start by apologizing for the almost month and half long blog silence.  I just haven't been very inspired lately to blog.  Lame excuse, I know, but it's the truth.  But now I'm back, and I have a cause very near and dear to my heart to share with you all.

As many of you I'm sure already know, my father-in-law passed away unexpectedly two weeks ago.  Ever since then, I've been struggling to find the right words to honor this amazing man whom I fortunately had the opportunity to know and love for the last 10 years of my life.  I wanted to share with you all some of the many reasons why he was such a special person to me, and then I want to ask of a favor of you guys.

The Top 10 Reasons I Loved My Bob

1. His kind, always accepting, and always forgiving heart.

2. His bigger-than-life, friendly personality.

3. His passion for sports and the city of New York.  He LOVED his G-Men and Knicks.

4. His tireless drive to help others.

5. His ability to always have fun.

6. His love for oldies and his kick-butt dancing skills.

7.  The smile he always put on his face, despite his sometimes failing health.

8. The stories he would tell.  {Truth.  In his younger, rowdier days, he once stole a stop sign in the Hamptons.}

9. How much he loved his kitties and our puppy Mack Brown.

and, the most important of all...

10. How much he loved, adored and cherished his family and friends.  He was truly an inspiration to us all.

Besides Bob's deep love and passion for his family and friends, his other greatest passions in life were helping others and the game of basketball.  He found a way to meld these two loves by starting a town basketball league, the GBA, in Brad's hometown, and working tirelessly to provide kids, who needed the assistance, scholarship money to play basketball.

In Bob's memory, his family has created a fundraising page where we can all help carry on his amazing legacy and passion for education, scholarship and basketball.  Our goal is to raise $50,000 --  $25,000 to build one school in the developing world through the non-profit Brad works with, Pencils of Promise, and $25,000 for scholarships that will benefit children in Greenwich, CT. Part of those scholarships will go toward sending the kids to visit one of the PoP Schools abroad in order to educate and inform them about the global community that they are a part of. 

So here's the favor I would like to ask of you.  Will you donate to this cause, helping us to honor Bob's memory by continuing to positively affect the lives of so many children in his honor?  If you'd like to do so, here's the website where you can donate: Remembering Bob Haugen