From our very first breaths, Mikey was my teammate and taught me we’re better off working together
I guess it all starts with this picture, two babies lying together. What you can’t see is that we are lying on a small scale, born so tiny and premature that when our weights were added together, we totaled all of 7.5 pounds. From our very first breaths, Mikey was my teammate and taught me…
Holidays Re-Thunk
Over the last 22 months, many people re-evaluated their work-life, how they spend their time, and how they move and live in the world. If a gift of the pandemic is people realizing the preciousness of their life and the life of those they love, we hope the next step is people realizing the preciousness…
The Story of Swifty
This story begins in the wildly inventive, clever, gentle, tumor-ridden brain of a fourteen-year-old boy from Woodridge, Illinois. On a September afternoon in 2012, Michael Gustafson woke up from a nap with an idea. He was going to donate his body to science “so that no other child would have to go through” what he…
Beads of Courage
Today is Mardi Gras… images of parades, King Cakes, wild parties and those ubiquitous beads are all around. For me, the Mardi Gras beads bring to mind another set of beads… Beads of Courage. Until Mikey got sick, I had no idea Beads of Courage existed. But they do. And they mean so much to…
January 2021 Reflections
It’s January 13th, exactly 2 months since we started this trial back in November, joking about it being a “Novel Approach” to start a fundraising campaign on Friday the 13th. However, there was nothing unlucky about it because we SURPASSED our goal, raising $272,977 dollars thanks to your generosity and support. So the TNF Immunotherapy Trial…
Golfing For A Cause
The air is getting crisper, the days are getting shorter, leaves are changing color and that means…. boy’s golf and the District 203 Mikey Gustafson/Connor Hunt Match Play Cup! (Formerly called the Ryder Cup.) The Match Play has been a tradition since 2014 as a way for the NNHS golf team to honor the loss…
Our Class of 2020
In the past, May always meant tulips, breaking out the lawn furniture and graduations. Covid-19 hasn’t stopped the tulips or kept us from sitting outside (albeit 6 feet apart), but for the Class of 2020 graduations have been cancelled or hopefully, only postponed. In the meantime, there is a lot of sadness, disappointment and uncertainty…
Light That Seeps Through a Broken Heart
I can’t tell you how often people are dumbfounded on how I can so enjoy working with a pediatric brain cancer foundation, especially one focused on post-mortem tissue donation. I guess they imagine the sadness and loss that these families endure and assume it permeates their lives and my work. That couldn’t be further from…
Growing During Isolation – And the smell of fresh baked bread!
Fear, uncertainty, disruption, crisis these are the words swirling around us these days. It’s hard not give in to despair. I can’t stop this virus, however I can share what I learned while caring for my son, Michael when he was stuck at home sick with cancer.
Why Swifty matters?
As a Kennedy Junior High school counselor, I have met hundreds of families and thousands of students! My first introduction to the Gustafson Family began with Ian. He proved to be a fabulous student and a kind, caring young man! Then along came Michael and Bridget…of course, I had heard about Michael’s cancer diagnosis and…
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