One of the most difficult moments in my career happened several years back at an ICBA Live event in New Orleans. I can immediately go back to that moment…
My wife called, distraught, telling me she was taking our then-8-year-old son to the hospital. Rick had been struggling for months and months at this point with pain that started in his legs and ended up moving all through his body. This pain caused him to get checked out of school just about every day, and even though we had been to so many doctors and specialists, we still had no clue what was causing his pain. The pain would only come when he moved; it would come and go. Before the call, it already weighed on me, and I remember feeling overwhelmed as I sat in the conference hall in New Orleans, trying to get a way home. I remember emailing a group of friends that had attended, what had happened, and asking for them to pray for us. I was lucky to get home early from the conference, but as I write this, the feeling of helplessness returns in full. Over the weeks after ICBA in New Orleans, we had to ramp up his pain medicine to try and get him in a spot where he could be comfortable, but nothing worked.
His sickness culminated when we took him to the Blood and Cancer Center at Scottish Rite Hospital in Atlanta. The overwhelmed anxiety that we had was met head-on with fear and sadness. As we waited to be seen by the doctors in the waiting room at the Cancer Center, I remember looking around the room at the kids that were knee-deep in chemotherapy. As I sat waiting, I remember thinking, “how did I get here?” and then it became crystal clear for me…. These parents and kids that were in the battle with cancer for their life were thinking the same thing, and as I look back, it breaks my heart.
Fast forward, Rick’s sickness went away, and we never found the cause. (It didn’t matter; it was an answered prayer!). As you can imagine, the impact of his sickness at the lobby of Scottish Rite will forever be a part of our family story.
One of the foundations of our culture at Finosec that we built into the business is giving back via Finosec Forward. As we attend ICBA Live in beautiful Hawaii, there was no doubt what our charity for the event would be….Cure Childhood Cancer
So what does that mean? Stop by our booth and “register” for our “Give” away. For each banker (or vendor) that registers, we will give $10 to Cure Childhood Cancer. If you aren’t going to be at ICBA Live, help us spread the word by commenting and liking our posts on social. Join our blog to stay abreast of our Finosec Forward initiatives.
