RAISING AWARENESS!!!

Hello Crusaders! I must apologize again for not posting recently. I have been very busy and very emotional. I am trying to get myself back in the swing of posting. I am very excited about some of the things that are happening right now. Carter's Crusaders is currently applying for our 501(3)(c)status. For those that do not know, this is the IRS status for a non-profit organization. Skip and I and our family and closest friends are determined to do as much as we can to raise awareness and funds for research so that a cure can be found for the monster that took our precious Carter-Man from us. We do not want another child, family, or community to go through what we have been through. THIS HAS BECOME OUR LIFE MISSION!!!!

There are several great things going on. We are currently trying to team up with other foundations in the area to promote more awareness and more funds for families going through the battle and for research. We have already teamed with Fredericksburg Event Syndicate to promote awareness. They are a wonderful organization and are trying to help us in our fight!!! We need you to join us in this fight, as well!!! Below is a list of events that are currently going on and in the works. Please try and come out and support us in our fight!!



EVERY FRIDAY THROUGH AUGUST- AWARENESS FRIDAYS AT SMOKEY BONES IN CENTRAL PARK

Please come out to Smokey Bones on Friday nights to help us in our crusade!!! There is a great music from DJ THE DON, raffles, door prizes, and more!!! I hope to see you all there!!!



GOLF TOURNAMENT

The annual golf tournament will be held on October 7th at Lee's Hill Golf Course. Please contact Chuck Harris at 891-0111 or 408-3611. This will be a wonderful event....raffles, t-shirts, prizes, and more!!!!


FALL DANCE

I am currently trying to organize a dance in the Fall. I am going to try and team with other organizations in the area to set this up. Once I have a venue and a date, I will let you all know!!!


Thank you again for your continued support!!!

With Much Love,

The Harris Family

6 months ago today......

Six months ago today, our lives changed. A piece of our hearts was removed, never to be replaced again, never to be healed. It hurts, as if there was an actual removal from our bodies....as if we truly had surgery and there was pain except that this pain is much deeper than any pain from a surgery. This pain will never go away. There is a scar, a scar that will not fade or be gone. It will remain on our hearts forever...never to be changed. The pain of losing a child is like no other....we are forever changed. We love and miss Carter more than any words could ever express. With each passing day, the reality becomes more apparent that he is not here with us and the fog is lifted. Reality sets in each morning and yet we are forced to move on and live the day as it is presented to us. And we do it...we do it as best we can for ourselves and for our Sweet Caroline. We have been asked to walk this path and we will do so as best we can. No matter how much time passes, it will never change. We will just learn different coping mechanisms and strive to make Caroline's life as normal as possible. The way it should have been, as if Carter had never been diagnosed with DIPG. We continue to keep his memory alive so that she will never forget him and that the memories of him are as fresh as the day we made them. We pray to our Almighty Lord to assist us in keeping his memories alive in our hearts and Caroline's. Please continue to pray with us...we need the prayers as much today as we did 6-12 months ago.

We have yet again been reminded of how precious life is. Skip's grandfather passed away last Tuesday. We are now in Florida to celebrate his life. We are with family and although we are so very heartbroken for having to be here for this reason, we are thankful for the time we are spending with our family. I have met some of Skip's family that I have never met and yet they have followed Carter's story since Day 1. I am so thankful for the opportunity to meet such marvelous people. I hate that it is under such awful circumstances but at the same time I have learned to treasure every moment...good or bad. Skip and I have had quite a year and a half. I lost my Papa in January 2009, my Grandaddy in September 2009, our sweet Carter-Man in December 2009, and Skip's grandfather now. And we continue to go on..we continue to praise God for all of the blessings and believe it or not, they do exist. Somedays, they are not completely apparent but they are there. Because of family, we were blessed to be able to take Caroline to Sea World yesterday. It was another bittersweet day....we had a wonderful time but the absence of Carter was there and we missed his precious smile and contagious laughter! We know he was there but boy how we wish we could see him and share all of the laughs we had with him! Nontheless, it was fun and Caroline had a blast!

UPDATES

The event at the Fairgrounds was wonderful! It was a thank you event for all of the support we received and also an awareness event to make everyone aware that we are still going strong. For a small event and one that was not intended to raise a large amount of money, we raised almost $1,000. After the cost of the event is deducted, we will be splitting the rest between The Cure Starts Now and Just One More Day. For any future events, we will do the same.

The Carter's Crusaders golf tournament has been rescheduled. It will be held on October 7, 2010. We are also thinking of doing a silent auction, as well. If you are able to help in any way, please let me know. My email is
courtieharris2@gmail.com. If you would like to register for the tournament, please call Chuck Harris at Lee's Hill Golf Tournament at 891-0111 or 408-3611. We need all of the support and these foundations that we donate to are wonderful. They are paving the way to a cure for DIPG. Please visit their sites for more information:

www.thecurestartsnow.org
www.justonemoreday.org


Thank you to everyone for your continued love, support, and prayers!

Love,

Courtney

Thank You Event- June 5th- Fredericksburg Fairgrounds

Good Morning, All!!! I hope that you all have great plans for the Memorial Day Weekend. Please remember to pray for all of our military families and to thank a soldier for serving and protecting our country- THANK YOU, MARK HARRIS for protecting and serving our country!!!!

I wanted to make everyone aware of a FREE event that will take place on June 5th at the Fredericksburg Fairgrounds from 12-4. This event is to thank everyone for their wonderful support during Carter's fight with DIPG. It is also to raise awareness to this awful disease and the numerous other brain tumors. There will be lots of fun things and many vendors. There will be a band, a Karaoke contest, clowns, face painting, moon bounces, and more! Bring the whole family for a fun filled event! Donations are accepted and all donations received will be split between The Cure Starts Now and Just One More Day. Both of these foundations are very near and dear to our hearts. We hope to see everyone there! Come out and help us raise awareness so that together we can find a CURE!!!!!!!

UPDATE ON GOLF TOURNAMENT: I should have posted this some time ago but life has been crazy! The golf tournament was postponed until late September or early October. When a definite date is set, I will be sure and let everyone know!!!!
Thank you to everyone for your continued support!

May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month

Good evening, Crusaders! Again, I apologize for the lack of postings. I sit down at night and try and post and I just can't. Reality has really set in here lately. I feel as though it is getting more difficult than easier. Some days I feel like Carter has been away and I think..okay I am ready for him to come home now. I am ready for him to crawl in the bed with me and snuggle. I want to stand at my kitchen window and look outside and see him running and playing in the yard. I want him to see how big Caroline has gotten and how much she has changed. I know he knows more than we know, but I want him here. I want to watch his first tee ball game, I want to watch him swim this summer. I want him to constantly ask me, "Mom, how many more days until we leave for vacation?" (This started in January..lol). I long to here his voice and kiss his sweet face. I long to hold him in my arms. I long to wrap him in favorite frog bath towel and warm him up after his bath. There are so many more and I am sure the list will only grow. I see children losing their teeth, learning to read more and more, doing homework, playing sports on the weekend, playing with their siblings and it breaks my heart.....I want my Carter to have all of the pleasures of this world. Although it angers me, I remind myself that he is in the glory land and that he will NEVER know any of the evils or pains of this world. Please do not misunderstand, I have not lost my faith but I am only human and I miss my son, my first born child. I pray everyday for God to forgive me for being angry and for him to remove the anger from my heart and some days are great but others are just plain miserable. I have learned to deal with these days better and I get through them and I try and stay strong for Skip and Caroline. Skip has very rough days and I know that he needs me just as I need him on the very rough days. It normally works out that when I am having a rough day, he is better and vice versa...isn't it funny how God works? Sometimes I look around and everyone is doing what they have always done..their lives are the same. They have moved on (not that they do not miss Carter because I know that they do) but they have their lives as they always have. I know you are not supposed to feel jealousy but I have to say that sometimes I am jealous..jealous that their lives are as they have always been and that mine will NEVER again be the same. But as I have said, I pray for the jealousy to be gone and for God to speak to my heart and guide me in the right direction and he does...he always picks me up when I am down. And although I have bad days, he continues to bless me in many ways. Some days I have to look for the blessings but they are always there. I do not mean to sound so down and so negative but this is the life..the life of a parent who has lost a child. Will it change? Will I ever not think about what he would be doing? I doubt it...maybe I will just learn to deal with it better! Please continue to pray for us!!!

On to another note..May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month. Please wear Grey for the month and think of Carter. Please spread the word and make people aware. That is what we need.....AWARENESS!!!! I have added Carter to the Wall of Courage. The website is www.wallofcourage.com. If you go to the site and go to Gallery of Kids, you can click on the letter "C" and scroll down...you will see his precious face. If you click on his picture and look to the right, you will see a larger picture and a part that says Click Here for this Child's Gear. You can click here and a list of items will come up. There are many items for purchase with Carter's picture on it. 100% of the proceeds go to research for Pediatric Brain Tumors. Please take the time and look at the items and if youa re able, place an order. SPREAD THE WORD!!!! TELL CARTER'S STORY!! It is the only way that we can find a cure! Thank you so much for your continue love and support!!!

Love to you all,

Courtney

Still Crusading.....

Good evening all!! I apologize for the lack of postings but as you can imagine, life has been a little crazy. I promise for an "official" update within the next couple of days. I want everyone to know that Carter's Crusaders is still in existence. We plan on being around for a long time to help others fight the horrible disease that our Carter-Man had. We are in the planning stages of some events. The first event will be what will now be considered The Annual Carter's Crusaders Golf Tournament. It will be held on May 20th at Lee's Hill Golf Course. Please come out and support us and our Carter-Man as we continue our fight against this disease. All of the funds will be distributed among 3 different foundations...The Cure Starts Now, Just One More Day, and St. Baldrick's. Please contact Chuck Harris at Lee's Hill- 540-891-0111.

I promise for an update on how we are doing soon!!!

Much Love,

Courtney

Pictures from St. Baldrick's event

I wanted to share some of the pictures from the St. Baldrick's event. I hope that you all enjoy them as much as we enjoyed the event. Also, it is not too late to register for the Race for Hope in DC under Carter's Crusaders. I will also be posting more about the Golf Tournament at Lee's Hill on May 20th, where all proceeds will be distributed among three different foundations....The Cure Starts Now (www.thecurestartsnow.org), Just One More Day (www.justonemoreday.org), and St. Baldrick's (www.stbaldricks.org).























To all of the Shavees: I am so grateful to all of you for shaving in memory of Carter-Man. I know how proud he is of all of you. Skip and I are truly blessed to have friends and family like you all!!! You all have made our burden lighter and for that we are thankful. You were there for us through Carter's battle and you are still here....battling on with us!! We love and appreciate all that you have done and continue to do!!!!


Love to you all,

Courtney

Annual Golf Tournament- May 20th at Lee's Hill

Good Morning, all! I want to first thank all of the Carter's Crusaders for supporting us at the St. Baldrick's event. The turnout was awesome and the support from family and friends is still amazing! I am going to post some pictures later today from the event. Several people shaved in memory of Carter-Man, including two ladies, Ashley Thacker and Krystal Kennedy. You all are awesome! I know our Carter-Man was shining down on us!

I wanted to give everyone a heads up. Lee's Hill Golf Club will be hosting the 2nd Annual Carter's Crusaders Golf Tournament. Last years tournament was a HUGE success. I hope that this year is even better. The date of the tournament is May 20th. I will be posting more details as soon as they are ready. If you would like to register you can contact Chuck Harris at 540-891-0111. The proceeds from the event will be split between The Cure Starts Now, St. Baldrick's, and Just One More Day. These foundations are very near and dear to our hearts. Please come out and continue our fight with us. We are still crusading for our Carter-Man!!!!

If you would like to volunteer at the event, please contact me at courtieharris2@gmail.com.

Again, thank you for your continued support! We are so very blessed to have so many people that are continuing our fight with us!

Love,

Courtney