Back in late 2011, we had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know Mr. Thomas Rogers who is the executive directer for a wonderful organization called Children’s Eye Foundation. Their mission is eliminate preventable blindness in children. Kyle and I were invited to be a part of the Marshall M. Parks, M.D. Medal award presentation because the recipients of this years award happened to be Dr. Jerry and Carol Shields. Dr. Carol Shields was Kyle’s opthamologist in Philly. We were so honored to have been asked and we were so excited to get to see them again!!! This award honors outstanding contributions to children’s eye care and beyond any reasonable doubt we couldn’t agree more with the choice to honor the Shields team.

We flew into San Antonio on a Friday night and the presentation was not until Sunday. As soon as we arrived we found out that we would actually be staying in the same hotel as the Shield’s…I thought to myself, we will never pull this off. Every time we took the elevator I thought for sure they would be standing there when the doors opened. We got very lucky and never ran into them.  San Antonio is an awesome city and Kyle and I enjoyed walking around the RiverWalk and getting to see the Alamo. We also went to Sea World and Kyle fed some dolphins, he loved it and says he would love to swim with them one day…I told him I have been wanting to do that for years so he can’t get the chance before I do!

Sea World San Antonio

Feeding the dolphins

The Alamo - San Antonio

Having a little fun at Ripley's Believe It Or Not

We thought this picture was hilarious!

We had fun waiting for Sunday to roll around! I asked Kyle right before we were walking into the large room with a ton of people if he was nervous. He replied “No, why should I be?”. Well I was nervous enough for both of us! I am always amazed at Kyle’s cool demeanor, it is as if it just all comes naturally. The only time he has ever admitted being nervous is the day he putted with Tiger Woods, on that day he said he was shaking so bad that he could hardly hold his club. We do try to tell him often not to be nervous around celebrities or pro golfers, they are really just like us only they get paid a lot more. But we have met a few that I would never want to trade places with, it is amazing how money and the ability to have everything at your fingertips can distort reality so much. I think, in SOME cases, it makes you appreciate the little things less and my wish is that if Kyle makes it huge on the PGA one day, he remains as compassionate and caring as he is today. When people ask for his autograph(that still cracks me up that people want his autograph) but he always writes out his entire name. People will ask him if he is going to come up with some cool signature and his response is “Why would you want an autograph that you cant tell who it is?”. I love that and it reminds me of Arnold Palmer saying that his autograph wouldn’t be worth anything because he has given out to so many.

Sorry, I got off the subject there…..that is why I can’t ever write a book! I start one one subject and before I know it I my fingers are flying all over the keyboard and I look up to reread and discover I totally went off on a rant about something else. Oh well, that is just mom I guess!

Kyle did so well walking up to see Dr. Shields and boy was she surprised!! Kyle gave her the longest hug and I think I saw (through my teary eyes) that she was a little teary eyed too. When asked if Kyle would like to say anything, I froze a bit because Kyle and I had not discussed if he would say anything or not. Kyle said “Sure, I will” and walked right up to the microphone…how does he do that???? He reached for the mic, lowered it a bit and said ” I would like to thank everyone for coming and I just want to say that Mrs. Shields is the best doctor in the world.” Needless to say there was not a dry eye in the room…mine included of course. How does this nine year old have such charisma and self confidence to get up there and wing it? It can only be explained by the good Lord above! Another gift you might say. I always come across those people that hear our story and say to us “You poor thing, to go through that must have been awful.” or  ” I could have never gone through that, that’s terrible.” My response to that is always “Yes you could, when faced with only one option you have no choice.” And please don’t pity our situation, we have been so blessed by the circumstances surrounding Kyle’s illness. He has been able to meet the most amazing people and also was able to do things that people only dream of……like throwing out the first pitch at the Yankee’s Stadium in 2009, having a putting contest with Tiger Woods, Meeting golf legends like Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and almost every current player on the tour today. He has inspired so many people from young children to our elderly. His story that aired on HBO Rea Sports helped save the sight and life of a 4 month old baby girl! How could anyone feel sorry for Kyle or our family…..we struggle with feeling guilty for all we have been blessed with. God is Good!! And we always try to “pay it forward”!

I love this photo with Kyle and Dr. Shields - She diagnosed Kyle with RB at age two and she is the reason Kyle is with us today!

Dr. Carol Shields, Kyle, Mom and Dr. Jerry Shields - their practice is in Philadelphia, PA

Thank you Children’s Eye Foundation and Mr. Thomas Rogers for inviting Kyle and I to be a part of such a wonderful presentation!

Now from San Antonio to Palm Springs to play in the 2012 LPGA Kraft Championship Pro Am. This past Tuesday Kyle joined a foursome and played in the 1st day of the Pro Am…his foursome just happen to include last year’s winner of the NBC show The Voice, Javier Colon. We had met Javier the year before his debut on the Voice at the Golfers Against Cancer Tournament in Houston, TX. It was great to catch up with him again. The pro was Tiffany Joh and he had a great time with all of them!!

Kyle and Javier Colon

Kyle and Tiffany Joh

This is Kyle's buddy and biggest fan Kent. He lives in Palm Springs and has sought Kyle out every year that Kyle has played in the Pro Am. He follows Kyle up the fairways and usually gets to sneak in and play a par 3 hole with the group. Thank you Kent for your support, Kyle loves when he gets to see you!!

The second day was just as fun for Kyle, he got to see some old friends and meet some new ones too. He always enjoys seeing his longtime friend Lexi Thompson….he told me she has gotten so tall!! Lexi is always great with Kyle as is her family, I think she may remember what it is like being a young kid looking up to all the tour players and her and Kyle share a special bond. What a great person for Kyle to add to his role models….and he says she is cute too…. shhhhhhhh…I didn’t tell you that!!

He was paired up with I. K. Kim on day two. She was such a great person and Kyle was heartbroken to watch her miss the last putt to win the match. He said he felt so bad for her and wished he was there. She emailed him after her round and said that she was bummed about the ending but that Kyle has inspired her in many ways. The email made me cry (what’s new) because it means so much when your child is the source of some one’s inspiration. Great round I. K. Kim and we have no doubt you will win next time!! Kyle is looking forward to getting together with her and playing some golf, she lives really close to us.

Kyle and I. K. Kim

And below are some photos of some friends he had the chance to see…..

Kyle and one of his best buddies Meghan Francella

Kyle with Jerry Foltz

Kyle with his great twitter buddy Kelly Tilghman

Kyle with Mr. Rudy Gatlin from the Gatlin Brothers!

Well as you can see Kyle had a very busy spring break! Today he went back to school and he wasn’t the easiest to wake up this morning to say the least. I am sure he will be right back in the swing of things soon….next stop the Safeway Invitational in Monterey, CA in early June!

Thanks for checking in on Kyle and his where-abouts…I think we shall soon add a”Where’s Kyle” section to our website!

Lots of Love  &  Always Be Inspired,

Regina (Kyle’s mom)

This holiday season has been fantastic, the kids have been out of school since December 20th. We have been enjoying lazy mornings and lots of movie nights. Christmas Eve was spent baking cookies, well the girls and I baked while Daddy and Kyle played football on the Xbox and asked every 5 minutes when they would be done. It was a day full of laughs and way too much eating!!

The kids woke up bright and early on Christmas Day and very eager to tear into gifts. If any of you have been following us on facebook you would know that Kyle has been asking for a long time for a phone. I have struggled with this concept so much because, let’s be honest, what 9 year old in the world NEEDS a phone?? It is all about wanting what everyone else has and I think that is why I was opposed to the idea in the first place. With that being said, if you know Kyle you would understand how hard he is to buy for. Even as a toddler he was never into toys all that much. Give the boy a basket of tennis or softballs and he would entertain himself for hours! I remember one time when we lived in Iwakuni, Japan we had friends visit our home for the first time. We always kept a basket of baseballs, tennis balls and softballs(this was before golf balls invaded our house) in our living room and as our friends were looking around he said “I didn’t know you guys had a dog?” I asked what would make him think that because we didn’t. He pointed to the basket of balls and laughed…..we explained “Oh no, they are Kyle’s”. Still cracks me up to think about. Anyway, back to Christmas….. yes, I caved!! I submitted to buying my child something that he absolutely doesn’t need because I just did, I gave in at a weak moment and bought Kyle a phone for Christmas! I knew that we were going to be buying our girls new phones for Christmas because they were due for upgrades so we just gave in and said why not Kyle too. Knowing that this would be the one gift that he would be blown away to get we made him wait it out until the very end. We had the girls open theirs first and of course they were screaming and jumping up and down with excitement while Kyle watched. After everyone opened all the other gifts we had hid Kyle’s phone in the back corner of the tree. Jeff called his number and the box started to ring. I acted very confused and asked Kyle to crawl under the tree to see who’s phone was under there. As soon as he crawled under and saw the box ringing with his name on it, he was through the roof excited. I tried to snap a couple pictures but he was moving around so fast I was only able to get this one…..

Not hard to see the excitement on his face!

He also got a kinect for his xbox, he was really excited to get the kinect sport.

He has been adding contacts into his phone all week and has been texting friends to include Kyle Korver, Greg Norman, and Jason Kapono. It really cracks me up that they text back and sometimes text him first! He is also tweeting a little more…..sometimes he tweets stuff you would rather he didn’t, for example his tweet a couple of days ago was “Golfing with my dad and he just hit a house.” Yeah Kyle, Daddy would probably rather you not throw him under the bus with your tweets!!

We did go golf a couple of days ago. It has been in the 80′s here in SoCal and wonderful weather for golf. The last round was at Legends Golf Course here in Temecula. Kyle had fun meeting a new friend named Matthew that had just gotten clubs for Christmas. They played 9 holes together with the dads…..I would have to say the boys did better, I’m just being honest! A great time was had by all and I loved the way Kyle was encouraging Matthew through out the round. Kyle is truly a great kid….but I am a Mom so I guess every mom says that!

Kyle and Matthew

Kyle LOVES his Dad! The golf course just isn’t the same without him

LOVE HIS SWING!!

We hope you all had a fantastic holiday season and we wish you all the best in 2012. January has become one of our favorite months because each time it comes by we get to add one more year to his cancer free count! Retinoblastoma is a horrible cancer that can silently steal the sight of sweet innocent babies. For that very reason, TKE is determined to raise awareness and make sure every mom, dad, grandmother, aunt, uncle and grandpa knows what to look for. It is possible to save the sight before it is too late. We couldn’t save Kyle’s sight in his left eye and I always wonder if we would have known what to look for, could we have saved his vision? We will never know and we can’t live in the “what if”, we can only live in the now and help others by spreading the word about retinoblastoma.

Start 2012 of right……I would like to challenge you all!! In honor of Kyle’s 7 year cancer free anniversary, I ask that you all share this post , his facebook page or his website with at least 7 of your family and friends…..you never know who may read it, who may see the early signs of retinoblastoma in their own child, or their grandchild, niece or nephew. You could save a child’s sight and in some cases, you could save a life!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU! Make 2012 great, TKE plans to do just that! We will continue our Fight Fore Sight…..wanna join us??

God Bess,

The Lograsso Family

The last couple of months we have been enjoying some much needed down time. Our family has been able to spend some great time just relaxing, hanging out with friends and Kyle’s favorite – board games! Thanksgiving was lots of fun as it is every year. We always have a friendly game of flag football with friends before stuffing ourselves with way too much food. This year we have about 25 join in our annual game. The kids always have a blast look forward to the game every year. Kyle had a few great breakaways and rushed the quarterback quite a few times. I am not sure what the score ended up being but I do know everyone had trouble walking for a few days afterwards due to the soreness that set in! HA

Kyle almost had him!

Kyle with a break away

I just love this picture!

Kyle got him that time!!

The Gang…

Even little Logan was able to come out! Logan was diagnosed with RB at 4 months, he has currently completed chemotherapy and continues to be rechecked often. We love little Logan!!

Hanging out at the end of the day. (so tired!)

Kyle had taken a long break from golf the past couple months. I always wondered if he would get burnt out golf and I think he did! Jeff and I supported him with his decision to take a break from the game and I think we both knew it wouldn’t last long. After not swinging a golf club or touching a golf club in over two months he couldn’t stay away. Just this past Thursday night while putting him to bed he said “Mom, I miss golfing”. I answered by saying “Maybe Daddy can take you this weekend.” With a big smile on his face, he kissed my cheek and said “Goodnight mommy, I love you.”. As soon as Daddy got home on Friday, that was the first thing Kyle asked. I am not sure who was more excited to go Jeff or Kyle! I think Daddy misses that time on the course just a much as Kyle does.

So on Saturday morning they were off to Pauma Valley to spend what ended up being 7 hours of golf! Kyle had a great day and loved seeing all of his Pauma Valley friends that missed him just as much. Kyle said he gave lots of hugs that day He also was excited to work on his game and said he played very well.

Well now Kyle is focused on Christmas! He was so excited to decorate the house with lights and decorate the tree with his sisters. he keeps telling us that all he wants for Christmas is a cell phone. I am still struggling with why 9 year olds need cell phones when I didn’t get mine until I was 28 but I guess it is a sign of the times. He tells me all the time that I am the ONLY mom that won’t let their child have a phone…”all of my friends have one!” Geez! He is really trying hard, he tells me that if I get him phone he will give me a shoulder massage every day…Hey, I may take him up on that! HA

The Lograsso Family would like to wish you all Happy Holidays. Please keep all of our fellow troops stationed overseas that are without family in your prayers! Thank you for checking in and reading our blog, we appreciate the support and emails of encouragement that Kyle and our family receives every day.

God Bless! xoxo

Well now that the tournament is over, we have all gotten back to some kind of normal life. Kyle is settled in school, the kids are getting fed dinner every night and we haven’t forgotten to pick up our daughter Kaley from soccer practice once post tournament. Yes..you read correctly, no need to reread that opening sentance! In all of the hustle and bustle leading up to the tournament, we forgot Kaley at practice three times. I’m so glad she still loves us and she has a great coach that always sees that she gets home despite our absent mindedness. They probably didn’t eat dinner at a normal hour and we did hear “Are we having a whatever dinner again?” quite a few times! I keep telling them that we were just creating memories so that when they are old they have funny stories to tell their children….not sure if that is working!

Kyle has played golf quite a few times lately. He just took his friend Spencer out to golf….but he made Spencer change first! I think he has transformed Spencer into a Loudmouth guy.

 He just recently played in another kids tournament last week. He didn’t think he did too well but we always think he does awesome. I think he struggles a bit with nerves and the whole mind game that the game of golf is. We can take him out on a sunday afternoon and he will shoot in the low 40′s and make some unbelievable shots but when it comes to competing, he struggles a bit. I think he puts way too much pressure on himself and is way too hard on himself and that effects his game a bit. As long as he has fun, that’s all we worry about! As far as Kyle is concerned…it’s all about winning. He is the most competitive 9 year old I know but it is always internal, he never expresses that to the ones he plays with.  Below are a few pictures from his last tournament.

He always has a great time with Joey and Nate!

I am sure Kyle will work out his issues on the course and he will become a better player because of it. I am sure he feels a bit of pressure as well, if I had a dime for everytime we heard “oh, he’s the next Tiger Woods” we would be pretty well off. Kyle will never be the next Tiger Woods, he will always be Kyle! He doesn’t need to fill any shoes except his own and he will never be expected to be the “next anyone” to us and I hope others will see the same. I am sure it is hard for anyone who is always compared to one of the greats….he is 9 and should never feel that pressure. We have always said that he may one day fall out of love with the game of golf and that is absolutely fine with us, I never want to dictate what path Kyle wants to lead. We want him to do what makes him truly happy, right now it’s golf….in ten years it may be baseball…in twenty years it may be the piano! We will love him and support him all the same, although I don’t think he could ever be patient enough to play piano!

Speaking of baseball, Kyle has always loved the sport. He has been wanting to play baseball for a couple of years now. Both Jeff and I have been a bit skeptical about signing him up out of our fear for his safety. I worry that Kyle may not see a line drive coming from his left side or misjugde a flyball and the ball ends up hitting his good eye instead of the glove. Kyle can not see anything coming from his left side until it reaches almost his nose where his right eye can then see it. If you close your left eye and hold your pointer finger out to your left side, slowly move your finger toward the front of you. Your finger will most likely not come into your right eye view until it’s close to being in front of you. And picture a fly ball, hold your hand up above your head like you are catching a fly ball, now look up. Close your right eye, now open your right eye and close the left. Your hand pretending to be a glove seems to move, but it doesn’t. It is they way you “see” it. It just kinda scares a Momma!! With all of that being said, Kyle is officially signed up for spring baseball. He may be the only boy on the field with a helmet and bubble wrap on….just kidding! I think he will do just fine….I hope! He is so excited he can hardly wait. He drives Daddy nuts dragging him into the cul de sac to play catch. Poor Dad never gets a break, between golf and baseball Kyle keeps him pretty busy!

Oh yeah, did I tell you he loves football too! Poor Dad!

Well that’s about all that has been happening lately. The only other issue we are dealing with is Kyle feeling the need to have his own cell phone! He keeps telling us that he needs a phone so he can tweet more. Great! He also said he could text his friends (of course, every 9 year old needs to text their friends right? What was I thinking!). When I asked what friends he would text, he begins naming off Bubba Watson, Greg Norman, Kyle Korver, Mike Derminio (his favorite buddy to golf with – he’s almost my age!), and many others! Ummm, that was never the response I was expecting! Sorry Kyle is not getting a phone right now….although I don’t think he is going to give up trying

Thanks for following along and reading about the latest ways Kyle cracks us up and the latest ways he inspires us!

And no matter what, Kyle is always smiling!!

Happy Fall Everyone and God Bless!!

Congrats to Mr. Alan Wallace, Courtney Hooten, Greg Vincent and Bobby Gojuangco for taking home 1st place this year!

Kyle had a great time! He played his favorite par 3 hole on the course with every foursome that came through. Everyone had to wear an eyepatch over their left eye on that hole, Kyle got a laugh at the ones that had trouble just teeing the ball up with one eye.

We were thrilled to have a few retinoblastoma survivors there again this year. Jake Olson played again to try to defend his win last year, even though his group didn’t win we enjoyed having them back!

We were also blessed to have the Murrietta Family join us this year. They have a little boy named Logan that is right at the end of his treatments. He is such a sweetie and has two older sisters Bella and Savannah! Kyle gave him a yellow golf ball before dinner, I think he is hoping to have a golf buddy in a few years!

Thank you Justin and April for sharing your story!

Craig Hocknull put on an amazing golf trick show that captured everyone’s attention. Kyle was his little helper and enjoyed every minute of it! Thank you Craig for being a part of our event. For more information about The Outback Golf Show click HERE.

The day was filled with so much fun and we are still working on the final numbers but we have estimated that we raised over $40K this year!!! That means in the last two years, the TKE golf tournaments have raised over $100K! That is amazing!

I have posted all of the photos taken from the event on the website, make sure to check them out. Our family and TKE have been so blessed to be surrounded by the best friends and family anyone could ask for. Kyle and our girls had so much fun and are humbled to receive so much support. With the economy in the state it is, it amazes us that we are able to raise so much money for this wonderful cause! This is TKE’s Fight Fore Sight and we will never quit fighting to raising awareness and fund research to help find a cure for Retinoblastoma!!

Thank you for your continued support, prayers and messages! TKE is making a difference and changing lives!!

God Bless,

The Lograsso Family – Jeff, Regina, Kristen, Kaley and Kyle

Kyle’s First Day of School

Kyle has also been busy promoting the upcoming TKE Golf Tournament. He has been on KTLA 5 News, several local radio shows and has had a couple articles in the newspaper. We are all so excited for the event and can’t wait foe the day to come! If you are interested in being a part of this fantastic day, all details are on the tournament page of the website. Click here to view the latest KTLA 5 video.

Just this week Kyle participated in the Rod Carew PCRF Golf Tournament at Coto De Coza Golf Course. Although he was a bit late because he had to attend school first, he was able to join Dad for the last 5 holes. He golfed with Dad, a family friend Mr. Chuck and a father and son duo Sam and Tony that were so much fun. Sam is an 11 year old leukemia survivor and a darn good golfer! Kyle always enjoys the tournaments when he gets a chance to play with other kids.

This shot was pretty funny! Dad didn’t hit this one so well, and the look on Kyle’s face says it all!

Kyle and Sam

Great group and such a fun day!

Kyle also had the great opportunity to meet a courageuos young lady named Jessie Joy Rees. She is 12 year old girl that has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Instead of letting that diagnosis get her down, Jessie and her family have created a foundation called NEGU. It stands for the words she now lives by Never Ever Give Up! You can learn more about Jessie on her website http://inegu.org/ . What Jessie is doing for others is truly remarkable and she is an amazing young lady. God has a plan for you Jessie!

Jessie also has a facebook page. Click here to become a fan! She will absolutely inspire you!

As we attend these events it takes us back to being so thankful for all we have. I have always said that everyone should spend some time with a child battling cancer at one time or another. These kids have such an amazing outlook on life and the ability to touch and inspire us in ways you could only imagine. It makes complaining about the weather, your job and your hectic schedule so trivial. It forces us to remember what is improtant in life and what really matters. Enjoy each day one day at a time a live life to the fullest!

Back to a lighter subject, you may or may not remember about 2 months or so ago I did something I said I would never do. I broke down and let Kyle have a rodent. We welcomed Marvin into our home and it has been an adventure from day one! The first week or so that we had him, we lost him! We also have a little shih tzu dog that would do anything to get his teeth around little Marvin. To keep Marvin safe from the jaws of Bentley(our Shih tzu) I told Kyle he could take Marvin into our bathroom, close the door and play with him in there. Well little did I know that there was a hole underneath our sink cabinet that Marvin could fit right in. I heard Kyle screaming for Marvin and opened the door to find this distraught look on Kyle’s face and he said Marvin had went into the hole. Well for 5 hours we tried everything to coax him out……we popped popcorn and put it in there thinking the smell would draw him out, we made “traps” and anything we could think of. Finally he just walks out of the hole like he had just had the best nap! Well our adventures with Marvin didn’t end there!

Just a couple of night ago, our Bentley went flying over to the corner of our living room and started growling. By the time Kyle’s oldest sister Kristen went over to investigate, Bentley had Marvin in his mouth! Kristen saved Marvin and we realized he was jumping onto his water bottle and jumping out of his cage! So we put a cork cover over the tank and left just a small area open so he had air. The next morning, my husband found Marvin under our sofa in the living room just hangin out. When we looked in his cage, Marvin had pushed his little plactic strawberry house over to the side with the opening, climbed on top and jumped out! He was probably out all night! Sure glad Bentley didn’t have a midnight snack…..

Something tells me this will not be the end of Marvin’s adventures! Who new rodents were so smart! HA!

Thanks for reading our blog and we will post again soon! We hope all the kiddos heading back to school have a fantastic start to the year. God Bless you all!!

Until next post……

photography courtesy Kendra Watson Photography

Kyle had a great time and couldn’t believe how big those scissors were! He actually cut the ribbon and did a great job!

What a smile!!

He even got to meet Miss Temecula and Miss Teen Temecula…I think he enjoyed that…

Thank you to all who showed up to this event! It means so much to have such great support from friends!

Have a fabulous weekend and God Bless!

Chad and Evan

We had a table set up with our foundation information and that was a pretty popular spot most of the night. We were so thankful for the opportunity to spread the word about Kyle’s story and what our foundation does. Kyle’s big sister Kristen and her best friend Ali helped out at the table most of the night and did a great job!

Kristen and Ali being silly

TKE thinks it is very important to bring the FUN element to everything we do. It shows that we all enjoy what we do!

We had supporters of all ages, even the younger ones had a fun night. I am not sure what was more fun for them….watching the game or playing on the stairs (I am thinking the stairs!).

Thanks for coming Neil!

Finally it was time for Kyle to throw out the first pitch. He was so excited and couldn’t wait to get on the mound. He walked up with Courtney (member of the Storm Staff), she showed him where to throw from BUT it was in front of the mound. He asked her twice if he could throw from the mound….too funny. He finally took the spot she had showed him and stared the catcher down for a few minutes. It was comical, he was so serious and into it!

photo courtesy Storm Baseball

After some time “getting ready”, he gunned one in and it was just outside the plate but the catcher caught it with no problem. He received a huge applaud for his throw!

What a great night and we want to thank all who attended and supported the TKE foundation!

This picture was one of my favorite of the night! They moved away from the group and sat really close to the third base line in hopes of catching a foul ball. This picture just cracks me up, it’s a rough life huh?

Check out our group shot – we had a few missing but you get the idea!

Can’t wait until the next foundation event and again thank you all so much for your support!!

We had been staying in the Ronald McDonald House in Philly and the had scheduled this surgery just 2 days before. I remember getting absolutely no sleep the night before and thinking in my mind such shallow thoughts like what will life be like for him with only one eye. I say shallow thoughts because I was unable at the time to see God’s bigger picture for Kyle and what all Kyle and his story could do for others….I only thought of his loss. On the way to the hospital, Jeff and I didn’t say a word to each other. Luckily my mom, sister and brother had come up to be supportive throughout the day. They are originally from Virginia, where I grew up. I remember checking into the surgery center at Wills Eye Hospital and wanting to turn around and run, not sure where but maybe if I ran fast and far enough it all would go away. But I pushed back as much emotion as possible, I used to have a bad habit of doing that. I would try to stay so in control of my emotion….now I cry at baby commercials for gosh sake! Funny how life changes you.

So we were all checked in and waiting to be called back. I remember watching Kyle play with the toys in the toy room and he was smiling away, I thought then that he has no clue his life is about to change forever. He would face more challenges, uncertainty and the unkown really. I was naive because I did not know anyone that had only one eye and had no idea what to expect. Below is the last picture I took of Kyle before the surgery and with both eyes…

Finally we hear the nurse say “Kyle Lograsso”. At that instant my heart dropped, all the control I had over my emotions disappeared and I started to shake uncontrollably. Yes, I was losing it!! They would not let us go back with him, I had to hand over my 2 year old child to a nurse I did not know and he would never be the same after that moment. He would forever be changed and he was only 2, still a baby! I remember kissing him, hugging him and praying to God all at the same time. Then he was out of my arms and I was watching the surgery door close behind him. Out of sight, just like that.

I could no longer hold myself together and made a break for the bathroom so I could cry in my own company. And boy did I cry! I know this sounds so selfish but I have no idea what Jeff was doing, I remember as I sat in the bathroom thinking “Where is Jeff?”, “Is he ok?”, “Is he crying too?”. It was then that I had to get up, wipe the tears and go on. Did it suck, YES, but this was what was handed to us and we had to deal with it and move on. After coming out of the bathroom, I found Jeff and we hugged for what seemed like forever. Although he didn’t have a complete meltdown like I had just displayed, we felt the same. We had to deal with it and push through.

Kyle was done with surgery in less than an hour. I remember thinking how could they do such an invasive surgery in such a small amount of time. They called us back to the recovery room and there he was, laying in a crib type hospital bed still asleep from the anesthesia and sporting a big white bandage over his left eye. I was sad for him, I was sad that maybe he will never look the same…..shallow thoughts again but I am just being honest.

An hour or so in the recovery room and they said he could go home. Really??? You want me to take him home when he just had his eye removed?? They sent us home with a mild pain reliever and that was it. So back to the Ronald McDonald House we went and a few hours later……. We were hiding his plastic golf club from him because he wanted to play golf! That is Kyle for ya…constantly amazing us.

This anniversary day is bitter sweet for us. Bitter because the emotions of that day still get to me, I have cried at least twice just writing this! But sweet because that is behind us and Kyle has come so far since then. He has never let the fact that he only has one eye stop him from doing ANYTHING! He embraces what has come his way and sees life in a better way. He has taught us many things in the 9 years of his life and as a family we live day by day and roll with whatever life throws us. God has a plan, bigger than any of us can imagine.

Okay, on to more of the fun side of life… one of America’s favorite past time – BASEBALL!

So exciting!! This Saturday Kyle will throw out the first pitch at the Storm Baseball game in Lake Elsinore. It is Golf Night at the game and our foundation was asked to be a part of the night. Such a great opportunity to get involved in our local community and really enjoy a night of fun, friends and baseball. Game starts at 7pm….

For those of you that do not know, Kyle is a HUGE baseball fan. His favorite team is the Phillies – GO PHILLIES!! You may be wondering why in the world we could be Phillies fans if we live in California. We are originally from the east coast and lived just outside of Philly for a little over 4 years. During that time, Kyle became very passionate about both the Phillies and the Eagles. It is hard to live in a city where the residents are SO passionate about their teams and not follow their lead. Kyle has a few other reasons for loving the Phillies, he has met and spent time with just about all of them!Kyle with Chase Utley – his favorite!!

Showing off his swing to Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley..

Kyle even got a call from Charlie Manuel the night before the 2009 World Series started. He talked to Kyle for about 10 minutes about the game and how he thought they would play….it was unreal!

When the Phillies came to play (and beat) the Dodgers, Kyle was asked to throw out the first pitch. However because he was throwing out the first pitch at the dodger stadium, they made him wear a dodgers jersey to do it…..he was not happy BUT he did have his phillies shirt on underneath and took it off immediately after the pitch! He did get a little pitching lesson from one of the greats Tommy Lasorda…

I hope Kyle knows how lucky he is to get a chance to meet and spend time with one of the great icons of baseball!

Thank you all for taking the time to read up on Kyle’s blog. Writing in this blog has become one of my favorite things to do. Although Kyle doesn’t enjoy writing as much as I do, I hope he gains an interest in it as he gets older….I would love to hear his experiences through his own words and perceptions.

Stay tuned for more and God Bless….

Kyle’s Mom

Kyle was bummed that Daddy could not be there for the first day. He spoke with Dad on the way to the course and it ended in some tears. I think one reason why he loves the game so much is because he always gets to be with Dad. They truly have a unique relationship. But this time he was stuck with Mom, and if you know me, you know that I know NOTHING about golf!

The second day of the tournament was a bit tougher than the first. Poor guy found every sand trap, water and rough grass on the course I think. He ended up being beat out of third by one shot and placed fourth. He shot a 58 the second day….needless to say he was so bummed. he usually averages in the 40′s so it was rough. BUT he made some great new friends and had fun laughing and joking with them.

On to July 4th…we had a great day with friends at thier pool. BBQ, pool and friends – how could you not have a great day. Kyle LOVES to swim, it is probably his favorite outside of golf and soccer.

Kyle will be playing in another kid’s tournament tomorrow at Menifee Lakes Country Club. He is looking forward to it and said he wanted to shoot in the low 40′s. I just hope he has fun and can enjoy the day without being so nervous! He is already trying to pick out which outfit he will wear…..oh Lord help me!

Until next time…..