When there is a cancer diagnosis, it affects everyone around that person, particularly the person that becomes a caregiver. Stacey knows that role all too well. Stacey.

Good evening. My name is Stacy Fritz. I am both a daughter and a sister of two family members diagnosed with cancer. This picture, this picture was taken almost one year ago today. It was supposed to be a picture of Ivelisse and I. I remember feeling burdened and deeply worried about my family at last year’s Believe Big dinner. As odd as it sounds though, I also had this overwhelming feeling that night that I’d be standing here on this stage tonight. I even told Ivelisse at the time that this picture was taken, “This time next year it will be my family standing on the stage sharing our message of hope and of cure.” As I’ve come to learn, God always answers our prayers. But God answers our prayers on his terms. His answer to me after the 2018 Believe Big dinner was both a yes, and a not yet. The yes was to mean that only I would be standing on the stage tonight to share my deep and profound respect, and my love for Believe Big, and then not yet was for our prayers for complete cure.

So the picture with all of us, this is the summer of 2015. This is my gorgeous family of 12, in Hilton Head, for our annual family vacation. And as you just saw, they were healthy, they are happy and we are very connected. What I didn’t know then was that everything would change shortly thereafter that summer. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in the spring of 2016. Less than six months later, in the fall of 2016, my dad had an emergency triple bypass surgery. And then just as we began to find our new normal and return to life’s joy, including both of my parents recovering, my only sibling, my baby brother, Brad, was diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer, in February at 46 years old. In 18 months, my original squad, including my mom, my dad, and my younger brother, would be faced with life changing illnesses.

My introduction to Believe Big was probably very different than it was for all of you. I’m guessing you found your way to Believe Big after you or someone you love was diagnosed with cancer. My connection happened before my world turned upside down. I believe it was orchestrated by God and delivered in a field of sunflowers. I’m not sure, there we go. So this is me just doing a little yoga in a field of sunflowers in 2014. It’s not odd at all, right? I’m in a huge field of sunflowers owned by my dear friend, Cindy Franzone. We were just acquaintances back then, and connected by our sons’ friendship. My son came home from school one day, and he told me that his friend’s family, the Franzone, plant a huge field of sunflowers every two years. His words were, “Mom, you’ve got to see it. It’s like a million sunflowers.” And I was intrigued.

After just one visit to the sunflower field where these beautiful sunflower faces stretched further than I could see, I was hooked, and I was in awe. The sunflower heads were held high pointed in the direction of the sun. And they glowed like a sea of happy faces. I thought to myself, “Oh my gosh, they look like a huge group of smiling friends who are deeply connected.” I contacted Cindy who again, we didn’t know each other all that well, and I asked, “Would you mind if I just did a little yoga in your sunflower field?” And I don’t know which was stranger, the fact that I had the courage to ask, or the fact that she didn’t miss a beat and she said yes. I wanted to be right in the middle of their magic.

Those sunflowers they lasted a short three weeks, and I visited my group of smiling friends every day of those three weeks. I did a little bit of yoga. I took a lot of pictures. But mostly I just sat in their beauty. The field of sunflowers had a profound impact on me in 2014. And I didn’t realize even a bigger impact two years later. I made just one more request of my friend Cindy. I made the request in 2015. And I asked, and she graciously said yes one more time. She said yes to hosting my company’s first fundraiser called Glow For A Girl. She agreed to allow me to host that event in her field of sunflowers. My business partner Patty and I created the event to raise money and bring awareness to breast cancer survivors and the needs of their families impacted by their diagnosis. The unbelievable part, it was six months before my mom and Cindy’s mom was diagnosed with cancer, breast cancer.

So in 2016, Cindy went on to plant those sunflower field again, scheduled to bloom in September and where we would host Glow For A Girl. The next unbelievable part. Look who I met in the sunflower field. Ivelisse Page and I were introduced in that very same field by our two beautiful friends Heidi Kelly and Don Hoffman. As you can imagine, after that event, Believe Big became a very important part of my life. Believe Big connected our family to doctors and resources that I know would never have happened had I not met Ivelisse. This organization has become both my community of support and where God has chosen me to serve. I was drawn to Believe Big in the same way this beautiful sunflower faces are drawn to the sun. To me, they represent hope, they represent faith, and beauty even when the unexpected happens. And trust me, the unexpected happens.

Statistically speaking, 40% of us in this room will receive the diagnosis of cancer at some point in our life. And that means the other 60% of us will be impacted in some capacity by that same diagnosis. So today, here’s my story. My mom is a breast cancer survivor and she’s thriving. My dad has recovered and it’s thriving. My friends Cindy’s mom has joined the Lord and heaven, and my baby brother, Brad, has navigated his year long journey with complementary medicine, including mistletoe, and ketogenic nutrition, with traditional clinical treatment, and with his deep and profound faith. To me, all stories have believing big, and well God has said not yet to all of our prayers for my brother, our family waits confidently with hopeful anticipation for his complete cure.

And as I continue to travel this journey with my family, I have gratefully accepted my tap on the shoulder from God to be a part of this incredible organization. I have joined Believe Big team on their board of advisors to help patients and families face, fight, and overcome cancer. I’m guided not only by my faith, but when I think about it from a few lessons I’ve learned from those sunflowers. And I know you want to hear them, there’s just three. Lesson number one from the sunflower, face and lean into the sun. The best way to move through this obstacle is to lean in and face the sun just like those on inspiring flowers in Cindy’s field. The lesson is really, from the sun. It’s a wonderful way to connect to our purpose, our prayers, and what he wants from us. And they remind me to lean into and face the sun.

Lesson number two, believe big. A sunflower grows from the stalk. It’s metaphoric neck. As one side of the sunflower stalk grows, it leans into the sun. And as the sun shifts positions through the day, the other side of the sunflower stalk shifts and grows in the new direction of the sun. The Sunflower grows by sticking out the stalk or her neck again and again, in the direction of the sun. Ivelisse and her team, every day they give hope, every day they believe big, and every day they stick out their necks for their patients and their families to face and fight and overcome cancer.
And finally, lesson number three from those sunflowers, you got to stay centered. You got to stay grounded. And you got to use nature’s medicine as much as possible.

Believe Big is not only sharing information about mistletoe therapy, they are giving patients and their families access to complementary tools to heal themselves, to stay grounded, to stay balanced during this unexpected journey. They provide education and connection to tools and resources for us to tap into, including leaning on the ones that our bodies already have. Like the breath, like the healing effect of sleep, the power of good clean nutrition, and the miracle of prayer. Their vision is to see cancer patients and their families discover their pathway to healing. But even better, Believe Big is pollinating the world with a message of hope. They run their organization as if it were just for just one patient. That’s how they make you feel, as if you are only one person needing support, and not just if you’re the patient.

My mom and my brother were the patients in the story, and yet the loving kindness and the support was delivered directly to me. As if I were just one, the only daughter, the only sister of a cancer patient needing the resources. So if you think about it, it makes a ton of sense. Believe Big began with just one. God planted his seed when he held Ivelisse’s hand through her own journey with her diagnosis. He bestowed His blessings on her and she now pollinates and spreads the message of hope and healing. Her intention, her attention, her prayers and now her Believe Big actions are just like the seeds planted in my friend Cindy’s beautiful sunflower field. It started off really small, but he have grown and flourished under the almighty sun.

The seeds Ivelisse planted through her recovery were the beginning of something absolutely beautiful, something big for us to believe, and now stretch further than we can ever imagine or see. Thank God for all of us. And just like Ivelisse, we all have the capacity to have this kind of impact. The capacity to inspire somebody, the capacity to believe in something bigger than that dreaded cancer diagnosis, the capacity to plan just even one scene. So I’m looking out and you all look like a huge group of smiling friends that are deeply connected. And I’m hopeful that my story, that my family story will inspire you to lean in, to face the sun, and believe big. Thanks.