To my wonderful Springfield Family,

I just want to take a brief moment to join my fellow dancers and chairs in thanking all of you for being such a group of soldiers this weekend for THON, For The Kids! I am infinitely grateful for every single one of you for the role you played in making THON 2009 the best THON yet, for me as a dancer and for Springfield as a family. You should each be truly, truly proud of yourselves for the work you put in all year round; even though we say it all year long, THON weekend is really the party at the end of year's worth of hard, but fun, work, and so I hope you all partied like the rock stars you were!

Since everyone else seemed to cover all the possible thank you topics, I figured I'd just speak to the timeless of THON. By now some of you may be starting to feel your "THON-over" fade, while others of us are still reeling in our experiences from this weekend - going through the line dance in your head, finding yourself swaying when you're standing still, resisting sitting down in chairs even when they're available, etc. I beg you that while images of THON weekend may fade or still burn bright your memory, don't let "FTK" become a past-tense mentality! Just because THON weekend is over, our fight against cancer is not. You can live FTK all year round by always dreaming of new ways to make a difference in our families lives through monetary and other support, and by scheming up ways to make Springfield even better when school begins this fall! THON is a weekend - FTK is a lifestyle.

I'll leave you with this quote that I really feel like embodies why taking the risk that is dreaming and investing in THON is absolutely worth while: “It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” JK Rowling

Springfield Love, FTK always and forever,
Jackie Rohrbeck

Tuesday, February 24, 2009