Go Red Ambassador

At the beginning of February, I attended a casting call in downtown Kansas City to be a Go Red Ambassador.  It was a lot of fun.  My Vegas friend as I call her if you have followed my blog, Deb, went with me.  So did my friends Diane and Tracy as well as my two daughters. You had to audition by giving an interview and telling your story.  How hard is that--it's not like I am a stranger to telling my story.  I will shout it to any one that will listen and then tell you even if you don't want to hear.

I was feeling pretty good about telling my story.  I sat down across from one of the local news anchors and we got started.  I did really good until she asked me about the emotional toll.  I started in about the emotional toll only to look up and see the tears streaming down the face of my 14 year old daughter.  I was a mess of tears after that.  To be a year and a half out and still see your daughters cry over this really does make the emotional toll on them hit home.  It is so easy to get wrapped up in this all being about me, but there is a whole other side to this.  I try to include them in the process of everything I do.  Even though I do that, I can see that I will never quite realize the emotional toll my story takes on them.

I had almost forgotten that I went down and auditioned when on the last day of February, I received an email from the American Heart Association Kansas City inviting me to join the Go Red Ambassadors.  It was so exciting! I have been looking for a way to help spread the message of heart attack risk and this is the perfect venue.  I went to my first meeting a couple of weeks ago and I had the honor of meeting some incredible women. I got to hear their stories and each was as moving as the next.  I think I will feel right at home with this group!  I look so forward to being able to do this.

On another note, my beloved Jayhawks are the number one seed in the South region of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.  Bring on the March Madness and Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

It is 61 days until the Greater Kansas City Heart Walk!  Go Team PPMIS!!