My cousin Elisa

This is my little cousin Elisa. She's three years old and lives with her Mom and Dad and big brother Mateo in the northwest of America.

Elisa's Mom is my cousin too. She's the daughter of my Mom's brother, my uncle Pat. So if I understand the conventions correctly, Elisa's Mom is my first cousin, and Elisa and her brother are my second cousins. Do I have that right?

Elisa was born on February 10, so we share a birthday. Her brother Mateo, who is six years old, was born on February 11, and he shares his birthday with his great-grandma (my grandma or "Nana") Judy.

Because of the way life works, I've never met Elisa or Mateo or their Dad (would he also be my first cousin? First cousin-in-law?). And I've only rarely met Elisa's Mom, and that was many years ago.

Anyway, I'm hoping to change that never-met status and improve the frequency of the rarely-met status.

If my plans come together, my Mom and I will travel to the Pacific Northwest in June. Specifically, we would like to be in Oregon on June 3 for a very specific purpose.

We want to walk in the 2017 Salem Great Strides Cystic Fibrosis Foundation 5K walk to help raise awareness of and research money for CF.

Because Elisa has Cystic Fibrosis.

After a CF clinic visit.

I'm a registered walker in the event. Now just in case you might be interested in throwing a little bit of money into the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation pot, you can sponsor me for the walk. Just go to this link, scroll down to the roster and find Shaun Evertson, then click on the donate button and chip in. Another option would be to join us on June 3 (you can be a virtual walker) and and find people to sponsor you! You can figure out how to do that at the same web site. And of course you can also just donate to the foundation. It all goes to the same great cause.

It wasn't many years ago when those afflicted with cystic fibrosis could expect to live only a few short years. Thanks to the Great Strides made in treating the disease, life expectancy has increased greatly, and a cure for the disease might be just over the horizon. This is due in large part to the efforts of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and to the donations of people from all across the nation and around the globe.

After Mom and I make acquaintances and re-acquaintances, we'll drive down the coast and visit family north of LA and in San Diego. I'm eagerly looking forward to visiting family, stomping my old navy stomping grounds, running wild on USS Midway, and bothering the hell out of restaurants and museums.

But most of all I'm looking forward to meeting my little cousins and doing just a little bit to help to help out.

Birthday Girl!

Check out this cool video.