05/31/2023
💜Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month💜
In honor of the last day of awareness month we wanted to share the faces of Cystic Fibrosis. These are the warriors that fight just to breathe everyday. These are updated pictures of 19 out of the 23 CF Warriors we gifted from Brandon’s Hope while we had the cafe. We have been blessed to keep in touch with them and watch their life through social media. Over an 8 year period of time we have watched them get drivers licenses, graduate high school, graduate college, move states, change jobs, get married, celebrate anniversaries, have babies, lose a baby, lose loved ones, have procedures, have hospital stays, start new CF meds to help improve their lung function, and have longer and longer between hospital stays, and we have also seen a few get lung transplants. Sadly, we have also had to see 3 of them end their fight with CF 💔.
Behind these smiles are villages of families and friends who help care for these warriors. So we thank everyone who supports a CF Warrior. We know it’s not easy and it takes a special kind of person to be their strength when they don’t have anymore.
Behind these smiles are hopes and dreams, dulled a little bit by their daily struggle to breathe and the fear of what is to come.
Behind these smiles are amazing people who all hold a special place in our hearts since we have met them over the years.
Behind these smiles we have found a little piece of Brandon in each of them rather it be their humor, their stature, their likes and dislikes, etc. We are truly blessed to have come to know and love all of these smiles and we love watching their stories even if from afar.
If you know a CF Warrior, please let them know you are proud of them. Please let them know you are there. Please don’t take their outward appearance for how they are feeling on a daily basis. A lot of their illness only affects the insides, so it is easy to get complacent and think they are fine or doing better even when they aren’t because they “look fine”.
We love you all so much and know Brandon would have been honored and loved to meet you. Thank you for helping us honor him and raise awareness for Cystic Fibrosis over the years. We couldn’t have done it without you all.
Love you always,
Dixie and Mandie
💜💙