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Happy St. Patrick’s Day 2023

Let’s start this story off with some St. Patrick’s Day Jokes.

Why do people wear shamrocks on St. Patrick’s Day? Because regular rocks are too heavy!

How do leprechaun’s get to the moon? They go on a sham-rocket!

What do you call leprechauns who collect aluminum cans? Wee-Cyclers!

Okay, that’s enough of that foolishness. Since St. Patrick’s Day is a sign of good luck and fortune, I would like to share a few examples of good fortune I have been lucky enough to receive. I will start by letting everyone know that the recovery procedure for my knee surgery has gone so well, that the new knee replacement surgery has been moved up from May 1st to March 29th. I am lucky I had the amazing medical assistants in the infusion center. I am lucky I had all the other medical staff and for everything they have done to make this possible. I am lucky I have Kristi and the rest of my family and friends. I want to thank all of them for everything they have done to help me through these last 6 weeks.

Another great example of having good luck is the two families that moved into our cul-de-sac last year. They are both retired couples that moved in from another state that will remain nameless. They have been very friendly and are always finding ways to help us. Since I had the first knee surgery, they have made sure to clean the snow of our driveway and sidewalk, and helped in every way they can. I am so lucky to have great neighbors like them. One day we were talking, and they asked me how I liked families that moved into Idaho from the state that still remains nameless. I told them, I would rather have nice people from another state, than Idaho White Trash any day!”

Yesterday Kristi and I arrived at my 3:15pm doctor’s appointment. We waited in the lobby for what seemed like an eternity. Kristi went to the front desk to ask them how much longer they thought it would take, and the receptionist told her there were running behind, and there were still two patients ahead of us. Kristi came back and told me what she said, and said she was going to go outside and get some things out of the car. She had been out there for around ten minutes, and then came back in with another lady who was another patient waiting to be seen as well. Kristi said she had been speaking with the woman and the woman told her that they had been living in their vehicle due to their landlord wanting to remodel all the apartments, and then raise their rent. Kristi wanted to know if the Foundation could help them with a couple of nights in a hotel. I told her we would be happy to help. I told her I would get the rooms reserved when I got home, and I would text them the confirmation number. The tears of gratitude on the woman’s face brought tears of joy to me. I am lucky that our appointment ran long so we were able to meet this couple. I am lucky to have an amazing wife like Kristi that saw someone who could use some love and compassion, and like she always does, wants to find a way to help. I am lucky to live in this amazing and generous community that has donated money to the Foundation, so we are able to help people like this couple. All of these things help me realize that I can always find something to be thankful for and how truly lucky I am to have the life I do. I am lucky to have all of your support, and thanks for reading.

P.S. I am lucky to be a John Deere and Boston Celtic fan, so finding something green to wear on St. Patrick’s Day has never been a problem.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day 2023

Posted by on March 17, 2023 in Journal | 0 comments

Happy St. Patrick’s Day 2023 Let’s start this story off with some St. Patrick’s Day Jokes. Why do people wear shamrocks on St. Patrick’s Day? Because regular rocks are too heavy! How do leprechaun’s get to the moon? They go on a sham-rocket! What do you call leprechauns who collect aluminum cans? Wee-Cyclers! Okay, that’s enough of that foolishness. Since St. Patrick’s Day is a sign of good luck and fortune, I would like to share a few examples of good fortune I have been lucky enough to receive. I will start by letting...

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Medical Update

Posted by on February 18, 2023 in Journal | 0 comments

Medical Update I decided for this week’s story I would give you an update on the status of my knee replacement, whether you wanted to know or not. To do this, I must take you back to the beginning of my decision to have the surgery. For the last two years, I have been experiencing problems with my knees, especially after playing basketball. I went to see a doctor, and X-rays showed that the right knee had lost all of the cartilage and was basically bone against bone. We started doing cortisone shots which worked well for about nine months,...

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Pink Night 2023

Posted by on January 21, 2023 in Journal | 0 comments

Pink Night 2023 Last Friday night Thunder Ridge High School held their fifth annual Pink Night. This event was started by Thunder Ridge basketball coach Lee Toldson in honor of his aunt who battled and passed away from cancer. The purpose of the event is to raise funds for local families dealing with cancer and to raise cancer awareness. I would like to give you the background on how it all started. Michele Kennedy was the president of the Thunder Ridge booster club and had reached out to one of the local hospitals to get them to sponsor the...

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Reflections of 2022

Posted by on January 7, 2023 in Journal | 0 comments

Reflections of 2022 I hope everyone had a terrific Christmas and New Year’s celebration! It’s hard to believe we are in 2023 already. As I reflect back on 2022, there were some challenges that it brought, but also some incredible opportunities and inspirational events. For this week’s story, I would like to give you three events that helped me realize how lucky I am. Crusade Against Cancer This event continues to grow bigger each year. This year we had the largest number of participants we have ever had. We also had several new sponsors...

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Christmas Adopt-A-Family 2022

Posted by on December 11, 2022 in Journal | 0 comments

Christmas Adopt-A-Family 2022 Tomorrow is one of the days I look forward to every year. We are going to go Christmas shopping for families dealing with cancer. We started this tradition 5 years ago and it has grown immensely over the years. This year we are going to provide Christmas for over 10 families. This would not be possible without the overwhelming generosity of this amazing community. Teton Cancer Institute provided us with the shopping list for 6 families, and the rest were ones the Foundation helped earlier in the year, and I...

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Another Rewarding Week

Posted by on December 4, 2022 in Journal | 0 comments

Another Rewarding Week This week we were able to enjoy an amazing experience due to the generosity of this amazing community. To give you the proper details of this experience, I will need to take you back a few years to when this tradition started. I had a booth at the Shilo convention center when a young lady from Texas Roadhouse came over and introduced herself to me. Her name was Bailey Thorne, and she was in charge of Marketing. She wanted to know more about the Foundation and what we did. I explained our mission and we had a really nice...

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Happy Thanksgiving 2022

Posted by on November 27, 2022 in Journal | 0 comments

Happy Thanksgiving 2022 I would like to start by sharing some of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions. Eating way more than I should. Take an afternoon nap. Wake up and find more food to eat. Root against the Dallas Cowboys. Over the last several years, I have been able to focus more on the true meaning of Thanksgiving. This year, I want to share some of the things I am most thankful for. I am thankful to live in such a wonderful community. I have witnessed so many selfless acts of kindness and compassion from individuals, groups, and...

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Status Update

Posted by on November 19, 2022 in Journal | 0 comments

Status Update This is my first story since the “Happy Birthday Jayci” story I posted on October 29th. The reason I have not posted a story is that I had complete knee replacement surgery on my right knee on Nov. 3rd. For this week’s story I would like to catch you up on some of the things that have happened since my last story. First I would like to thank all of the amazing people in our community that held fundraisers in the month of October for the Foundation. The number of people, groups, and businesses that hold these fundraisers seem to...

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Happy Birthday Jayci

Posted by on October 29, 2022 in Journal | 0 comments

Happy Birthday Jayci Thursday was our sweet little Jayci’s 6th birthday. It’s hard to believe she is six years old already. It’s incredible how fast time flies. This week’s story is about the birthday fun we had last weekend with Jayci and her friends. It all started with Brittney coordinating a completely fun filled day. The day started with all of the girls going to Austin Kade to get their hair and nails done. The next step was probably the most important of all. Brittney had arranged to surprise the girls by getting picked up from Austin...

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FIRA-USA Event

Posted by on October 22, 2022 in Journal | 0 comments

FIRA-USA Event Before I tell you about the exciting event I was able to take part in this week, I want to send a very special thank you to Amanda Wade, and the Hillcrest Student Council for arranging a breast cancer awareness night for the Shannon Wilker Foundation at the Hillcrest High School football game Friday night. We were able to present a check to Larry Belnap and his family in memory of his wife Terry who passed away from breast cancer on October 11th. The student council also went around the bleachers collecting money from the...

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