About
This site is in its infancy, but we have waited longer than we anticipated to launch it. So here we are. Launching it without having completed the story. During our discussions on how we would structure “Jake’s Mission”, it was decided to begin small, build and add to it as time progressed. After all, Rome didn’t get built in a day, and neither will this site. It was important however, to simply BEGIN.
What is Jake’s Mission?
I was one of the lucky kids who was blessed with a warm and loving family. My father would remind you of Cliff Huxtable, the wonderful TV father played by Bill Cosby. Loving, charming, bright, and full of humor, that was my dad.
He taught a simple lesson early on in my teen years, one that I have carried with me throughout my life and one I have passed on to my children. When I entered my teenage years and began to enjoy a little more independence, my dad cautioned me one day to carry this thought with me at all times.
He shared with me that there would be times when I would find myself in situations where I would need to make a choice. He taught me to make sure it was the right choice, because it would be a reflection of me and my family.
The Gray Areas
An important lesson to be learned in life, at any age, is that life isn’t always black and white. There are a lot of gray areas. It is the decision we make when in this gray area that will form our character and shape who we will become.
There is a place deep inside all of us that whispers “Do What’s Right”. But we don’t always listen to that inner voice. Can you imagine a world where people all around you chose to Do What’s Right?!
My son Jacob tried to “Do What’s Right” during his brief life. He taught us so much. He was a quiet, gentle soul who fought to simply live a “normal” life and took pleasures in the simple things. He “got” life.
How We Live Life
Jake would do simple things, like allowing another driver to get in his lane without anger, or holding the door for another, being the first to apologize, putting other’s needs ahead of his own, saying no to harmful behavior, and not caring what others thought of him.
He found that the greatest lessons could be learned in the gray areas of life. He knew that the decisions he made would reflect not only on him as a person, but reflect on his family as well. He cared, and he wished that more people would simply DO WHAT’s RIGHT.
The Dream
It was in the early morning hours on a quiet lake in the mountains of North Carolina, puttering around the shores in his beloved “Moomba” boat, that my son shared with me how he had a dream. He hoped to one day create something “BIG” on the Internet that would help to change the world for the better.
He knew the battle he was about to face, yet he was looking to the future and what he would accomplish afterward.
A month later, in the summer of 2007, during our family’s darkest hours, Jacob was able to teach so much to so many without ever uttering a word. It was reflected in how he lived his twenty years, and how he fought his toughest battle that summer.
During those horrible months, on the floor of Duke Medical Center simply known to the other 13 bone marrow families as “5200″, he was able to touch thousands of lives, a majority of which he never knew personally, all because of the power of the Internet, and a site known as CaringBridge.
In honor of Jacob’s mission and his dream, DWR was given life to enrich the world around us and to serve as a reminder to people everywhere, to simply Do What’s Right.
