January 1 - Dear Nicholas Sparks

Dear Nicholas Sparks,

I bet you are probably wondering about this blog with your name on it.  Or maybe not, as you're probably not reading strange blogs on-line.  But this one is named for you so I'm crossing my fingers here.

This is what this blog is all about (and what's going on this blog in the About This Blog page):

Why?

This blog was created in high hopes that one crazy mom, along with other crazy parents and friends, can implore author Nicholas Sparks to write a book about a family dealing with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) to raise awareness of this birth defect that affects 1600 babies each year in the United States. CDH takes the lives of 800 of these children. The cause is unknown and there is little awareness and virtually no research funding. One book by Mr. Sparks that includes CDH can open doors to save the lives of 1000's of these children.  

Who?

I'm Dawn Williamson, mom to Shane. Shane was born with CDH in 1993 and lost his battle in 1999. In 1995, I started a charity, CHERUBS, that has helped over 5000 families in 60 countries. But after 20 years and still no awareness and funding for these children, we need to up our game to end this horrible condition.   This blog is my crazy idea but will be dependent on the input of many other CDH families.

Goal?

To convince Mr. Sparks to meet with us and hear our request to write a book about a family affected by CDH.  Why would he be interested? Because we are based in North Carolina, all of our stories are about a great struggle and loss and lots of love and hope despite it all. And because Mr. Sparks is a man who believes in helping children.  

To be clear, we are only asking Mr. Sparks to meet with us.  We are not here to harass anyone or tell Mr. Sparks what to write about in his own books (clearly, he doesn't need our help!). 

This blog is the only way we could think of for a little ole mom from North Carolina to get a meeting with a famous author and share a dream on behalf of the 1000's of families affected by CDH.


Isn't This A Bit Crazy?

Maybe. Maybe this blog is one grieving mom's desperate attempt to remember her son and make something good come from loss.  Maybe it's the result of 20 years of frustration in trying to stop the CDH monster and screaming into the wind trying to get the world to listen.  Maybe this blog is a bit silly, too hopeful, too ambitious. But every dream starts off a little bit silly, too hopeful and too ambitious.  

What's the Plan?

To write a letter to Mr. Sparks every single day of 2015. There will be guest bloggers, posts about the charity, stories of some of these families. In the end, whether Mr. Sparks meets with us, writes a book, there's a major motion picture... or not... we will raise CDH Awareness and maybe, just maybe, a few more people will learn about these children.

More awareness = more research = more CDH survivors.

What do we have to lose by trying, right?

So, that's it!  The worse that can happen is that you don't see this blog and/or don't respond.  We at least have to try.

Sincerely,
Dawn Torrence Williamson

mom to Shane (1/28/93-9/11/99)
founder of CHERUBS
Wake Forest, NC