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Monday, July 26th, 2010
Ralph Fatello kicked off his Catch A Wave for Molly today, where he will be surfing every day for a year to support the Molly Fund. You can get all the info and donate at www.catchawaveformolly.com. He’s got a blog where you can see his updates about this year-long event. Brian Nevinstook the shots below.
Friday, July 16th, 2010
We’ve got some new shirts we’re selling for an upcoming event in NC, click here to be the first to buy one.
They come in 2 colors for men(unisex) and two for women, all sizes.
Friday, July 16th, 2010
Catch a wave for Molly.
On July 26th, Ralph Fatello is going to begin his quest to catch a wave every single day for the next 365 days in order to raise money for the Molly Fund. Many of us are going to join Ralph at 9am at The Wall next Monday in order to support Ralph, so please join us if your schedule allows.
The story broke this morning in the Hampton Union, and please click the below link if you would like to read the entire story…
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20100716-NEWS-7160334
Many thanks to all of you that swung by the beach on Monday in order to help Meg, Kieran, and I celebrate Molly. Ralph Fatello said it best, that Monday marked the “last of the firsts” and that is certainly true. The most difficult time is behind us. Molly would want us to be happy, all of us, and Meighan and I could sense that because we were both feeling good throughout the day on Monday. To have 100 of our close pals and family on the beach with us on Monday night was simply amazing. The kids took it upon themselves to decorate the beach with “Molly” hearts and shakas – constructed with beach stones and flowers. It was beautiful and it was the perfect way to celebrate Molly. Thank you to all that helped make that night so very special.
Hugs,
Buck
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
Some amazing photos from Brian Nevins, at the Wall celebrating the one year milestone of losing Molly.
Saturday, July 10th, 2010
Monday July 12th.
Meg and I are going to walk down to 10th St. at The Wall on Monday evening, 6:07pm, and we’re going to honor our baby girl. It would be so awesome if we were surrounded by our family and friends because I’m sure that we’re going to need to share some hugs, shed a few tears, and throw Molly a shaka or two. Please join us at The Wall on Monday as we would love to have ya’ll join us to help Meg and I celebrate Molly.
Surviving 365 days without Molly – you can imagine how difficult the journey has been this past year for our family but we’ve managed to battle through the pain. Without the continued emotional support that Meg and I are still receiving from our community, our friends, and our family…we would be devastated. That has not been the case because we’re surrounded by love, we’re being showered with emotional support, and we’re living. We are living. We are happy. But we carry the constant pain of having lost a child to cancer. The sadness is at times overwhelming, but we’ve come to “live with the suck.” That is how Meg and I describe our feelings to each other. We are learning to live with the suck, and I honestly cannot imagine how we could possibly do this without support.
Support: I walked out of the water the other day from surfing and I ran into a friend who I haven’t seen for a long, long time and he gave me a hug and we talked a bit about Molly. Our good friend, Magi Wilson, just sent us a check for $200 that her son, Mike, raised for the Molly Fund with his lemonade stand. There have been a handful of kids that have given us money that they raised with their lemonade stands. Some of these kids were Molly’s pals, but some of these kids were strangers that heard about Molly and they just wanted to help. How beautiful. This journey has been painful but filled with so much joy at the same time. Helping other folks does make you feel good. The Molly Fund is doing a lot of good, we’re helping a handful of families that have children battling cancer, and we’re receiving a lot support from folks that want to help us raise money for the Molly Fund.
On July 26th, Ralph Fatello is going to begin his year long quest to “Catch a Wave for Molly.” Ralph is going to catch a wave, every single day for the next year, in order to raise money for the Molly Fund. Please check Ralph’s website, www.ralphspic.com, for the full story but this event is incredible. Folks will be able to donate money to the Molly Fund in honor of a loved one and their name will be added to a surfboard that we’ll have on display. A lot of us are passionate about surfing, we would love an opportunity to surf every single day for 365 days strait, but how many of us would paddle out when it’s ankle high in January, the snow is blowing sideways, and it’s -15 degrees outside. Not me. Ralph is a true warrior and a beautiful human being for lending his incredible support for the Molly Fund.
Carl and Jessica Wallin will be in Wrightsville Beach, NC next weekend selling the new Molly tees, bracelets, and stickers at the Reef/Sweetwater Pro surf contest. Carl’s company, Action Sports Now, is one of the title sponsors and Carl wanted to lend support in raising money for the Molly Fund. It is our goal to be able to use the proceeds to help a local family in NC. Hugs and high fives to Carl and Jessica, and thanks to Heath and Jessica Lewis for rallying to help sling some Molly swag as well.
Celebrate Molly. We had a big ol’ party last year on Molly’s birthday – August 22nd. Please save the date again this year because we’re going to have a beach party/Molly Fund Surf Celebration ….”The Molly”….at The Wall on August 22nd. The beach party will be at Bicentennial Park (on the north end of North Beach) and there will be a surf contest going on at the same time. A surf celebration!!! Good food, great live music, and fun surf. Molly loved a good party!
Surf contests are not for everyone, I realize this, so I decided that in order for all of my friends to get involved in this event then I needed to format the contest a little differently. Contestants will not be allowed to use their own boards. We will supply the boards and we’ll run five people in a heat. Before the start of the heat, the contestants will reach into a hat and pull a slip of paper out that will have the name of the board that they’ll have to surf in their heat. You may have to ride a 12ft. Skip Fry longboard, a 5’6 Steve Lis fish, or one of Steve O’Hara’s legendary “Freak” boards. WAIT! If you’re bummed about having to ride an 8 ft. BZ softie, then you can pay $20 and pick another board from a 10 board quiver that will be available for those that want to adjust their board pick. Pretty rad! Now keep in mind that “The Molly” Surf Celebration is a FUN-raiser and we need to raise money for the Molly Fund. I will keep ya’ll posted with more details in the coming weeks on the website, and all local surf shops will have posters and info of the event. Please join us on August 22nd for The Molly Surf Celebration and help us help others. It feels good to help….
The Boston Bruins Alumni vs. The Surfers hockey game that we held in March raised over $30,000. We wouldn’t have been able to pull off this event without so much support from so many people. Thank you! We have made over $15,000 selling Molly tees, bracelets, and stickers. Both Cinnamon Rainbows and Pioneers are stocking Molly bracelets and stickers, and I can’t even tell you how amazing it is when I see a Molly sticker on someone’s car or surfboard…especially when I don’t personally know that person. How beautiful. The support has been beautiful. Thank you all – bless you all – and I hope to see many of you on the beach with us Monday evening. Shaka, Mol!
With love,
Buck
Saturday, June 5th, 2010
Krista promised me that she would take care of Molly in Heaven.
Krista passed away last week. She had been battling cancer for the past few years and she and I were friends. We worked together at Burton, she and I were tight, and Krista was just an incredible athlete. She was an insane shredder, skated tranny like a warrior, and she could knock out the Fran WOD in less than 10 minutes. Krista was a bad ****.
Krista was terminal when Molly passed away, and she sent me a little note just to let me know that she was making peace with the fact that her time was coming to an end and Krista promised me that she would take care of Molly in Heaven. I distinctly remember the day when Krista sent me that email because I cried for 20 minutes afterwards. Krista teaching Molly how to skate mini ramps in Heaven. How wonderful.
They were with me for a brief moment and then they were gone. I felt the tingles throughout my body. Images of Molly and Krista shot through my mind. Molly was sitting next to me. Krista was in the back seat and then they were gone. I wiped the tears from my eyes and continued to drive up north to Sawyers.
Take care of my baby……
Please.
I miss Molly so much. A year has almost passed yet the wound is still so very fresh.
11 months on Saturday.
11 months?
Kieran turns five on the 8th and we’re going to celebrate his birthday in grand fashion on the 12th. 11 months? We’ll be focused on Kieran. Kieran misses Molly too. He talks about her everyday….
Smith grinds, Krista. Smith grinds…….
Buck
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
I never knew how important surfing was in my life until Molly passed away. I have been surfing since I was a kid, growing up in NC, and surfing has always been a passion in my life but I never truly realized the importance of spending time in the water every day until Molly died. I soon discovered that the ocean was therapy, surfing provided me with a strong sense of spirituality, and I understood that I HAD to spend time in the ocean every day or run the risk of being swallowed by such a horrific amount of grief that I would lose my mind. I came to learn that surfing certainly does help heal all wounds.
Tavarua is a little island off of the coast of Fiji. Tavarua (Tavi) has a few world class reef breaks just a quick paddle or an easy boat ride off of the island. I have been looking at magazine photos of the waves in Tavarua for the past 25 years and I always dreamed of having an opportunity to travel to Tavi and surf those waves. I have had an opportunity to surf all over the world but I’ve never had a chance to get to Fiji. A few months ago I popped into Cinnamon Rainbows and Dave Cropper, owner, mentioned that they had a slot open for their annual Tavi trip and he asked me if I wanted to go. Crop has been traveling to Tavi for the past 11 years….I freaked out! I was going to Tavarua.
Tavi isn’t a cheap trip. For as long as I can remember, I have been traveling the world, ballin’ on a budget, and happy to sleep in the dirt if that meant that I could score insane waves without breaking the bank. I didn’t care how much Tavarua would cost, it was the trip of a lifetime, and when I asked Crop about laying down my deposit for the trip Crop told me that I was all set. What?!?!? All set?!?!?!
A group of my friends got together and decided to send me to Tavarua….
Dave Cropper wouldn’t tell me which pals funded the trip, it was a secret, but as we took our seats on the plane from LAX to Fiji Crop handed me a card. All of the folks that sent me to Tavi wrote a little note in the card, and when Crop handed me the card I was close to tears. I knew how much money the trip did cost and I completely understood why my friends rallied together in order to send me on this trip. But thanking these folks for their incredible generosity was going to be difficult because a simple “thank you” just doesn’t seem appropriate…
We scored insane waves in Tavarua, and I can’t possibly describe how phenomenal the entire trip was without rambling on for hours, but I will tell you that I so desperately wanted to connect with Molly while I was on the island. I wanted to feel her presence, I wanted Molly to experience and get a sense of my happiness and, one night, after many cups of Kava I wandered around the island with the intent of connecting with Molly. I planted myself in a chair, on the water’s edge, and looked up towards the heavens. The sky was consumed by more stars than I have ever seen in my life, it was absolutely beautiful, and I sat in that chair and I talked with Molly. After several minutes, I realized that I was trying too hard to connect with Molly and I laid back and gazed at the zillion stars sparkling above my head and I relaxed. It was then that I could sense Molly’s presence because my body was tingling and I had goose bumps. Molly was on the beach with me in Tavarua and she was happy.
I have been home from Fiji now for just over two weeks and I can’t wait to get back to Tavarua. I told Meighan that I don’t care if I have to eat Ramon Noodles for the next twelve months in order to afford that trip because I must get back to Tavi next year. I would love to be able to take both Meg and Kieran to the island when Kieran is old enough to enjoy the trip but, for now, it’s strictly a “boys only” trip. I have been catching up with work, catching up with friends, and I spoke to my buddy, Danny Clayton, today. Danny called me to tell me that some of his pals from VT were in Costa Rica last week and they saw a local vehicle with a “MOLLY STICKER” plastered on the car. Danny’s buddies freaked out and they knew they were experiencing something very spiritual. Just before dark, Danny’s friends were surfing and one of the guys decided to toss a crystal into the water in honor of Molly. As soon as the crystal hit the water, the entire sky lit up…….
Molly does love the ocean.
I miss you baby. Please visit me in my dreams…..
Thank God for pals…..
Bless you all,
Buck
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
“Mourning is the constant reawakening that things are now different.” Stephanie Ericsson
I have spent the last few nights sleeping in Molly’s bed. Even though her bedding has been washed many times over, I can still smell her scent when I crawl into her bed. I have needed to feel a connection to her this week. I don’t know why, I can’t explain it, and it doesn’t make sense to try and do so…..
The grieving becomes less intense over time, it seems, but there are days and nights when I miss Molly so terribly that the only thing that I can do to comfort myself is to walk into Molly’s room – close my eyes – and take a big whiff. My connection to Molly….
Alexis Levitsky is running the Paris Marathon in honor of Molly, and last year Alexis raised $3,000 for Childhood Cancer research when she ran the NYC Marathon. Our friend, Jen Birch, ran a Marathon last week out West and she also ran in honor of Molly. You can click on Alexis’ page on the Molly Website and learn more about Alexis’ fund raising efforts. For the Paris Marathon, Alexis has to raise $6,000 and she’s raised about half of the money. If you can see it in your heart to help Alexis’ cause and donate a few bucks it would be a tremendous help. I know that we also have another friend, Maggie, who is running the Boston Marathon in honor of Molly, so please keep these women in your thoughts and send them some powerful vibes and help them finish strong.
Thank God that the sun has been shining and NH is truly the most wonderful place in the world when…..it’s warm and sunny. Spring is in the air, water temperatures are climbing, and this time last year our family was hopeful that Molly was going to regain her health. Maybe that’s why it’s been a difficult few days for me. Last spring Molly was running around, learning how to ride her bike, and we were all filled with happiness and hope. Life is precious. Seize the day….
With love,
Buck
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