What's new at Cody's Crew?

We have a number of new changes and events at our Cody's Crew website.

If you go to our Upcoming Events page you will see that we have a Cody Johnson Memorial Ceremony scheduled for June 6th. It will be held at Bennett Elementary School in Manassas VA. There will be a balloon release at 11:00 am. You can purchase a balloon at 10:30 am at the school or go to the Shell City page and purchase balloons there. All proceeds will go to Cody's Crew Foundation. This will be a very special ceremony so if you can make it we look forward to seing you. If you can't I hope you will take the time to purchase a balloon on our site.

Many of you submitted logo entries for our contest. Many of you voted for your favorite. Now we are having another contest. We are asking our Crew for ideas for our official Cody's Crew Slogan. You can submit your entry on our Slogan Contest page. Get out that pen and paper and get busy...

We also have the new Cody's Crew wristebands on sale also. They are $2.50 each. For those of you who purchased them last year these are a little different. They are of coarse camo colored but they now have "www.codys-crew.org" printed on them. Drop by and pick some up.

The new Cody's Crew T-shirts will be coming soon. I'll keep you up to date...

Happy Birthday Girls...

Yesterday was Daniela's Birthday. We had cake and I took cupcakes to her class so she could give them out. She will be going with some friends bowling this Saturday.

Today is Diane's Birthday. I haven't asked what she wants but we are having our second Cody's Crew Foundation board meeting tonight. I'm sure that will lift her spirits a little. She achieved the tough task of getting our 501(c)3 approval in one try and with little help. She did it all herself...

We had an 80+ year old oak tree taken down yesterday. The tree was beautiful but only 3 feet away from the foundation of our garage. I've been wanting it down for years but have been too busy to mess with it. With the price of fuel oil I'm going to start burning wood this winter. I should have enough wood for 3 or 4 winters from that tree.

I ordered our first Cody's Crew shirt last week. After we see how it looks and make any changes needed we will put them on sale over at Codys-Crew.org.

Thanks for stopping by..

Dear Cody...

I just want to say that we all miss you so very much. Life is so hard without you here. There is not a day that goes by that we think of you and wish you were here with us.

Justin, Daniela, Mommy and Daddy love you!!!!!

Skyline Drive yesterday.....

Here are some pictures from yesterday's trip to Skyline Drive...





Justin and Daniela did great.. This is after we finished the hike...



Can't beat this view...



We had a great time...



Caught him thinking..



Come on Dad, hurry up..



Taking a break...



The water just takes you away..



The kids wanted to go swimming....



It was hard to keep Daniela out of the water..



I like this photo..



Birds eye view..

Here it is!!!!

You are looking at the new face of Cody's Crew Foundation. It was chosen by you the Crew members. Thank you all for your support. We are not going to stand idly by. We have many event ideas we are working on.

Things are rolling right along......

It is with great pleasure that I announce that we received our 501(c)3 status this weekend. Diane did a great job with little to no help, just research and hard work. I'm very proud of her.



As of this morning the logo contest voting is closed... We had a great response and we'll post the winner tonight.


Go Pens!

2 more days of voting left.....

Come on people, it's free. You don't have to sign up for anything and I don't sell your email address.... What are you waiting for? Go and cast your vote for the official Cody's Crew Logo. There are only 2 more days left.

www.codys-crew.org

I just wanted to take a minute....

I wanted to let you know how things are going here. Mother's Day was very hard for us and especially Diane as you might expect. She was down in the dumps for two days. Although I haven't seen her today I did talk to her on the phone and she seems to be doing better.. Certain days and times seem to be hard for me. I can't explain it, I just think of Cody more some days and I miss him so. We still can't believe that he is not in our lives.

I think about what life is all about. I think that we humans believe in God because we just can't explain why things happen or really tough questions. Until Cody got sick I didn't really know what I thought and at times I still don't. I was not brought up in an overly religious environment. On the other hand as long as I've known Diane she has always said her prayers each night before bed. I can't speak for her and what she believes at this point. The loss of Cody has rocked her to her foundation. She has lost a part of herself and may never be the same. She seems to do a little better everyday. As for me, this has given me a purpose in my life. It has given me something to focus on. I hope that my children recognize what I'm doing and that some of it will rub off on them. As far as believing in God or the after life I feel as though I must believe. That is the only way I will see my son again.

I know that some of you may feel the need to write long paragraphs of scripture and that is OK but I'm not looking for reassurance or proof. I'm just releasing some of the pain I'm feeling right now. That was always what this blog has been about.

Relay for Life Speech

I tried to post this on the website but it wouldn't play. I'll work on this but until I get it worked out here is the link..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFkF8TCHI4s


LOGO Entries are now posted on the website. Please swing by and cast your vote.

https://www.codys-crew.org/Logo_Contest.html

We hope to see you tonight!!!

At the Prince William Fair Grounds in Manassas, VA. The time is 9pm sharp.

As I mentioned below, I'm the Honorary Chairperson for the Relay-for-Life. I will kick things off for the Luminaria Ceremony with a little speech about Cody and his battle with neuroblastoma. Please come and show your support if you can.

Sunday is the deadline for the logo contest. We have some great entries which I can't wait to post on the website. If you have an entry you still have time to send it in.


See you tonight!!!!

Collecting thoughts...

So here I am, two months removed from losing such a large part of my world. Our lives have not been the same since March 6th. Diane is doing a remarkable job and working through this. The pain is so very fresh for her. Not a day goes by that she isn't constantly reminded of Cody. Songs on the radio, toys around the house, newly discovered Cody hand prints on the door of the bathroom or Sponge Bob playing on the TV. He is everywhere.

Life is moving along at quite a clip. I'm staying busy with Justin and Daniela and all that they are involved in. We are trying to do everything with them that we were not able to do for the past 4 years. They both seem to be adjusting well.

Running has become the vehicle with which we are going to drive the word about Cody's tragic death. I have some great friends that frequent the Runners World Masters Forum who have been praying for Cody for years. Now, they are running with me and raising money for Codys-crew.org. Our next scheduled run is the Vermont 100 on 100. If you would like to donate to my run you can do it on the Donations page of our website.

Yesterday I attended a funeral for my co-worker's son. His son was a US Marine who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He had returned to the states and was stationed in San Diego, CA and had been battling depression and other issues before taking his own life. It was such a hard funeral to attend. As all of you know I have something in common with my friend, the fact that we have both lost a child. Something that many of you don't know about me is that I too have lost a brother to suicide. It is one of the hardest things to try and understand. For young people life's issues seem insurmountable at times. They cannot see beyond today. One of the truly difficult parts of this is they do not fully grasp the devastation and destruction that they leave behind. In no way am I trying to say that I know what this young man was going through. He had been places and in situations that I have never been. I just wish he could have received help before it had come to this. I feel for his family. Now they must pick up the pieces. This year has to get better...

This week I must collect my thoughts and come up with some words of wisdom. I was contacted by the Director of the Prince William County Relay-for-Life. He asked if I would be interested in being the Honorary Chair for the Relay that Cody and I have attend and raised money for the last 4 years. Last year we were the top money raisers. As the day gets nearer I question if I will be able to hold it all together. It's one thing to type what you are thinking and feeling but it is completely different to speak it in front of hundreds of people. What do I say? Do I talk about cancer as a whole. Do I just talk about my beloved son? Do I mention that childhood cancers are not being funded properly? I have those questions to answer this week and put it into the right words.

There are 7 days until the close of the Cody's Crew Logo contest. All entries must be in by May 10th. I will post the entries on the website and everyone can vote on them. The winning logo will become the official logo of Cod's Crew Foundation. You still have time to email it to me.

So, that's it for now. I hope you all are doing well and enjoying life.

God Bless!