To say a lot has happened over the last year would give nothing to what this year is due. 2019 started showing many Cornwells hard at work on degrees, caring for children, working long hours, and a great number of other en devours. It quickly screeched to a halt with the loss of Samson, stumbled along, hit a high with the welcoming of Lorenzo Dudley into the family and then continued. It still is taking me through a roller coaster of emotion (and I am probably the most removed from both of those large events). But I want to share something both expected and quite unexpected that has come to me (and continues to) from my nephew Samson.
While I can’t begin to understand his loss or even imagine the anguish of his parents, Samson has caused something of an awakening for me. He has helped me realize that we don’t know what is going to happen, but not just in tragedy, also in greatness.
With little more than Samson’s name and the heart felt words of his parents, the Ronald McDonald House in San Diego raised an additional $8,733 (the campaign is still live here).
The first ‘Handsome Samson 5k’ happened and was focused towards this cause. To help other families just like Ronald McDonald House helped Samson’s.
The second 5k has also since happened and presented an additional opportunity to support a project for an all-abilities playground in San Diego. That project, Sophie’s Gift, has raised $42,954 of it’s $50k needed (check it out here) and continues to push forward.
And I don’t mean to point out just the money that would not have been there to support others if it wasn’t for my nephew, but he has allowed me to see the love of coming together. Individuals and families have risen to occasions just because they were there and it was the right thing to do.
Samson has shown me it’s not that hard to support a cause. He’s taken me, a bystander, and made me feel some urgency for doing more and trying to help some of this world I live in. I hope that in a few years, I look back at 2019 as the beginning of my new focus. That this is the start of a new timeline and not just a blip in the one that has been.
Thank you Samson and I look forward to thanking you more as we get started in this next year.