“Reason this person is a Gold Ribbon Hero: My mom is a nurse practitioner, a very successful university professor, a writer, and the parent of my little brother who is a brain cancer survivor. With all of that, she did not hesitate, she walked away from her career and she put her life into taking care of my brother and helping others who are not just experiencing this tragic disease but who are experiencing any of life’s challenges. She is a true warrior in the fight against childhood cancer in her daily life. She explains she educates, she supports and she is an advocate for  encouraging donations and funding to  preventing and finding a cure! She has began writing children’s Christian fantasies about a terrible disease that these magical children are faced with that teaches love, loyalty, family, and most of all faith in God. She has written the first two novels in the series and is working on the third. She is always helping someone in some form or another and she spends the entire month of September speaking  to spread awareness of childhood cancer. She has touched so many lives, and when she goes back to my brother’s treatment facility for his follow-up care, she gives her book away for free to the families and anyone who wishes to read it! I can’t begin to tell you how amazing she is, and how many people love and appreciate her. It is hard having to share her with so many people, but I am proud to say she is my mom!” – Logan W.