Sunday was one of the most amazing days of my life. Actually, amazing doesn’t seem to properly convey how I truly felt.

Our niece Stephanie Dahlquist had the idea to participate in the ALS Association’s Walk to Defeat ALS and shared it with her sister Ashley and Mark’s sister Patti and together they made a plan to form a team. Their plan started with a small idea but quickly grew to an enormous number of people coming together in a beautiful display of love and charity. With their social media skills and by word of mouth they reached people far and near.

Sunday was such a beautiful sunny day to walk along the banks of the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids. The week before the walk Stephanie, Ashley and Patti decided to sell yellow t-shirts with “Live Simple Love Like Crazy” on the front and “Team Rosemary” on the back. Amazingly almost everyone who walked with Team Rosemary bought a t-shirt which created a bright and beautiful sea of nearly 200 yellow-clad walkers. Half of the money collected for the t-shirts was given to the ALS Association to help with respite care for all those suffering with ALS. Team Rosemary donated close to ten thousand dollars to the effort.

I would like to thank everyone who walked and donated on behalf of myself and my family for your amazing gift of love. We will never forget it.