We somehow managed to escape the hospital for a night of fun. The Cystic Fibrosis Wine and Roses Gala is a major fundraiser for the Georgia CFF Chapter. We attended the Gala with around 300 others, dedicated to raising money to end CF. There were so many great people there representing the Big CF Family.
One particular guest was a 9 year old girl named Elena. The thing about Elena is no so much that she is just a cute little girl, and she is, but that she is dedicated to the fight for CF. She is strong willed, smart and is living a life with Cystic Fibrosis. She has a true love for life and a passion for winning the fight against her disease.
The night started with a champagne reception and lots of silent auction items to bid on. Then dinner started and was amazing. After a little live auction time, it was time for Elena to speak. Her grandfather introduced her, but there is no way to set the stage for such an amazing little girl to speak her heart about CF. It wasn’t the way she told some of her story and talked about the things she likes to do, it was the bravery, courage and determination that she showed when she spoke that was the true inspiration. She is fighting the good fight. I know that her parents must be proud. In fact, I know that everybody there that night was proud of Elena for reminding us that there is hope on the horizon and that we are closer than ever before to making this dream a reality for Elena, Sutton and every other CF’n person out there!
If you want to read more about Elena’s story, visit her blog.
http://www.elenacfupdate.blogspot.com/
If you want to donate to Sutton and CFF for the Great Strides Walk, click the link below.
http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/BrittanyBurnett
Stay tuned for another post shortly with an important update about Sutton….
65 Rosebuds 
You guys look so wonderful … great to see you dressed up and out on the town. Love you both — Aunt Sonny
What a small world! My name is Anne Cunningham and Elena Goodrow is my niece. We live in Chattanooga, but I keep up with Atlanta news through iPhone apps. I saw your news article and clicked on the link. After I started reading your blog, I came to the section where you wrote about Wine and Roses. It made me cry to hear you say such sweet things about our sweet, Elena. Sutton is just beautiful…the two of you are doing a great job!