And Here We Go......

Welcome everyone to my personal blog. I'm really looking forward to sharing all my insights with you, and I would love to hear your comments. Blogs are all about voicing your opinion, so let's look to do that as much as possible. ENJOY!





Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Thomas Robert Wessel Memorial Scholarship

As many of you know, my father, Thomas Wessel, passed away 15 years ago on November 23, 1997. One thing that my mother didn't want to have happen was for us 7 kids to forget what a great man and loving father he was. Part of this is in the many memories of him that have been shared amongst us and stored forever in our minds and hearts. But my mother wanted to have us remember him in one more way...the Thomas Robert Wessel Memorial Scholarship.

For the past 15 years since his passing, my mother set up the Thomas Robert Wessel Memorial Scholarship at our high school, Warren Township High School. The scholarship is given to two graduating seniors (one boy and one girl) who have exhibited academic excellence while participating in performing arts activities and/or athletic activities. My father had an amazing passion for music and sports, two things he shared with my mother and passed along to his children.



Being so young when my father passed and when my mother initiated this scholarship (I was only 8 years old), I don't believe I fully realized the meaning of the award until now.

As I mentioned before, my father had such a strong passion for music and sports, and he did everything he could to share in these passions with us kids. He would take us to piano lessons and band practice, coach my sisters' softball teams, and attend all of our major events. These times that we got to spend with him, such as the one in the image below, were the ones we could cherish forever.



Now, being only 8 when he passed away, my mother knew that my brother Ben and I didn't have as much time with him and in essence didn't have the ability to form as many memories with him. Part of me feels this is another reason why she worked to create this scholarship in his name...to give Ben and I a chance to remember him when memories may not present themselves. For this, I cannot thank my mother enough.



Lastly, I feel this award wasn't just for us a way for us kids to remember him, but a way for the entire community he had come to call home and the community that had come to love him to remember him as well.

This year will mark the 15th year in which we will be presenting the scholarship, and it will also be the last. My oldest sister Nicki will be the one to present the scholarship. In 1997, she was the first of us to walk on to the stage to present the scholarship, and so it's only fitting that in 2012 she will be the one to present the scholarship for the final time.

People always ask me what it was like to grow up without a father since the age of 8. I never really know how to answer that question because with the memories my mother and siblings share with me, the father figure my older brother (Matt) and grandfather took on, and the yearly memory of my father through the Thomas Robert Wessel Memorial Scholarship, I feel like my father has always been there with me...and will continue to be with me.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Concert for Life 2012

While I had stressed I would be keeping up with my blog much more often than I have in the past, it's clear I've been failing at this. So, once again, I'm trying to make a comeback. And I'd like to say that I'm opening this blog up to more than just sports, entertainment, social media, marketing, advertising and PR. This is my personal blog and I feel this is a great means of also sharing things going on in my personal life. No better time to begin than right now....

In just a few weeks, Warren's Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) will be holding the 12th Annual Concert for Life, an annual fundraiser that helps to raise money for the American Cancer Society. My older brother, Matt Wessel, will be performing many of his original pieces. It's an afternoon full of wonderful music and raffle prizes, followed by an evening of friends and leisure. But I want to share with you how the Concert for Life got started and what the concert truly means to a certain few, so here's my post from a year ago.

In 1995, my father was diagnosed with a brain tumor and was only given 6-8 months to live. But his strength, will, and love for his family helped him survive 2 more years before he passed away in late 1997....I was only 8 years old. I have very few fond memories of my father, and it's sometimes hard to listen to my older siblings tell stories, laugh and tell their favorite memories of him because I know that I didn't get to spend as much time with him as they did. But every year, there is a time where I hear a lot of new stories from the many people whose lives my father touched....

In 2001, my older brother, Matt Wessel, was a senior in high school when he found out that one of his fellow classmates, Kate Pedersen, was diagnosed with cancer. Her classmates wanted to do something to support her fight, so they approached Matt with an idea. They asked if he would be willing to perform a benefit concert for the American Cancer Society in Kate's honor. Matt, who experiened the loss of our father from cancer 4 years earlier, agreed to perform. The concert was called "The Concert For Life."


The concert was held at St. Paul Apostle Church in Gurnee, Illionis, and it was so successful, that it has since then become an annual event. Since 2001, the concert has grown in size and in money raised. Each year, the concert touches the hearts of all those who attend. As the event continues to grow, more and more people will be moved by this special evening of music, love, and hope.

My brother Matt has continued to be the main performer since the concert's inception. While he understands that the concert was put together to support Kate and her fight against cancer, my family and I can see that the concert holds a much more personal meaning for him, and for all of my family. Every year, the concert is a time where Matt can open up his heart to the world and let everyone see the emotion he has felt since our father passed away 14 years ago. It's a time where Matt and my family can sit down, enjoy the inspirational music and reflect on the the father we lost too soon. And it's a time of rememberance, passion and hope.


The word has gotten out about the concert, and like I said, each year it continues to get bigger, and bigger, and bigger. Well, this year's Concert For Life was held last week on Sunday March 13, and the early total of money donated is $43,000 (which will continue to increase as receipts and funds are still being sent in). Overall, the Concert For Life has raised over $320,000, which has been donated to the American Cancer Society.

I guess what I'm trying to say through all of this is that, while the Concert For Life was started to benefit Kate Pedersen's fight against cancer and all those who are battling cancer, I believe my older brother wished to perform the concert as a tribute to my father, as well. While the money is being raised to support the American Cancer Society, Matt wanted it to be a time where our family could come together, reflect on our father, and share this time with each other. And for that, I cannot thank him enough....

"If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane, we'd walk right up to Heaven and bring you home again..." - We miss you Dad and you will live on forever in our hearts....