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THURSDAY. JANUARY 8. 2015 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 3A
Kaila’s Birthday Wish
12-y ear-old wants help for sick kids instead of presents
XoiJU 13*.
Kaila is hoping to raise $10,000for St. Jude Children ’v Research Hospital.
By Brandi Strawn
Meet my daughter Kaila, she
is 12 years old. She is currently a
7th grader at Jasper Middle
school. She will be tinning 13 in
February. When I asked her what
she wanted to do for her birthday
she said she wanted to raise
money for the kids at St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital in
stead of receiving presents this
year. As her mom I was so proud
of her to suggest such a selfless
thing at her age.
Her interest for St. Jude Chil
dren’s Research began at age 4.
She and I were watching TV one
day and a fundraiser was on for
St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital. She watched intently
and began to ask questions. She
asked why the little girls didn’t
have any hair. I began to explain
to her about the doctors were
giving them medicine and treat
ments to save their lives. This
would sometimes cause their hair
to fall out and even making them
extremely sick. This concerned
her greatly. I also told her about
the Locks of Love program
which gave these children, along
with others, wigs to make them
feel more like girls. She concen
trated on every word I said, tak
ing it all in as if it were a bedtime
story. I was impressed with her
interest.
Two years passed and ran
domly one day she came to me.
She looked over her shoulder
with her back to me and asked
“Is my hair long enough
mommy?” Being such a random
question I simply said, “Yes,
Kaila it’s really long.” It came to
the bottom of her back. She then
asked, “Is it long enough to give
to Locks of Love?” I was in dis
belief she had remembered our
conversation two years prior. I
looked with tears in my eyes and
told her, “Yes baby, it is long
enough.” A couple days later we
took her to get her first major
haircut and donated 13” to Locks
of Love. I was so proud that she
already wanted to help others.
She made a YouTube video to
spread the word of her intent.
You can watch it by using the
following link: http://youtube/
lwnVkOp5Qlw
She set a goal of raising
$10,000 by February 28, 2015.1
believe in her and want to show
her that if you set a goal and stick
to it, you can achieve it. I know
the goal is high but we will be
grateful for anything she raises.
I’m putting this in our local
paper because I have seen this
community pull together so
many times in my past. I want to
see her wish come true as would
any mommy. She has an account
set up directly with St. Jude Chil
dren’s Research Hospital at
http ://birthday s. stj ude. org/Kaila
sBirthdayWish
Please consider donating to
such a great cause. We are also
looking for items for a silent auc
tion at the final event on Febru
ary 28 at the Pickens Recreation
Department. Thank you to Anne
Marshall and the Pickens Recre
ational Department for donating
a room for her event. Even serv
ices and/or food for the event
would be greatly appreciated.
Please e-mail me, Brandi Strawn
at bdstrawn@ gmail.com if you
can help in any way. I simply
want to make my little girl’s wish
come true. Feel free to send a
check or money order made out
to St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital to:
Kaila’s Birthday Wish
P.O. Box 1373
Jasper, Ga. 30143
Thank you in advance.
At-V)
AStAK
6UI5THL
Fine Chinese, Thai,
Japanese Restaurant
Sushi • Sake
Beer • Wine
744 Noah Dr.
Jasper, GA
Mountain Highland
Tel: 706-253-1155
Fax: 706-253-1105
Love your Babies.
, 'JSk Remove Alcohol.
** 770-479-1322
Georgia Prohibition
1143 Debord Drive • Waleska, GA 30183
parker30183@peoplepc. com
Parenting expert offers advice
Parents who are
“just plain nuts
55
By John Rosemond
Copyright 2014, John K.
Rosemond
A reader writes that her
friends “recently spent around
$300 on their daughter’s birthday
party - her first. They bought lots
of stuff to entertain their young
guests and extended family. The
child, a baby, obviously had no
clue what was going on. I should
mention that the parents are
struggling to make ends meet.”
She asks for my take on this.
As my readers know or
should know, I am a psycholo
gist. That qualifies me to deter
mine and assign psychological
diagnoses. As such, it seems ob
vious to me that these parents
suffer from a now-commonplace
parenting malady known as just
plain nuts. Throwing a lavish
party for an infant is one sign of
this psychological impairment.
Other tell-tale symptoms include
taking an infant or toddler to Dis
ney World, incurring major debt
to make sure kids have a “happy”
(as in, over-the-top) Christmas,
buying a brand-new high-dollar
car for a 16-year-old, going to
starregistry.com and having a
star named after a child and tak
ing kids along on a second hon
eymoon.
Another reader tells me that
she knows of a couple who sent
their 18-year-old daughter to
France for two weeks as a high
school graduation present. That’s
rather extravagant, but it does not
qualify as just plain nuts. What
does however, is that they also
paid for the daughter’s 20-year-
old boyfriend to go with her.
Seems they had arranged for the
two of them to have separate
hotel rooms and had made them
promise they would not sleep to
gether. As Ace Ventura, Pet De
tective would surely say, “All
rightey then!”
Then there are the parents
who celebrated their son’s grad
uation from kindergarten (yes,
and believe it or not, there was a
full ceremony with caps and
gowns, much shedding of tears
and a huge party afterwards) by
taking him to LEGOLAND in
Windsor, England, which hap
pens to be the biggest of the six
world-wide LEGOLAND parks.
Now, I happen to think LEGO
makes the best play materials in
the known universe, but taking a
5-year-old to England to cele
brate his graduation from kinder
garten definitely qualifies as just
plain nuts. Can you imagine what
these parents are now going to
have to do when he graduates
from elementary school? I hate
to even imagine his high school
graduation present. A ride on a
space shuttle perhaps?
Hiring a popular boy band to
sing at a child’s birthday party,
buying a child an airplane as a
high school graduation gift, giv
ing a girl a $30,000 diamond
bracelet for her 13th birthday...
the list goes on. Even parents
who can hardly afford stuff like
this are doing stuff like this. To
put this in perspective, my high-
school graduation gift from my
parents was $50. A friend’s par
ents bought him a brand-new
Pontiac GTO. Guess whose par
ents were just plain nuts.
If you’re having difficulty fig
uring that out, consider that a
month later my friend blew the
GTO’s engine while drag-racing
and I still had at least $25.
Family psychologist John
Rosemond: johnrosemond. com,
parentguru.com
South Cherokee/Jasper
Driver Improvement [rz
Clinic #2102
1623B E. Church St. - Jasper, GA 30143 • (706) 692-1632
JASPER CLASSES
New Driver Training # 555
30 hrs. classroom/6 hrs. Behind-the-Wheel
Feb. 14
Sat.
8:30am- 5:30pm
Feb. 15
Sun.
8:30am- 5:30pm
Feb. 16
Mon.
8:30am - 5:30pm
Feb. 21
Sat.
9:00am - 4:00pm
“Special classes can be arranged with 5 students or more"
Defensive Driving #2102 *95 (l day/6 hr course)
Jan. 10 Sat. 9am - 4pm Feb. 21 Sat. 9am - 4pm
Dl l/kisk Reduction #10053 *355 (3 day/20 hr course)
January Classes
Jan. 24
Sat.
9am - 6pm
Jan. 25
Sun.
9am - 6pm
Jan. 26
Mon.
6pm-10pm
*DUI/Risk Reduction students required to pre-register & take NEEDS
ASSESSMENT prior to attendance. Assessments & Registration
every Thursday 3p-8p or by appointment.
Call or Go Online to Pre-Registrer
or for more lnformation(706) 692-1632
www.SouthCherokee.com
Other convenient location to serve you: Woodstock.
Benefit for man injured in wreck
Submitted by Letitia Cline
Member of Pleasant Union Baptist Church
A benefit singing for Ryan Williamson will be
held on Saturday, January 17. The benefit is hosted
by his home church, Pleasant Union Baptist Church
in Cherokee County.
Ryan was involved in an automobile accident on
Worley Crossroads in southern Pickens County last
June and spent over 6 months in the hospital. He
was released in December and is still undergoing
extensive physical rehab.
Ryan and his wife Kelly live in Pickens County.
If you have questions, please call 770-479-4987.
Feel
SICK
today?
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Benefit for
RYAN WILLIAMSON
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GOSPEL SINGING
Featuring: Daily Bread, Joy Masters and Don & Annette Williams
Saturday January 17 th from 2:00 — 7:00 PM
At First Christian Church of Jasper
22 Burgess Rd W, Jasper GA 30143
(Off Refuge Road)
Hosted by: Pleasant Union Baptist Church
Ryan and Kelly have been citizens in Pickens County for 5 years. On June 7 >h Ryan was in an auto accident. He was flown to Grady
Hospital where he stayed for 12 weeks. He was transferred to Siskin Rehab Facility in Chattanooga, TN on August 29 th and stayed for
15 weeks. He worked very hard while at rehab and made wonderful progress. Ryan was discharged December 9 th and changes had to
be made to the house to prepare for his arrival. The proceeds from this benefit will go toward supplies needed for remodeling and
medical supplies needed for Ryan as he continues to recover.
The benefit will include a Cake Auction, Silent Auction, Raffle for a swing. Raffle for a gun and Crock Pot Dinner.
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provider near you.
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