Love and Georgia

On July 7th, we lost my parents' best friends of 52 years - and my second parents - in a car accident. Johnny and Beverly helped raise my brother and me, and they were part of every important moment in our lives, and many, many of the everyday moments, too. They were by our side the day Georgia was diagnosed, and they were incredible supporters of our advocacy and fundraising efforts. We were able to start the Georgia and the Peachy Keens Hero Fund due in large part to their generosity, and I loved sharing with them the good work their donations were funding. Their loss leaves a huge hole in our hearts and in our family, but we love them and know they will always be a part of our lives and a part of our mission to end childhood cancer.

One thing I know Johnny and Beverly are so proud of is Georgia's success in school and her future plans. The college search has kicked in to high gear. In the last two weeks, she toured Trinity University in San Antonio and Southwestern University in Georgetown, and she's currently ensconced at the Savannah College of Art of Design in Savannah, Georgia. We had to reschedule our roadtrip and will visit Tulane in the fall, but we did spend a nice weekend together in Savannah, and she checked in to the dorm yesterday. Savannah is beautiful, and SCAD is very inspiring and impressive. She'll be taking classes in Acrylic Painting and Building Preservation this week and getting a real feel for the school. It was hard to leave her after the week we'd had, but I'm so excited for her and grateful for this wonderful opportunity - for which she earned a scholarship based on her portfolio. A working artist already!

Yeah, she liked it a little. : )

Pink 2.0

Throughout Georgia's journey, we've always tried to find and focus on the positive in every step. For example, remember that color poll we created in the first weeks after her diagnosis? The winner was PINK, and the result was this:

Georgia was SO excited to surprise everyone at the clinic the next day, and then she was ready to let go of the rest of her hair, telling us to "shave it off already!" Instead of being traumatized by the experience, she took control and actually had some fun with it - and she never looked back.

So seven years later, after once again going bald on her own terms, Georgia also decided to go PINK one more time! And here's that result:

PINK 2.0!

 The process was just a wee bit more involved this time around. She started with the Draco Malfoy:

Then these gold feathers:
 

 Then this superhero look: 

And voila!

Georgia LOVES it, if only for a month (not exactly in line with the school dress code : )), and we love that she's able to bookend the last seven years in such a bright(!) and positive way. Pretty in pink, indeed.