My 3rd Annual Longest Day of Golf – Coaching Edition – has again SOLD OUT!!! Thank you to everyone who signed up to take part in what always promises to be a great day. I’ll be getting ready on July 24th just after 4:00AM to start my first lesson of the day with Scott Henderson at 5AM….and finishing my day with the Mussani’s at dark nearly sixteen hours later. Why is this an important day for me? I’d like to share the reasons.

On April 7th, 2006 my wife and I’s daughters were born at 28 weeks gestation. A couple of days earlier during a routine ultrasound the technician began acting funny and asking all sorts of questions about previous ultrasounds and then we were told to wait outside….never a good thing. Turns out our daughters had a condition known as Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome – essentially one twin was receiving most of the nourishment while the other was receiving very little. They needed immediate care which meant they would be arriving much earlier than expected.

Nothing in life really prepares you for what would happen over the next several months – many life and death moments, faced with decisions you wouldn’t want to decide – except for maybe the game of golf. Dayna and I had a conversation, about what I preach in coaching, during a ridiculously difficult time. It was in the first 4 or 5 days of the girls life…Dayna had just been diagnosed with a very rare, pregnancy induced heart condition called Peri Partum Cardiomyopathy and we were just overwhelmed by ALL the what if’s….What if the girls don’t make it, What if Dayna doesn’t make it and the girls do, and on and on. We thought we’d both go crazy.

And then, we just decided, that like golf, we would take it one “shot” (shot, as in, Doctor, hit me again with some bad news) at a time. We would immerse ourself in the “shot” instead of reacting to it….because reacting to each “shot” every time just wasn’t working. Basically, after we took the golf approach to these life issues we were faced with….we were able to get through it. ‘Nuff said.

The Longest Day of Coaching helps raise funds for CHEO. Funds that will be directed to what the NICU needs or other wish lists from other departments in the hospital. Last year just over $36,000 was raised….just through our little golf course (members). Over $65,000 raised in the first two years…it’s truly amazing. Dayna will again be working with the CHEO Foundation to determine proper allocation of all the funds raised for the day….you’ll know what the money went towards. ALL of my coaching fees for the day will go directly to CHEO…Any and ALL donations made for the day will receive a tax receipt AND my very generous sponsor of the event will MATCH every dollar donated up to a total of $20,000.

Our daughter Kathryn understands that CHEO is part of her life, part of her extended family and we certainly rely on the professionals at the hospital. Kathryn has had 7 surgeries to date and has smiled through all of them…a testament to her courage and strength….and certainly a testament to the environment and atmosphere throughout the hallways of CHEO. Two cochlear implant surgeries have given Kathryn the gift of hearing and communicating…almost at normal range now…still catching up. I encourage you to take part in what promises to be another wonderful moment for Rideau View on July 24th.

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