Help Us Believe this Holiday Season

I just returned home to the east coast after five days in northern California to discover that Christmas is less than three weeks away. I'm a little behind, as I haven't begun shopping for my family and friends. And as for me? I'm a little old to be making lists, and the last time I checked, Santa Claus does not follow my blog (unless he does so anonymously). Anyway, I only want one thing this holiday season, and if you're reading these words, you can help - even if you don't wear a fuzzy red suit and make a hobby out of climbing down chimneys one night a year. The one gift on my list is the same gift I've been asking for every night since July 24, 2006 - the day Taylor was diagnosed with Batten disease.

I want to find a cure for this rotten illness. I want to save my sister.

You can give the best gift of all - the gift of hope - by making a donation to Taylor's Tale. I'm happy to report that you can even do your shopping online; our new Web site, launched earlier this year, offers secure donations via PayPal. Click here to make a gift now. Because we're a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, all gifts to our organization are tax-deductible, and every gift made to Taylor's Tale supports promising Batten disease research.

Taylor is at Duke this week for a series of tests while most of her friends are likely making their own wish lists and counting down the days till winter break. I sent my mom a quick email this afternoon to check on my sister. Her answer was short: "A trooper as always." And that she is. I think about how much my sister has lost. No words of mine can describe what has been taken from her. And yet, all she's asked me for this Christmas is a set of drums - my sister, the aspiring musician. I can find her a nice set of drums, but I want to give her more. She may not see it quite the way I do, but Taylor is an aspiring adult. How often do we, as actual adults, stop to consider how very blessed we are simply to have reached adulthood - to be alive and, more often than not, well? My sister, and a lot of other children like her, have never had that luxury. But in spite of all that has been taken from them, those aspiring adults are - and always have been - inspiring children. The most noble thing we can do as actual adults is help give them a shot.