In fall of 2024 a high school friend, Brian Banasek, reached out to me to tell me some terrible news. My childhood friend, Darron Gillespie, had been diagnosed with ALS earlier that year and it was progressing more than anyone could have imagined for anyone his age. I was floored. Just barely over 2 years prior Darron heard I was moving to the Oregon coast after spending my entire life in AZ. Keep in mind that Darron and I had lost touch after our early 20's, then reconnected at our 30 year reunion in 2018. When I posted on social media that we were escaping the AZ heat in 2022 he reached out to me. He told me that he had some jet skis and wanted to take me out for a day before I moved away. Not only did we have a spectacular day, we had a serious bro conversation about all that had transpired over our lifetime. It was magical. At the end of that day we agreed to do it again whenever I came back to AZ. This was not even 3 years ago. To think that one of my best childhood friends was suffering from this destructive disease a couple years later was inconceivable. Darron kept this illness quiet for quite some time. He finally made an announcement a few weeks ago to the public. He is in bad shape. This once thriving stud of a man is now bedridden, paralyzed, on a ventilator, and feeding tube. Needless to say, his wife and daughter are devastated and could use some help. As I have been dealing with this personally, our high school friend, Liz Perrilo, reached out to me after reading Darron's post and suggested to me a crowd funding campaign to help his sweet wife and daughter with all that is to come. The simple fact is, we all go about our life thinking that all is well. We work, we save, we raise our kids to the best of our ability, we take trips, we create memories for our loved ones. Nobody ever thinks in a year's time all of that will be taken away from you. Please give if you can. Darron is a good dude. He's a good father and husband. Put yourself in his shoes. He is incapacitated and has a family. And I'm sure his humility would bother him that I'm saying all of this! Please help him and his family during his final journey on earth. Darron deserves it!