Very Behind On Posting....

....but hopefully will catch up soon.

I have a great friend, Tina, who has really helped me become more involved with community events. Relay for Life and now Go Red For Women! If you didn't know, February is Go Red For Women month.
One of Tina's dearest friends and co-worker, Rebecca Herrick, pasted away a couple years ago from heart disease. As Tina shared the story and history of her dear friend, I was shocked to find that she was just like me. Early 30's, active, mother of two young children and unaware that her heart was in danger.

Please spread the word this month to all of the women in your life. Take a minute and visit the Go Red for Women website and take the short quiz. If you would like to wear a Go Red pin, you can purchase one from me for $5 (I can mail them). All monies will go to the Go Red for Women American Heart Association! The little red pin attracts a lot of attention, which causes awareness to the disease. You can make a difference!

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Article written in the Tracy Press, February 13, 2008

In Teacher's Memory

Those who knew her considered 36-year-old Rebecca Herrick an unlikely candidate for a heart attack. But last September, the healthy, energetic sixth-grade teacher died when her heart suddenly stopped.

Unknowingly, Herrick suffered from heart disease — the nation’s leading killer of women. When she died, she left behind two kids of her own, an entire class and co-workers at Kelly Elementary School to mourn her loss.

So when February, named Heart Health Month by the American Heart Association, rolled around, a teacher and the school’s leadership class organized a fundraiser in Herrick’s memory.

Teacher and friend Tina Brown, who had worked closely with Herrick, started selling paper valentine hearts, red pins and red bracelets to raise money for the American Heart Association. By mid-month, the class raised $750.

“It’s just tragic — so shocking,” school secretary Sue Edmiston, Brown’s mom, said today. “Here’s this healthy, fit woman, with no family history of heart problems, and like that she’s gone. But I’m extremely proud of my daughter, who was such a good friend to Rebecca. This fundraiser has been very helpful in her healing.”

During announcements every morning, leadership students offer heart health tips. Walls in the school’s administration office are covered in the paper hearts the class tapes up every time someone donates.

Brown and Herrick first met five years ago, when they first got assigned to teach a class together.

“She was hilarious; she could always make you laugh,” Brown remembered. “And she loved to write; the students remember that about her.”

Leading her students to focus on heart health has been a healing experience for Brown, she said.

“It’s good. It feels good to take such a sad and unfortunate situation and try to make something good from it,” she said. “It was just this reminder that we all have to take care of ourselves.”