Zachary’s Stocking Now in Progress!
Hello Friends!
It has been way too long since I updated this site…I apologize! I was distracted from all writing as I began to prepare for a speaking engagement with a women’s retreat. It took over all parts of my brain it seems, leaving no room for any other writing. I thought many times of updating, but it seemed my brain could not hold the thoughts long enough to sit down and do it. I apologize and will make every effort from here on out to be more consistent in my postings. The retreat, by the way, went very well and since I now have it completed, will be something I will begin to offer to other women’s groups as we start 2009. So contact me if you think your group might be interested!
I am now working on another presentation for Dirk and I to give in January. It is for a bereaved parent workshop in Atlanta with a wonderful organization called Cure (www.curechildrenscancer.org). This will be a whole new arena for us to speak, but something we have unfortunately, plenty to talk about. I made the connection with this organization through “Unfinished Love.” The executive director read about our story and contacted me to talk more about it. She is an amazing lady with quite a story herself. I am very excited to get to meet their entire staff in January. They have provided so much to families dealing with pediatric cancer in the Atlanta area as well as funding some important research for kids with cancer as well.
As the title to this post indicates, our foundation is in the midst of our Christmas fundraiser - Stockings of Hope. This is the information we distributed that explains this project.
Help us give hope this holiday season.
Less than two short years ago, the Giving Hope Through Faith Foundation began from a simple idea of finding a way to face an empty stocking that belonged to one brave boy, Zachary Tucker who had passed away from a brain tumor. That is when the “Zachary’s Stocking” project was born. It was decided not to let Zach’s stocking hang empty, but instead ask those touched by Zach’s amazing courage and hope to help fill it with gift cards to be given to area families affected by cancer. The response was amazing and the idea grew into the foundation’s mission.
The Giving Hope Through Faith Foundation would like to continue the tradition and invite families or organizations to join us once again in our mission to help families affected by cancer by participating in the 2008 Stockings of Hope Project. You can take part by initiating your own stocking project or contributing to Zach’s stocking and by doing so you will help us give hope to more families in the Tampa Bay area. These stockings can be started in Zach’s memory or dedicated to someone else close to your heart. Giving Hope Through Faith Foundation was established in 2007 to help families that have a member in active treatment for cancer. We are thrilled to have help sixty-nine families since our inception by sending them monthly mailings of at least $100 in gift cards for groceries, fuel and other basics for one year along with messages of encouragement based on God’s promisess in an effort to make the difficult road they are traveling just a little easier. There are many more families on our waiting list and we need your help!
We would love to share a story and photo to honor those loved ones that you may chose to dedicate a stocking to. Special recognition will be given to those able to raise over $1,500 – the amount needed to sponsor one family for an entire year. They will be recognized as “Zachary’s Heroes” and will receive a commemorative ornament in appreciation. Holiday parties, church groups, class projects and office gift giving are perfect opportunities to fill a stocking. We will provide the stocking and giving envelopes. Gift cards, cash and checks are all appreciated donations and are fully tax deductible! To participate in the Stockings of Hope project or to contribute to Zachary’s Stocking please contact Sherry Tucker at 813-685-6773 or contact us through the foundation website at www.givinghopethroughfaith.org. Your donation will help us give many families help when they need it most.
This project has been an amazing way for us to deal with the challenges Christmas brings. It is still difficult to face the holidays, but to know Zach is being remembered and honored by so many who want to help us fill his stocking with donations to help others certainly helps us to get through it all. Thanks again for everyone who helps us out. It means so much to us, more than you will ever know.
How do you define success?
“Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain and accomplish for yourself. It’s really what you do for others that matters.” Herman Edwards
How true is this quote in your mind? Before our journey through brain tumor h#@% and back I don’t know if I would have thought of success in this way. Back then success was all about climbing the corporate ladder and accumulating stuff! What a lesson we have learned! Imagine how excited I was to find out this beautiful nugget of wisdom is being taught to a group of kids at Durant High School.
Dirk and I were approached a few months ago by a friend of a friend who had heard our testimony at the Crossing Church (http://www.crossingonline.org/llywd week one). Coach Jeff told us about a “little” project he and a fellow coach had started with his basketball team last year trying to teach them about success and what it does and does not mean. He asked to help out our foundation, Giving Hope Through Faith, by raising enough funds to cover the expenses of one family ($1,500).
A few weeks ago, the two coaches, Jeff Shotwell and Trent Tice, invited us to join them at a Success 101 meeting to explain the fundraiser to the kids. As I sat and listened to Jeff and Trent teach not only their basketball players, but the cheerleaders and soccer team about the true meaning of success I wanted to put on my cheerleader outfit and do a cheer of praise! Explaining how easy it is to think success is all about what you achieve for yourself, they shared how they had learned through their own experiences how untrue that was - that type of achievement is elusive and filled with pitfalls for those who pursue it. They emphasized how true success is defined by the quality of relationships you have in your life and how you use your abilities to help others that are less fortunate. Their words mirrored the quote above to a “T”!
Hearing them explain how having a nice gym, eight county issued basketballs and their uniforms were all they “needed” for their team. Having warm ups, new shoes, etc were things they might “want” but they certainly didn’t feel they warranted using any of the proceeds from their fundraiser for our foundation - they would give us 100% of the proceeds because they knew the families we help needed food, supplies and gas much more than they needed extras for their teams. Amazing!
Imagine my surprise last Sunday when Dirk tapped me on the shoulder and pulled a wad of cash four inches thick from his pocket! The Success 101 kids had already raised over $1,000 for us and had to order more backpacks to sell in their fundraiser!! There are so many sad, disappointing stories circulating about the loss of values in the kids today - this blows all those stories away. Mark one up for the good guys. There are a bunch of true HEROES walking the halls of Durant High School. Zach must be thrilled to see his Be A Hero wristbands around all their wrists as they learn what true success means in their lives. Thank you Coach Jeff and Trent…and thank you to all the kids for working so hard to help out so many. You all are shining brightly to those around you!
“Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who turn many to righteousness will shine like stars forever.” Daniel 12:3
Living to shine,
Sherry
Remember to join us for the book signing at Books-A-Million this Sunday from 2:00-4:00 pm at the Brandon Town Center Mall. Anyone attending the book club discussion tomorrow night it will start at 6:00 and end at 8:00.
Way behind!!
This post was supposed to have been composed a few weeks ago - I just can’t seem to get myself to slow down enough to sit and write it! There are many things coming up related to the book that I wanted to share with everyone so here goes…
Today I went to tape a small segment related to the book with Spirit FM 90.5 (www.spiritfm905.com). The morning show hosts, Carlos and Abby were kind enough to have me share some thoughts on Zach’s story and the book. They said they would probably air the interview tomorrow (9/18) during the 8:00 am hour - so listen if you are near a radio (or online)!!
A couple of weeks ago, Michelle Bearden, of WFLA 8 and The Tampa Tribune stopped by and interviewed Dirk and I about the journey we have taken the last three years. She touched on both the Foundation and the book so it will be interesting to see where she takes the story. She said the TV portion will air on either Friday, Sept 19 or Sept 26 during the 5:30 news. Her segment usually comes on close to 5:50 pm. Which ever day the TV segment airs, the story in the Trib will run the day after. Michelle and her camera man were wonderful and we are so appreciative they took the time to share our story.
On Thursday, Sept 25, I will be at Joffrey’s Coffee shop (once again) to answer questions related to the book with a book club. I am really looking forward to hearing the questions and sharing some of my thoughts with these ladies.
On Sunday, Sept. 28th, Books-A-Million will be hosting a book signing event for me at the Brandon Mall location from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. Make sure to stop by if you are out shopping. I will be signing books that have been purchased on-line or purchased at their store and they have a supply of books available for purchase in the store (finally a bookstore with my books)! Tell all your friends to come by and help me to make this a successful day for BAM bookstore!
Finally, I will be traveling to Indiana in November to speak at a retreat being held at the First Christian Church in Spencer. The retreat is called “The Treasures in Surrender” and will be held from 9:00 to 3:00 on November 15th at the Christian Life Center. The cost is $15.00 with lunch being served. Everyone is welcome to attend!
So you can see - things have been busy with the book marketing. Dirk and I are also very willing to share our testimony with churches so if you can put in a good word to your pastor, please do and let me know so I can contact them with some information.
Check back in soon…I plan to start writing some devotionals to share on this site.
All for His Glory!
Sherry
Memories of a lifetime
How can non-living objects capture pieces of our mind and place anchors in our hearts? I have been wrestling with this question all weekend as one item on our long weekend agenda was to “destroy” (Lexi’s terminology-she has had a strong desire to break/destroy something for the last three years…wonder why??) the playset that has occupied a space in our backyard for over nine years.
Nine years…that is a longer time than Zach had on this earth. How can that be? The reason it was time for this destruction was the dreaded home owner’s association police discovered our secret after nine years -we had never asked permission to place this playset in our backyard - the crime of all crimes! According to our neighborhood rules and regulations not only can the structure not be seen from the front of the house, BUT it also cannot be seen by our neighbors - something I can tell after nine years they have had trouble dealing with…NOT. Our options - take down the playset or plant very tall bushes around it to take away the eyesore from our neighbor’s view.
We knew the day would eventually come the playset would be taken down, but I guess we would have preferred to pick the time ourselves. So, not wanting to become known as deed restriction violators, we marched to the back yard under Hurricane Gustav overcast, cloudy skies, armed with hammers, sledgehammers and saws to begin the destruction.
I could not help but replay the day Dirk proudly completed building this playset - Zach, (almost two) and Lexi (almost five) could hardly contain their excitement as they climbed the ladder to the play house, slid down the slide and sat in the swings ready to be pushed to the moon! The hours we spent sitting in the sand box with neighborhood friends and taking turns swinging high enough to touch the tree leaves were priceless.
I climbed into the play house for one last look around. Seeing all the kids names…seeing Zach’s name I thought of the last time he came out to play. It was after many months of treatment, he was weak and very skinny, but wanted to join the kids on the swings. I remember being so excited seeing him reach his left had up and grab the chain as I started to push him since he did not often use his left hand after his tumor diagnosis. The tears stung my eyes as I climbed down with a heavy heart.
All these thoughts chased themselves through my mind as Lexi began to swing the slegehammer against each board and they fell, one by one to the damp, muddy ground. I snapped pictures of all the pieces of board that Zach had etched his name or initials on…not wanting to let them go, but knowing holding on to them would really make no difference. It would not bring him back to me or hold the memories any tighter in my mind. We worked all afternoon tearing down a playset that could have easily stood ten more years. Occasionally it would rain, but we kept going. Dirk asked if I thought the rain might be Zach telling us he was sad we were tearing the playset down. I said no, hoping he was off doing something unbelievably exciting instead of watching our sad destruction progress.
Finally, we succeeded in our mission - after one skinned finger for Lexi and a busted blood vessel in Dirk’s hand - the playset was now a meaningless pile of boards. I wonder if the laughter of nine years will echo from them as they lay in a trash pile somewhere? If it does, I know Zach’s will be the loudest…he was always the best belly laugher of the bunch. Oh, how I miss him…Nine years should not be longer than a lifetime.
It’s time!
Everyone get ready, Dirk and Sherry Tucker are making their first talk show debut!!! We had the wonderful opportunity to appear on a locally taped show called “It’s Time for Herman & Sharron” on the CTN network (WCLF - TV 22). This network is shown on channel 3 for Brighthouse subscribers and channel 2 for Verizon Fios subscribers in the Tampa area. Along with sharing our thoughts about Unfinished Love, Dirk was able to experience wearing makeup for the first time in his life! I had to chuckle a few days later when he complained about a zit that appeared and was sure it was from the makeup he had to wear - giving him just a glimpse of the fun that comes with being a woman!
Herman and Sharron were very gracious hosts and asked many detailed questions about the book. They instantly were taken in by the pictures of Zach I shared with them and were so kind in allowing us to visit. Hopefully, I will be able to get the interview posted to this site some time in the near future if you are not able to see it. It is scheduled to air on Monday, August 25th either at 10 am or 5 pm - set your DVR’s if you can’t watch in person!
Another big event coming up is the Cure Kids Cancer Challenge (see www.fastercure.org) on September 13th! This is the second year for this event and is a way to help raise funds for research exclusively for pediatric cancer. Unfortunately, there is not much funding allocated to childhood cancer because 13,000 kids being diagnosed per year is not enough to make it economically feasible for most research companies. That is where the Pediatric Cancer Foundation steps in - they are dedicated to raising funds to finding cures for these kids. So if you are a runner, walker or just passionate about helping kids with cancer sign up for this event. Remember September is National Childhood Cancer awareness month - do something to make others know there is much work to be done for these kids!
Forever in His love,
Sherry
World Traveler
I wanted to rewind a moment and take you all back to the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) that we were able to attend a couple of weeks ago. It was an amazing display of STUFF…books, books and more books and everything that goes with books as well as all the beautiful little trinkets that you find in your favorite Christian store. I was overwhelmed with the shear number of books to the point I began to wonder who would even be interested in my book with so many other choices??? But then, after the initial shock wore off, we were able to meet many of the retail store owners and one by one found that most said there was a great need for a book like Unfinished Love - big relief for me! I was able to get a copy of the book into the hands of various Chrisitian TV show producers - we even have had one call us to schedule an appearance! Dirk and I will be taping a show with a couple that do a show on the CTN network (http://www.ctnonline.com/hs04.html) called the It’s time for the Herman & Sharron Show! We will be taping at their studio on August 14th and I will post when the program will air. I was also able to do an interview with Ruth Dinwiddie with Moody Radio (on 91.1 in Tampa) about the book. She was a wonderful lady and the interview went very well. She was going to try to tell me when it would air so I will pass that along as well.
Each year at this conference they have an event called the “New Release Party” where all the new authors gather in one large room with 150 copies of their books and hundreds of retail buyers flood in to receive a free copy to evaluate and possibly carry in their store. As I sat and signed book after book and shared just a small piece of Zach’s story with each person, the author next to me asked each person where they were from. As I listened I realized Zach’s story was going to be travelling around the world! There were people attending from England, Nigeria, Kenya as well as all over the US and Canada!! It was amazing to think and imagine all the different hands this story will fall into! My prayer is that it will fall into those hands that need it most and the ripples from the Zach Impact will continue to spread as more and more people read the story.
The other thing I learned from attending this conference was that shelf space in retail stores is very limited and the only way my book will make it on to those shelves is by demand. If enough people ask, the bigger stores will have it on hand, otherwise, it will be listed in their online store, but more than likely will not be on their shelves. So spread the word and keep putting those reviews on Amazon (THANKS to all those brave ones who have done this already!). It really makes a difference and will help entice others in reading the story.
Overall, this show was very enlightening in helping me to understand the “world of book selling.” I am so thankful that I have been given this opportunity to share Zach’s story. It is comforting to know his memory will be preserved for years to come and all the lessons that came from his short eight year journey with us will be used to help others and most importantly to glorify our amazing God.
As always, thanks for visiting this site and walking this journey with us. Your messages and e-mails of encouragement mean so much to me and continue to touch my heart every day.
Thanking God for His Love,
Sherry
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Welcome!
Hello! My name is Sherry Tucker and I would like to thank you for coming to visit the Forever Free Blog! Dirk, my husband of twenty-five years and love of my life joins me in welcoming you into our thoughts. We are excited to share our hearts, the latest news and events about the foundation we work with, Giving Hope Through Faith, and my book, Unfinished Love. We would love to hear from you as well so please leave us a comment and let us know what is happening in your lives. Again thanks for taking the time to visit, please have a look around and enjoy your stay!
For more information on our foundation created to assist families facing the challenges of cancer, visit www.GivingHopeThroughFaith.org
