Fireside Fundraiser

For about the last year before Naki died he participated in a Fireside Group with his brother Junior and their good friends the Fano brothers. They would prepare special thoughts about their feelings and experiences in developing a personal testimony of their ultimate Brother, the Savior, and also prepared musical numbers to sing in addition to their thoughts. They would travel around the valley, speaking and singing, as often as anyone would ask them to come. I'll admit. I loved hearing them sing and speak, but it was often difficult to attend because of trying to convince the girls that they could sit quietly for another hour on a Sunday evening after they'd already done so for our weekly church meetings in the morning. How I regret that. I wish I'd attended more so the girls could hear their Dad sing and share his deepest feelings of love for the Savior and for his family. Recently he and his brother proposed to the group that they should do some fundraising so that they could travel to Florida, where Naki was raised, and spend time there doing a Fireside Tour. Talk about devotion and ambition! I remember him telling me that he wanted to do that...get enough money together to be able to go back home and invite his friends and family to come and be touched in their hearts about something so sweet and so necessary as gaining a personal relationship with God. He was super excited about it...what am I saying. He was always super excited about his future plans! After he died, the guys he was singing with approached me and told me that they wanted to carry through Naki's plans still, and that they wanted the girlies and I to come along with them. These kind of things are so bittersweet for me. They are things I know I should do in his honor but can be so painful doing because of his absence.

One of the fundraisers we'll be doing over the next couple of months is a BBQ lunch plate. I'm posting the flyer here so you can read the info on it. I can guarantee that it will be yummy food. (Why do you think I can never lose any weight? These guys cook way too often and the food is way too delicious to resist.) We are hoping that anyone who sees this flyer will perhaps pass it along to people at your workplace, be it a business, school, or just your own home! If you're interested in contributing to our group's fundraiser, please email me at thamailez@yahoo.com with the following info:

Your Name
# of Plates
Phone #/Email

I thank everyone in advance who decides to help our group out with this idea. We are excited to get to Florida and to do what Naki had originally planned. (And yes, even though the girlies and I never sang before even though they asked PLENTY, we have decided we should in honor of Dad...uuugh. If I could just get over singing in public! Why is it always easier to sing at home or in my car?)