Mission Accomplished

It's been a process.
It started with a dream, and through the kindness of the most amazing woman I have ever met it became a possibility. It was a project, and through the crushing adversity of a family member it became a mission. It was a hobby, and through the dedication and inspiration of some incredible men and women it became a new way of life.
I'll be the first to admit I had my moments of doubt... but it was all worth it. Whether is was the sparkle of hope in a sick child's eyes, the support and encouragement of my friends, the soothing words of my ever loving (and ever patient) girlfriend, or the cold, dark, glossy glare of the Dark Lord- the fire never went out.

When this is your boss, you don't get lazy.

Thanks are in order.

A HUGE thanks to Timothy Boyle for all of his help (and putting me up... and putting up with me... and all the laughs and Muppet xmas carols) and also "Mom" and "Dad" for all their hospitality. I am in your debt, and I won't forget the kindness and patience you have shown me in the last few months. You guys are the best. Also thanks to Troy Gentry, who was instrumental not only in the construction of my armor but in integrating me into the group, as well as Paul Button and Rick Russo and family. You guys made my first experiences with the legion positive and memorable... and hilarious.

Thanks to my family and friends, who have supported me all along and my bosses and co-workers for putting up with my time off requests and constant ranting about plastic weld and ABS.

Thanks to the incredible Whitney Hayes for all the patience, all the encouragement, and all the love. You've made my dreams come true, in every way imaginable.

Thanks to my Dad, for fighting hard and being there to get the call. 

I'm In. I did it. And it's all thanks to all of you.

Hail to the Empire

TK-66613

Troop For The Cure

Thanksgiving

It's been a tough few weeks for a retail veteran like myself, busy with preparing for the coming sales onslaught that is the weekend after thanksgiving and frankly the entire month of December. It's been a struggle (more so than it already is) to balance my many duties and priorities between work, the troop, family, and friends. Add to this the difficult situation of my fathers illness and you've got a level of stress that only a Jedi could survive without force choking someone to death.


I've tried to make a concious effort this holiday season to keep at the forefront of my mind what really matters to me: taking the time to see and care for my father. Advancing the Troop for the cure cause. Showing my friends and family just how much I appreciate them. So to keep true to that I've prepared a list of things I am thankful for.

I am thankful to the ever helpful and ever vigilant troops of the 501st, who have given my life new purpose this year. You have shown me the power of the human spirit and moved me beyond words. I am especially thankful to Tim Boyle and Troy Gentry for their limitless patience and diligence in helping me build my armor. I barely know you guys but you have accepted me and treated me only as true friends would.

I am thankful for my co-workers, the most talented group of misfits I have had the pleasure of working with. Whether its making burgers or hocking t-shirts, you see it on the front lines every day, and without your humor, support, and co-miseration I could not do what I do.

I am thankful for my wonderful girlfriend Whitney. She sees it all. She is the one who has to pick up what's left when I am spent, physically and emotionally. She is the one that has to watch me go out the door tired and sick and come home destroyed. She is the one who brings me back from the edge,  who makes me laugh when the world seems like a hopeless place. She is the light of my life and without her none of this would be possible. I love you Whitney.

Lastly I am thankful for my family. For my Mom's tireless efforts to keep the ship afloat. For my brother for being there for them when I can't and backing them up the whole way. And for my dad for hanging in there for all of us.

-TFTC

Hairy Situation

My Dad has always been jealous of my hair.

He's probably laughing while reading this. But it's true. He has always commented on how I had my Great-Grandfathers hair, dark, wavy, and incredibly thick. He's also always mentioned that my Great Granddad also died with a full head of hair, which might seem inconsequential to some people. People who have a full head of hair.

Laugh it up, fuzzball.

 Now my Dad's not spear bald. He's thinning on top. He wears it well. I think it gives him an air of wisdom and experience. But I'm sure it has not escaped him that my hair hasn't even hinted at starting to thin out. He's also brought up on more than one occasion that I seem to be mocking him with my hair. You see, I wear my hair in a Mohawk, where as he's thinning on top. He's joked a few times that I cut it that way just to prove I have hair where he doesn't. 

Well, at least I think he was joking.

My hair has been a center of focus since my high school days, when I used to wear it in gigantic conical liberty spikes.  I had it pretty well down to a science, making sure all the spikes were set at certain angles and whipping it up with a cocktail of hairgel (for hardness) and hairspray (for hold). It was a lot of fun, but extremely high maintenance. In my college days I opted for a more permanent, less maintenance hairstyle and lost the sides. The result was a Cliff Burton / Mike Patton style long Mohawk that I usually wore down and as long as I could grow it. It was extremely handy for my metal band Empyrean, and I had a good time whipping it around, wetting it down with water and soaking the front row, doing windmills, and occasionally getting it caught in guitar tuning knobs or swallowing it and having to pull it out of my throat while singing.

Epic. Metal. Hair.

It's a common side effect of chemotherapy to experience hair loss  and well, today was the day Dad got his head shaved. He would probably never admit it but I know he's been dreading it. So today I leveled the playing field for him and did the deed. 

My magical metal mohawk of mayhem is going in the mail and headed to Locks For Love, so it can be sewn into a wig for children undergoing chemotherapy treatments just like my Dad. I hope he can take comfort in the fact that some kids day just got a little bit more comfortable, and it's all because of him. 

If you would like to donate hair to Locks of Love, you can follow this link for instructions and to find out more about what they do: http://www.locksoflove.org/donate.html

-TFTC

Ups and Downs

This was a strange week.

My Dad entered the Hospital on Monday and got his high-dosage chemo treatment, followed on Wednesday by his stem cell transplant. Out of an abundance of caution due to illness in my vicinity and his diminished immune system, I couldn't see him this week until I finally got a chance to visit on Thursday when I was sure I was not sick.
Tuesday night was a bad night for him, as he was struggling with nausea from the intense chemotherapy. I texted him some words of encouragement and thanked him for going through all of this, because I know he's primarily doing it for us. This was his response:

"Thank you for your kind words. You, Mom, and Mike have certainly enriched my life far beyond anything I could have imagined. The kindness, love, and concern you have given me are a great source of strength. I am very proud that she and I have raised two young men who are very intelligent and talented. But I am most proud that we helped instill love, compassion, and strength in you that make you the men you've become. Always remember that when things look hopeless that you are blessed with the intellect, strength  and support to overcome and actually grow wiser. I love you, Dad."

If only this conversation had gone so well.

I finally got to see my Dad on Thursday, the day after his new birthday (to see what I'm talking about read my post "Happy Birthday Dad") and he seemed to be doing well, despite his continued nausea. His moral was very high and he was comfortable. We talked for about an hour and I updated him on what was going on in my life and he did the same. It was good so see him doing well. I gave him a bumper sticker for the link to this blog and headed home. Before I got there he called me to thank me for everything I had done.

I explained to him that this was really all of his doing- that the will to do what it takes to make the world better, even just a little bit, was a value he had instilled in me, a value he had exemplified throughout his life as my father and my role model. That all of this was being done so that he could know that if and when he left this world we would still be here, doing good in his name. And then I reminded him that his life wasn't over yet, and I looked forward to spending the rest of it making him proud.


Dad's condition seems to be holding strong, mine however has not. I am prone to nasal and throat infections, especially around the holidays, and for those of you not in the retail profession, yes we are in the holidays.
This is especially disheartening as it means there is no way I can see my father until I have completely recovered.It doesn't however preclude me from doing other things, so I chose to spend my Saturday working on the armor. I got up early (at my girlfriends insistence) and got down to cutting and welding. In the middle of this process I was interrupted by Kelly, my Mom's next door neighbor, with the terrible news that her Husband had passed in the night.

Richard Lilly was a good man, husband and father, who has been struggling with cancer almost as long as I have known him. Before Troop For The Cure ever existed my brother Michael and I had leveraged our fan base from our band Empyrean to help us locate O- blood donors to help him with a much needed transfusion, and this event was one of the stepping stones that has directed me down this path.We are all very saddened to see him go.

On a plus side for the day, I completed my armor enough to make a surprise visit to the Birthday Party for Victor Shea, son of my good friends Melanie and Steven Shea. Steven's father also passed away a few years back from cancer, and his efforts in raising money for the cause have also been inspirational to me to do this project. Steven has been a good friend and very supportive through all this with helpful insight and generous donation, and It made me happy do be able to do something special for him in return.

Plus his Kid is frigging adorable.

I think one of the most beautiful things about the 501st is it's ability to inspire people. It touches me at my most innocent of places, reaches back into the simplest, happy times in my life, and tells me to do better- to be better than I am and make the world a better place, through volunteerism, through charity, and one smile at a time. Those smiles become very important for people who are stricken with these illnesses, and for the people around them as well, because happiness even at is simplest is infectious and distracting. After all, what is the point of all this work to prolong life if you don't get those simple moments of enjoyment out of it?

-TFTC
TK- 75%

Happy Birthday Dad!

This Halloween is my fathers birthday.

Not his original birthday, mind you. It's his new birthday.

For the record, droids don't eat cake. But they can bake them!

I'm sure you're confused, because I was at first. Before I go on, let me preface my explanation with a description of the process in which my father's multiple myeloma is being treated, taken from the American Cancer Society's website:

"Autologous stem cell transplant:
This type of transplant uses the patient's own blood-forming stem cells. These transplants are fairly safe and have a low risk of serious complications. To collect the patient's stem cells, often the drug cyclophosphamide and a white blood cell stimulating drug are given. Then blood-forming stem cells are removed from the patient's blood by a process called leukapheresis. In this process, blood is removed from the patient or donor, the stem cells are separated by a machine, and then the blood is returned to the patient. In some patients, the stem cells come from their bone marrow.
The stem cells are preserved by being frozen while the patient receives high-dose chemotherapy. This chemotherapy destroys almost all the cells in the patient's bone marrow. This includes the blood-forming stem cells as well as plasma cells. After the chemo, the frozen stem cells are given back to the patient. Stem cells are given IV (in a vein) like a blood transfusion. They travel to the bone marrow and start to grow and make new blood cells."

Pretty neat, right? It's still an experimental process, but it seems to be getting good results. It is however not without it's risks. You see, when you are given this high-dose chemotherapy, it doesn't just kill the cancer cells- it kills a lot of other things too, like stomach microbes that aid in digestion, and most notably, it kills your immune system. This can be problematic because you are basically of the same fragility as a newborn baby, susceptible to illness and infection that normal adults have built up an immunity too. It's like setting back the clock of your bio-chemistry to day one and re-building your immunities all over again.

In the business they call this your new birthday.

The family has some great plans lined up for my Dad's new Birthday. My brother has made him a special surprise. My Momgot him a giant walking skeleton balloon for Halloween.

I'm giving him a bumper sticker with a link to this blog.

Shameless plug warning: Buy one!

A few weeks back I finally made the trek up to Ocala to go to the Makaze squad Armor party. I was very excited to meet the garrison and make some new friends that were as big of nerds as I was about Star Wars. But mostly I was excited to get my armor done. I rolled up around 7:30 after a long day at work with my gear packed into cases and my tools in a big black tool box. I didn't need them. The place was fully equipped and decked out with every tool imaginable, food, huge work spaces, and Star Wars memorabilia that would make any fan boy teary-eyed. (It was less of an armor party and more of an armor factory!) I got the tour and made the rounds meeting the guys (and gals) and found out that I was late- like 12 hours late. Evidently these things start early in the morning and go very late into the evening. After a while chatting I went out to my van and grabbed my kit so the troops could look it over.

At first I think they were impressed by how far I'd gotten, which made me feel good because I was anxious to get going "trooping for the cure". I had heard stories about what these guys could do, and was told that sometimes they could put together whole kits in one day and get submissions in for 501st approval that night. But as they looked closer at my handy-work (all 4 months worth of it), they started to notice flaws in the construction. First it was little things, like replacing a few strips here and there. Then it was bigger things, like trimming out parts, re-doing entire sections of the armor. The resident TK expert, Tim, pulled me aside and said to me (with a great deal of concern on his face):

"I have a lot of respect for the work and the money that people put into their kits. That being said, I think your best bet here is going to be taking this thing apart and starting over."

Yeah. I was pretty crushed. Not only had I spent the last few months working feverishly to get this thing done, but I had sunk a lot of money into it as well. In addition I had constructed the armor with a plastic-weld adhesive that is extremely difficult to undo (you know, because it welds plastic). I understood what a nightmare it was going to be to take the thing apart, and realized in that moment that the armor wasn't going to get done that day, and wasn't going to get done for a very, very long time. Working as I do in the retail world (and with a second job to boot) the time from the end of October until late January doesn't hold a lot of free time to work on projects of this magnitude. I would be lucky to get the suit done before march if I was lucky.

All those thought ran through my head in the few seconds after Tim had dropped the bomb on me. I looked at him and said, "cool, let's do it". And then I picked up a screwdriver and started pulling the armor apart.

I spent the rest of the evening going back and forth between working on the armor and talking about heavy metal with a few of the guys (most notably Troy, Paul, Rick, and another Paul) who were all nice enough to help me out. They gave me lots of great pointers on how to put my kit together better, and showed me how to use a lot of tools that would hopefully make my life a lot easier. All in all it was a great time and everyone I met was a pretty amazing person with a hundred great stories to tell.

I didn't take pictures. I'm sure they like it better that way.

It would have been very easy for me to get mad at that party. It would have been very easy for me to walk away from that armor and quit on the spot. But my dad taught me better than that.

I guess the point to this entry is that I haven't accomplished as much as I would have liked to since I started this blog. In my mind I feel like I've failed, kind of like I've been masquerading as something I haven't become yet. I wish I could have gotten the armor done in time to wear it to see my Dad in the hospital. To present this whole thing to him in the grandest form possible. But we make the time for what is most important to us, and the last few months have been full ones. I'm glad I went to the mountains with my Dad so we could spend a week away from the bustle and grind of work. I'm glad we got to take one more fishing trip to the beach. I'm glad I could help in some small way little Lyric Strub with his brain surgery, and pull in a few extra shifts to donate to that cause.

My Dad started his high-dosage chemotherapy tonight. Tomorrow he will rest and on Halloween, his favorite holiday, he will receive the stem cell transplant. He will be born again. And after that he will read the words on this page and I hope more than anything it will bring him some happiness in his darkest hour. I hope he can smile and know that he's a hero to so many people, including his son.

-TFTC

Charity Dollars Raised:          $1,842.00

TK completion:                        20%

Turning to the Dark Side

Halloween had always been my Dad's favorite holiday, and mine as well. There's something spectacular about dressing up as someone else. Something sinister and dark. Taking on a new persona and masquerading up and down the block in flocks of other masked marauders, ransacking the neighborhood in a gleeful assault on reality and the mundane. It's a joy thats followed me (and my father) well into adulthood, as exemplified in my journey into the 501st.

There is an allure in evil that cannot be ignored. It's a common point of discussion among members of the 501st and the people that follow their organization- why are a bunch of guys dressed up as bad guys out there doing charity work? There are all kinds of answers that you could come up with- the costumes are more recognizable, there is an abundance of source material,  there is a an obvious organization to their ranks- but lets face it, the real answer is obvious:

The bad guys are just cooler.

My background in the heavy metal scene may betray my tendencies toward dark subject matter, but I think it's an opinion that is pretty prevalent among the legions members. When you go to buy a lunchbox or a t-shirt from the Star Wars franchise, nine times out of ten it's going to have Darth Vader or Boba Fett on it. Why? Because these guys are freaking awesome. Who wants a t-shirt with Luke whining about how it's too hard to lift his X-wing out of the swamp? No one! You want that one that has Darth Vader crushing some insolent officer to death with his thumb and index finger for making his coffee wrong!

I feel like it's a simple matter of the way human beings are wired. We have these latent anti-social tendencies that are screaming to get out. We satisfy them by watching these fantasy characters duke it out in a no-holds-barred, take-no-crap world. But deep down on the inside, that's not who we are. Just as a superficial facade of pleasantness may mask an underlying desire for world (or galactic) domination, further below that lies the common thread of compassion that is the unification of all peoples. This is a theme at the heart of the Star Wars universe. Luke refuses to destroy Vader because he knows this fact- that underneath the most fearsome man in the galaxy still lies the good man that is his father.  Despite his adversities, despite his losses, and despite his flaws, his temptations, his seduction and descent into darkness, Vader makes the choice to change- to do what he knows in his heart is right. Vader's salvation becomes the salvation of the whole universe.

Doesn't that make him the real hero?

One of the things that has struck me about the 501st legion is this specific example of human nature. Here are a couple of thousand men and women obsessed with the galaxy's most fearsome and loathsome villains congregating together with a common desire to make the world a better place. How does it make sense that we can rally equally behind the causes of fighting childhood illness and crushing the rebellion? It's a perplexing conundrum, however, this dichotomy may be less unique than you might have thought.

I met a young woman years ago through my workplace by the name of Cristabell who works with an organization called "Scares That Care". Through a variety of fund raising activities (from online auctions of autographed horror memorabilia to their very own "Scares That Care" Horror convention slated for 2014) Scares That Care has united Horror fans from across the country in a push to help those in need.  What follows is her explanation of what exactly this organization is all about:

How did you get involved with scares that care?
Facebook. As silly as that sounds. I saw a friend had shared one of their pictures on Facebook.(I don't even remember what the picture was, but it had to have been cool.) I clicked on the picture, which led me to their page. Once I saw that, there was no way that I wasn't going to get involved. Monsters and helping sick kids? Sold.

What does the organization do?
"Scares That Care!" is a IRS approved 501(c)(3) all volunteer charity (which means no one draws paychecks. Every penny goes straight to the families.) dedicated to uniting horror fans to help sick kids, and women fighting Breast Cancer. Our goal this year is to raise $10,000 each for three families in need. In June we were able to present a check for $10,000 to a little boy with a severe heart defect named Draven. We're now working toward being able to present checks to our other two families.You can keep up with all of the families that we help on Facebook, or at www.scaresthatcare.org

What is it exactly that you do for a living?
I work for an Orlando based non profit teaching functional communication and safety skills to developmentally delayed adults in a community setting.

What are some personal achievements of note/ special moments you have had in the organization?
Our founder, Joe Ripple, posted a video of the check presentation to Draven and his family for all of the state representatives and department heads that were obviously not all able to be there. I sat on my couch, with my own family watching this video, seeing what everyone's hard work had been able to accomplish. I saw the relief on the faces of Draven's parents, and the smile on that kid's face. Draven's a little guy, so I can't really say to what extent he understood what was going on. Maybe he was just stoked to have a bunch of new friends. The entirety of it hit me when my own son handed me a tissue to blow my nose. He is seeing what a huge difference everyone is capable of making, and I hope he follows suit.

What are the organizations greatest accomplishments?
Before we obtained our own IRS designation of becoming a 501(c)(3) charity, we were able to donate $10,000 to each of the following Organizations; Johns Hopkins Children's Cancer Center, The Kennedy-Krieger Institute (They help kids with Brain and Spinal Cord injuries, and help kids with Autisim and Down Syndrome acclimate into society), and the "Make-A-Wish" Foundation. We're also really excited that this year we've spread to 34 states across the country, and we're still growing.

Orlando folks can check out the Scares That Care booth at this weekend's Spook Empire Horror Weekend and meet Crista in person.

**UPDATE**

Hey guys just wanted to Add a photo from this year's Spooky Empire convention, and let you all know that on Halloween day you should check out their trick-or-treat $5.00 donation day event here: http://www.facebook.com/events/103534043126163/

Happy Halloween!

Hope For Lyric

I was contacted today by a friend with a friend in need. Her son is in need of drastic surgery to ensure his survival. What follows is a letter written by his mother, Kyli, who as you will read seems to have a heart as big as the problem she is facing:

"To all the wonderful people out there, My name is Kyli. My son's name is Lyric. He is 6 yrs. old. At only 10 hours old, Lyric had his first seizure in my arms as I was trying to feed him. He has continued having seizures ever since, and every seizure has continued to damage his brain. Lyric has dead areas in his brain that can never be fixed. Those dead areas have been caused from the lack of oxygen to his brain for long periods of time, which resulted in him being mentally disabled, speech disabled and his gross motor skills are also affected. He also has DeWayne's Syndrome in his eyes, So he wears glasses to keep his eyes from crossing. Surgery for his eyes is being discussed at this point to correct this. Lyric's last seizure was 6 months ago, but it has added an excess amount of fluid on his brain and enlarged ventricals. Lyric now must face brain surgery to insert a Shunt, which will control those amounts of fluid, to drain into his stomach to pass as waste. This procedure is far more risky, due to his epilepsy. (This surgery is very, VERY dangerous for him) Due to all the doctor's appointments, and school activities I attend, as well as the calls from his school to come check Lyric out for whatever time being... in concern for his health, I haven't been able to maintain a stable job appropriate for Lyric's needs that will hire me... No one wants to hire me because of how much I have to dedicate myself to Lyric! I do struggle financially due to this lack of work. I don't have much to offer, but I offer everything I have. I'm not the only person hurting in this world, so I believe that it is still my job as a mother... to help others in need as much as I can! Lyric's father has not helped me support him, and is a random person in his life. I don't ask for child support because i feel that is something a father should want to do themselves, not be forced! As well as.. Neglect issues when I did try.

Lyric is such a love bug.. he smiles all the time, and has touched everyone he has had contact with! I know that Lyric's condition is by far, not the worse that some people experience! So, I donate clothes to school's, food to help the children that don't have the food to eat meals appropriately.. etc. Lyric has taught me everything in life... And he doesn't even know it! Everything he goes through.. all the needles and doctors.. he's scared of most everything! It breaks my heart! Everyday pleasures we have.. with a normal mentality.. and we take so much for granted! He faces life.. along with a million other children.. appreciating the things in life that we take for granted! There will never be words to express the love Lyric and I hold to the people whom have helped us.. regardless of what it is.. Every single thing makes a difference! This world is missing "LOVE," and this may touch some, and may not touch other's! But every person that is moved by any story... Is helping this world! I hope Lyric's story can touch the many... God Bless!"

Troop for the cure will be donating funds raised to help Lyric and his mother through this hard time. We will be holding a fund raiser based out of Oblivion Taproom similar to the one held by Empyrean for the Griffin Ulfhamr fund, but this time will be selling Troop For The Cure shirts and stickers as well as leftover Empyrean CD's and some shirts. If you would like to make an online donation please send it to the following Paypal account and NOT the Troop For The Cure webstore, as I am having technical difficulties with Paypal at the moment. Feel free to e-mail me about online donations of $5 or more Here with your home address and I will send you a sticker!

Donate to Help Lyric Here:

:https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=S9NZNXPKJS9TU&lc=US&item_name=Lyric%27s+Fund&item_number=Donate+For+Lyric&currency_code=USD&bn=PP-DonationsBF%3Abtn_donateCC_LG.gif%3ANonHosted


**UPDATE**

Thanks to your help Troop For The Cure donated over $500 to help Lyric! His surgery was a success but he is still in recovery. Please keep him in your thoughts.