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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Dancing With the Idaho Falls Stars

Never say that BizMojo Idaho is afraid to plunge into the new year. Two weeks from tomorrow night, at the Idaho Falls Civic Auditorium, I will be participating in "Dancing With the Idaho Falls Stars," a benefit event for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.

The drill is familiar enough. Rank amateurs are paired up with partners who know what they're doing. I hope mine is patient, but with all due modesty I do not expect to be hopeless either. My parents enrolled me in dance lessons when I was in seventh grade, back in the day when it was a suburban custom, and I have watched my share of Fred Astaire movies.

I will remember to smile, and I have been assured that no one has ever humiliated themselves by doing this.

Even if I do make a spectacle of myself, it will be for a cause all of us can get behind. In my case it's particularly close to home, as my wife, Karen Juell, had surgery last month to remove a tumor from her abdomen. It was diagnosed malignant, so we're looking at chemotherapy this spring, not to mention some horrific medical expenses. (Does anyone find it ironic that even with insurance it costs a fortune to get sick in the land of the free?)

Karen has been to the rodeo before. She was treated for Hodgkin's disease in 1985. Next Tuesday we will be celebrating our 26th anniversary, so our message to you is one of hope. Cancer stinks, but we were put on this earth to live, and that is what we intend to do.

If you want to make a donation, here is the link. It would mean a great deal to us to have your support. http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY12GW?px=17013538&pg=personal&fr_id=38333