Sometimes THON creeps its way into your everyday life
in weird, cooky ways, especially when it comes to music.
Whenever Taio Cruz’s Dynamite hits the radio,
I immediately sing along, “I throw my diamonds in the air sometimes, sayin
ay-oh, FTK-oh.”
Of course, I only do this when I am alone in
the car with the windows down, at THON or around other THONers.
Then, just this weekend, I heard a few canners
sing “THON So Hard,” while they were outside and listening to another car’s
music with the windows down. Of course, they were just changing the lyrics to
Jay-Z’s Ni**as in Paris.
Still, these are just two examples of how
much THON becomes a part of your life once you catch what a friend of mine,
Molly Thomas, calls the THON bug.
I can’t really explain what the THON bug is, but everyone that THONs has
it.
But sometimes THON doesn’t creep its way into
your everyday life; it demands your attention when one of our own is in dire
need of support.
Immediately following my announcement that
the blog would take a hiatus from April to September, one of our Four Diamonds families, the
Whiteheads, caught the attention of THONers across Penn State. Emily Whitehead was in the hospital
battling her second relapse of leukemia when her parents posted a status on
Facebook that wrenched the hearts out of every person who read it.
“Emily may not make it
through the night. Please pray her lung function and kidney function improve.
Please pray she is not scared and not in pain. Thank you to everyone for your
prayers, love and support.”
That was on April 24, and I’m thankful to say that Emily is
still fighting and surviving cancer every day of her life.
Emily, and many other children battling cancer, are the
reason we THON so hard.
They are the reason we dance for 46 hours during THON
weekend.
They are the reason that THON creeps its way into our everyday
life.
THON Countdown: 137 days!
