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Shannon Sanders
and her family suffered a great loss
this year. Brian lost his courageous
battle with cancer. I know he is dearly
missed by many.
R.I.P.
Brian Sanders
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Debi
told me she wanted me to meet a
girl named Shannon who is one of
the swimmers she coaches. What a
great pleasure it has been for me
to meet her and get to know her.
Shannon is one of the nicest, cutest,
mature young ladies I have ever
met. It is hard not to take an immediate
liking to Shannon, a.k.a. Da Bulldog!
She has a spark for the real things
in life like no other. Yet she is
still just a young teenager. Her
spark has been fueled by the fact
that her father has been diagnosed
with terminal cancer. It is not
hard to sense the genuine love this
family embodies. They are like Angels
here on earth. From the first time
I met Brian, I knew that he, too,
had the spark. He appears to just
be a handsome, all American father
and gentleman, but he has the most
amazing aura about him. An aura
of someone who lives with the fear
of an impending death and has been
shown what life is truly all about.
I'll never forget when I heard someone
shout, "Pirate" and when I turned
around to find the source, I was
greeted with a very warm and gentle
hug from Brian. I was truly touched
beyond words from the 'reality'
of that moment. I applaud the Sanders
family for their openness about
their situation, their genuineness,
kindness, courage and strength of
character. The human spirit is amazing
and this family and man embody it.
You are in my prayers forever and
I hope your spirit lives on for
eternity in the hearts of those
you've touched as it will mine!
God
Bless you Brian, Shannon and your
family!
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Thank you Shannon and Brian! |
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What Is It To
Be Scared?
To be scared is
to be lost
Once you enter the world of fears
You can't think
You can't even breathe
Your heart stops
And for that one second
You can't remember anything
All that matters
Is the thing that scares you
And getting away from it
But what happens if the thing you're scared
of
Isn't something you can run away from
Or push aside
What happens when you have to live knowing
That each day when you wake up
That fear will be waiting
And no matter how far away you go
And no matter what you do
That fear will be there
Edging in to cloud your thoughts
Filling your mind with doubt
But no matter how scared you are
Or how tired you are of fighting it
You have to remember fear is natural
Everyone gets scared
Even Moms and Dads
But you don't see them giving up
They fight their fears till they win
So they can show you fear is only an emotion
And like any emotion it can be turned into motivation
To power great accomplishments
And when you achieve your goal
And you master your fear
Someday you might give someone else the strength
To fight their fear
And the motivation to reach their goals
--Shannon Sanders
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What is Luck?
Luck
isn't when you win the lottery
Nor
is it horseshoes and four leaf clovers
Luck
is when you can wake up each morning
with a smile
So
many people take for granted what
they have
And
pity themselves for what they don't
Instead
look closely at what you do have
And
pity those who don't have that
When
you start to think
"Man,
I've got it tough," take a look
around you
Think
of those people who would give anything
to
be
as lucky as you
And
maybe then you'll understand
Luck
isn't money
It's
family
It's
life
It's
health
It's
love
--Shannon
Sanders
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Shannon Sanders, Da Bulldog and
Bob Bowers,
Da Pirate |
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HIV positive speaker
and
AIDS activist Bob
Bowers, One Tough Pirate,
also known simply as
"Da
Pirate,"
has been
living with
and surviving
HIV/AIDS for 26
years.
Bob
started as a
youth HIV/AIDS
educator
with
peer education
programs in Los
Angeles shortly
after his diagnosis.
To broaden his
personal message of
prevention through
education,
hope and
awareness of the
disease,
Bob founded the
nonprofit
HIV/AIDS educational
organization,
HIVictorious, Inc.
in 2005.
HIVictorious
addresses
youth HIV/AIDS
education and
prevention
and provides
AIDS awareness in
Madison, Wisconsin
and throughout the
United States
through Bob's public
speaking and it's
AIDS awareness
poster contest,
"What
if it Were You?"
Mr. Bowers
long-term survivor
of HIV/AIDS,
and someone who has
lost dozen of
friends to AIDS,
Bob is
wholeheartedly
committed to
educating today's
youth and young
adults,
about the realities
of
HIV/AIDS
as well as
living with AIDS
long-term.
Mr. Bowers
is a champion for
hope and survival
despite some of the
difficult
circumstances that
we ALL face in life. |
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"Compassion is our cure."
~Bob Bowers |
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Copyright © 2000-2010
www.onetoughpirate.com One Tough
Pirate Productions (OTP)
Madison, Wisconsin All rights reserved |
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