Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Well, September was a very rough month for us!  It does not seem real that Mallory has been gone for almost 9 months.  I keep thinking I will wake up from this horrible nightmare.  Still missing her every minute of every day!! I wanted to let everyone know that we have now raised over $22,000 for the Mallory Smith Legacy Scholarship created by Georgia Transplant Foundation!  Mallory will touch lives for many many years to come!!  I know I promised pictures from the walk, we have just been so busy...but they are coming soon so stay tuned!!

On another note, we are gonna be grandparents again!!  Michael and Angela will be adding to their family with a new baby coming in the Spring!  Dierks is doing GREAT and is just perfect....absolutely perfect.  He really does help all of us get through the days!!  I show him his Aunt Mallory"s picture and can"t wait to tell him all about her!

If you attended the walk, please give us some feedback in the guestbook.  Thanks again for continuing to check in on our family and for supporting TeamMal!  God Bless, Mike and Lisa




   
Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Hello Everyone!  We just wanted to give you an update on our 1st Annual Mallory’s Walk.  We had

about 350 folks show up to walk on Sunday, our goal was 117!!  Our total donations came in at $21,017.17, our goal was $10-12,000 and more are still coming in!!  So, as you can imagine we are extremely happy with the results of this bittersweet day.  The Reps from Georgia Transplant Foundation were amazed that our first walk produced such big results!  If you would like to make a donation in memory of Mallory please just send us an email, teammal717@gmail.com and we will give you the details.  Within the next week or so we hope to have pictures and video posted here for everyone to see how wonderful this day turned out.  Thank you so much to all our sponsors, walkers and to everyone that donated.  I also would like to thank everyone who helped make this day successful!!!!  So, a big THANK YOU!!!

Yesterday was Mallory’s Birthday, this was a tough day for all of us.  It was a very difficult day to get through, Mallory always loved her birthday!!  Please continue to pray for our family, this is all still very difficult.

Now, I have a favor to ask of everyone…if you attended the walk please click on the guestbook and leave us a quick note, we would love to hear your feedback.  If you would like to receive an email to let you know we have posted a journal entry please send us an email to teammal717@gmail.com with Subscribe in the subject line.

The Smiths

 




   
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Hello everyone! Today we raised $21,017.17 at our first walkathon!!!! I will post again in a few days with all the details!!! Thanks to everyone for participating and donating!! Tomorrow is Mal"s birthday so please send up a few extra prayer for our family!! The Smiths


   
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Well, we finally made, it just a few days away from the big event.  A few reminders:

  • Please wear comfortable shoes and dress cool as it will probably be a hot day, although the forecast is looking perfect for Sunday.
  • The walk will take place rain or shine, if it rains we will make it work...in the church!
  • We will walk from 2:00 - 3:15, not a distance walk but a timed walk.  Next year it might be different, not sure yet.
  • Registration will begin at 1:15, please be prepared to pay your registration fee of $5.00 per walker, cash or check payable to Lisa Smith.  This fee covers the cost of the shirts, if any funds are remaining after the shirts have been paid for we will donate it to GTF.  This only applies if you registered in time to be on the shirt order.
  • Please have your donations in an envelope, all checks payable to GTF.  Remember our challenge is for each walker to raise $117, however no amount is too small, or big...lol. 
  • Wear CRAZY socks!!
Thank you all so much for supporting Mallory"s Walk and we cannot wait to see you on this bittersweet day!!!!  

The Smith"s



   
Friday, September 2, 2011
Well, this month is going to be a busy emotional month around the Smith house. Saturday is opening day for Bama football. Everyone knows how much Mal loves her Bama football, the games just aren"t going to be the same without her. I am excited for the season but at the same time dreading all the emotions that I know will come with it. Mallory"s birthday is September 12th so I know that is going to be a tough day, she LOVES her birthday!! And, the 17th marks the 4 year anniversary of her 2nd liver transplant. Take all this and add to it the walk on September 11th and YES I would say it is going to be emotional!! The power of prayer and GOD will get us through it. Please if you think about it say a few extra for our family this month. Here are a few updates on the walk: Please have your registration fee (shirt money) separate from your donations. If you are writing a check for your shirt it needs to be payable to Lisa Smith, all donations for the walk need to be payable to Georgia Transplant Foundation. Of course, cash is always welcome and we will be able to give you a receipt for your cash donations. It would be VERY helpful if you could have your donations in an envelope with your name on the front as well as the dollar amount enclosed, we will have envelopes at the walk should you need one. Here is the schedule; we will try very hard to stay on schedule: 1:15 - 1:45 Check in 1:45-2:00 Announcements and Speaker 2:00-3:17 Walk At the end of the walk we will have an announcement from GTF to let everyone know how much money was raised for the Mallory Smith Legacy Scholarship! If you register(ed) on the site late and did not get a shirt order in, we did order a few extra so I will try my best to accommodate you if you are interested. Be sure to wear your CRAZIEST socks in memory of Mallory, she will love this!! I am sure it is going to be a hot day but am praying it will cool down a bit between now and the 11th. Please wear comfortable shoes and bring your water bottle, although we will have plenty of water to go around! Here is the address for the church: Northstar Church 3413 Blue Springs Road Kennesaw GA 30144 Thanks and can"t wait to see you all on the 11th!!


   
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Just wanted to let everyone know the plans are really coming together for Mallory"s Walk. Sunday, September 11th, Northstar Church in Kennesaw GA. Check in is from 1:15 - 1:45. We will walk around the church parking lot (the larger one on the bridge side) beginning at 2:00 and ending at 3:17. We will then have a short rally to let everyone know how much we raised for Mallory"s scholarship created by Georgia Transplant Foundation. Be sure to register before Wednesday, August 24th if you want to receive your shirt the day of the walk. Registration fee is $5.00 which covers the cost of the shirt. Also, be sure to collect donations from your family and friends to turn in the day of the walk!! If you get 12 people to donate $10.00 each you have surpassed the challenge of $117 per walker. However, no amount is too small!! Mallory is so proud of us for doing this in her memory!!! Missing our girl! Questions just send us an email teammal717@gmail.com The Smiths


   
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Hello everyone.  Well, the plans for the walk are going extremely well.  We now have 22 sponsors, over 100 walkers and a gym full of GA Allstar cheerleaders participating in Mallory"s Walk.  If you have not registered please do so asap by clicking on the link above.  If you are not able to attend but want to send a donation(s) benefiting GTF in memory of Mallory please send us an email so we can work out the details.  Also, if you cannot attend the walk but would like a Mallory"s Walk t-shirt please email us asap with the quantity and sizes you need.  Sizes available include Youth Medium and Large, Adult Small, Medium, Large and XLarge. The shirts are $5.00 if you are local and can pick up or $8.00 if I will need to ship the shirt to you.  The shirts will be mailed to you after the walk on September 11th.  In a few weeks I will post a list of all our sponsors just so everyone will know where our support is coming from!  Thanks for checking in with us, feel free to sign the guestbook and let us hear from you.  Our email address is teammal717@gmail.com  Missing our girl.....The Smiths


   
Sunday, July 31, 2011
See update below: I meant to add if you want to receive a notification when we update this page, please send us an email with "Subscribe" and we will add you to the list. Thanks.


   
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Update on the walkathon: We now have 19 sponsors and a few more we are waiting to hear from!! We are getting individual donations in from folks that cannot be here for the walk. We have over 65 folks signed up to walk so far. Mallory"s All Star Coach, Jamie Parrish, is closing his gym for the day and having all his cheerleaders walk, around 150 kids!! So, with all this said the walk is going to be a HUGE success!! If you are planning to walk, please click on the link "Mallory"s Walk" and submit your registration. If you have any questions please send us an email to teammal717@gmail.com Thanks for checking in and for leaving us a note, we enjoy hearing from all of you!! Missing our girl so VERY much!!!


   
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Well, it was 5 years ago today that Mallory received her first life saving transplant.  We are very thankful to our donor family for their gift to Mallory as it did give us more time with her.  They are grieving today as they deal with the 5 year anniversary of losing their loved one.  Please remember Mal"s donor family in your prayers as they deal with this anniversary.  The past few days have been rough, they are all rough, but the past few have seemed unbearable.  We miss Mallory so much and it just still does not seem real that she is no longer sitting in her spot on the loveseat.  Oh how we miss her!!  Be sure to check out the details in the few previous post about our walkathon coming up soon.  We have 12 sponsors with a few more in the works and so far 32 people signed up to walk!!!  If you have not registered yet, be sure to click on the link above and submit your registration.  Thanks for checking in on us and leave us a note that you stopped in.  Lisa and Mike


   
Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Okay we are ready to get walkers for Mallory"s Walk!!!!  Event to be held at Northstar Church in Kennesaw GA on Sunday September 11th, check in is from 1:15-1:45 and the walk will begin at 2:00, rain or shine!  Now we need individuals to walk and raise money to benefit GTF for a scholarship created in memory of our brown eyed girl, Mallory Smith Legacy Scholarship.  The registration form is here on the website, top left hand corner, just click on Mallory"s Walk fill it out and submit.  The registration fee is $5.00 and will include a t-shirt designed for the Walkathon.  We are challenging each walker to raise $117.00, however ANY amount is PERFECT!!!  We will leave registration open until around August 20th (need time to order the shirts).  If you are interested in being a corporate sponsor email us at teammal717@gmail.com and we will send you the details, we currently have 11 sponsors! 

Our goal is to have 117 walkers, we can do this!!!!  Thanks for participating in Mallory"s Walk!!!  See you on the 11th.

 




   
Monday, July 4, 2011

 

See post below...  Email address to contact us is:  Teammal717@gmail.com




   
Monday, July 4, 2011

Thought I would post some details on the Walkathon. The event will be held on Sunday September 11th, 2011. Check in time will be from 1:15-1:45 and the walk will begin after check in, the event will be held rain or shine. Later this week I will post a Registration form on this website and you will be able to fill the form out and submit it to our email for TeamMal. There will be a small registration fee (to cover the cost of the shirt), the fee can be mailed to us or paid the day of the event, stayed tuned for more details later in the week. Each walker will be challenged to raise $117 each. However, PLEASE don’t let this challenge scare you…..if you are unable to meet this goal that is fine, we would love to see you on the day of the walk, NO amount is too small. I have been asked by several folks that are too far to come to the event how they can help. You can still participate, do something of your own in memory of Mal and donate the funds to GTF. If you decide to do this please contact me so we can discuss further.
Also, everyone probably knows how much Mallory loves her crazy socks!! The day of the walk lets all show up with crazy socks on (thanks Lawanda for this idea). This will surely give Mallory a chuckle!
All proceeds from “Mallory’s Walk” will benefit Georgia Transplant Foundation (GTF). We have met with a Rep from GTF and have decided the funds will go toward a scholarship that will be awarded to an organ recipient, sibling of a recipient or living donor. The scholarship will be for $1,000.00 per year for 4 years, each year a new recipient will be named. This scholarship was created in memory of Mallory and will be named Mallory Smith Legacy Scholarship!! We are very excited about this and know that our girl is also!
We will be soliciting corporate sponsors, these sponsors will donate $200.00 to GTF (more if they like). All donations are tax deductible and the corporate sponsors will have their company name printed on the back of the shirts that we are having made for the walk. If you would like to be a corporate sponsor or have a company in mind, please email us and we will email you all the details.
We hope YOU will help make this day a huge success!!! Lisa

 




   
Monday, June 27, 2011
I just wanted to let everyone know about an event we are planning in memory of our girl. Mallory"s birthday is September 12th and we wanted to do something to celebrate, as hard as it will be....we NEED to do this. My sister, Bridget, came up with an idea to have a walkathon and donate the proceeds to a charity, which will be an annual event. We are in the early stages of planning the walk and will post all the details here. We will be looking for walkers to participate in the walk and raise money as well as corporate sponsors. All proceeds will be donated to Georgia Transplant Foundation in memory of Mallory. We have a lot of exciting things related to this and will be sharing the details very soon!! Save the date, Sunday, September 11th at Northstar Church!! Stay Tuned! 1st Annual "Mallory"s Walk". Lisa


   
Sunday, June 5, 2011
I decided it was time for another update. Let me start by saying things are still very quiet around here and we miss Mallory all the time. I never thought it was possible to shed so many tears, EVERY day! It is hard to believe it has been almost 5 months since we had to say goodbye. People say time flies when you’re having fun, I say time flies….period. I guess we are all doing the best we can given the circumstances. Today our church collected shoes for an organization called Soles for Souls (www.soles4souls.org), Mike and I each donated a pair of our shoes, and Mike walked out barefooted. I felt sure this would be something Mallory would want to be a part of, so as hard as it was, I decided to donate a couple pair of her shoes. She would have loved to walk out of church barefooted and would have thought it was a great cause.
Last week Jamie Christensen (former Bama kicker and Mal’s friend) surprised me at work. He had told me he had a Christmas gift for Mallory and that he wanted Mike and me to have it. He gave us an Alabama football signed by Heisman winner Mark Ingram. Mallory would have absolutely loved this gift!! Thank you Jamie for your kindness!
 

 

Save the date, September 11th, 2011.  Mallory’s birthday is September 12th and in her memory we will be having a walkathon with all proceeds being donated to Georgia Transplant Foundation.  We will be posting more details in the coming weeks.

Thanks for checking in on us and please keep praying for us.  If you have a moment sign the guestbook and let us know you visited and how you are doing.

Lisa

 




   
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Well, it has been a while since my last update.  Things in the Smith house are quiet…and lonely.  I miss her smile, her sweet voice and those gorgeous brown eyes.  I ache for her every single minute of every single day.  I know life goes on, but how just how can it go on without our sweet girl  It has been almost 4 months now and it is still unbelievable.  There is so much we didn"t get to do, so many things we didn"t get to experience together with Mallory.  I am so thankful that she had her faith and that I have mine, one day, in the blink of an eye I will see my girl again and what a glorious day that will be!!  If you go before me, tell her I miss her.  If you go after me, don"t be sad, be happy….happy that I am with her again!!  As for our sweet little Grandson, he is perfect and I love that sweet Little Man so much!!!  Please continue to pray for our family, we are struggling without Mallory and appreciate all the prayers.  From time to time when you stop in, leave us a note, just to say hi.  I will plan to update again in a couple of weeks, hopefully soon we will plan another TMAK event and will post the details here.  I am so very blessed to have the title of "Mallory"s mom!!"  If you ordered (and paid for) a shirt and/or decal you should have received them by now, if you have not please send me an email, teammal717@gmail.com.  God Bless you all!!!  Lisa


   
Sunday, April 24, 2011

 

Hope everyone had a nice Easter. This was a very emotional day for us, our first Easter without our sweet Mallory and our first Easter with Little Dierks. Such enormous emotions….unbelievable love for sweet Little Dierks and unbelievable sadness as we missed our brown eyed girl. We love you Little Man and Malwe, so very much.


If you ordered a TeamMal shirt, I will be picking those up this week and will contact each of you via email. If you still want a shirt, it is not too late, just send me an email to teammal717@gmail.com. The decals have been ordered and I suspect they will be in this week also.

On Thursday of last week Mike and I went to the Transplant Clinic for Emory. This is the office that Mallory went to for her doctor visits, tests, labs, etc. We took lunch to the entire staff, it was our small way of saying Thank you to all the wonderful people that helped take care of our girl. The staff was so thankful as they stopped by to say hello and offer their condolences to both of us. We were able to see Dr. Ram for a few minutes and I am so glad we were. We had not spoken to Dr. Ram since January 15th and I have really been wanting to see him again. Apparently, he had also been wanting to see us again too, he said he now felt like he still needed closure. Dr. Ram if you are reading this…thank you so much for everything, the Smith family loves you!! Thank you Diane for hanging out with Mike and me on Thursday and for helping to take care of Mallory.
Here is a picture from Thursday with Dr. Ram:

Also, the book that Mal’s teacher Edie Parrott made is finished!! The book is so beautiful!! Here is a link to the website in case you would like to order one. I hope everyone orders one so you can continue to see how remarkable our girl is!!!!!
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/1649327/b393c30285e7828a448404d1788284f8

Please continue to pray for our family and thank you for checking TeamMal. Please leave us a note from time to time and say hello. If you want to subscribe to receive a notification when an update is done, please send us an email to teammal717@gmail.org




   
Sunday, April 17, 2011

Don"t forget to tell your family of your decision to be an organ donor.  Don"t take your organs to heaven, heaven knows we need them here!!!  Here are a few facts on organ donation:

What is the status of organ donation and transplantation in the United States?

The number of people needing a transplant continues to rise faster than the number of donors. About 4,100 transplant candidates are added to the national waiting list each month. Each day, about 77 people receive organ transplants. However, about 18 people die each day waiting for transplants that can"t take place because of the shortage of donated organs.

There are now more than 105,000 people on the waiting list for solid organ transplants. Experts suggest that each of us could save or help as many as 50 people by being an organ and tissue donor.

Does organ donation disfigure your body?

No. Donation does not change the appearance of the body. Organs are removed surgically in a routine operation. It does not interfere with having a funeral, including open casket services.

Who manages the distribution of organs?

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) maintains the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Through the UNOS Computer System, organ donors are matched to waiting recipients 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

 




   
Sunday, April 10, 2011

I just thought I would give everyone an update to let you know how we are doing.  I cannot begin to tell you how much we miss Mallory.  I told Mike tonight I feel like a piece of my body has been ripped off and I will never feel completely whole again.  Yes, I know she is in a better place, I know I will see her again and I know she is no longer in pain, that however does not change the fact that I miss her desperately.  Mike is trying to stay busy with projects around the house, I guess this helps to occupy his mind.  Michael and Angela are both doing as well as they can, I know they both miss Mallory tremendously also.  Dierks is doing great and is just absolutely perfect and we are all in love with that Little Man!!!  The book that Edie Parrot (Mal"s teacher) had made for us is beautiful.  I have not yet been able to read all the stories, it hurts and I get so upset but I do look forward to hearing what everyone has to say about our brown eyed girl, in time I will get through it.  The final version is not quite ready but as soon as it is I can post a link and you can order your own.  Trust me, you WILL want a copy.  Thanks so much to Mrs. Parrot, Coach Faklaris, Haley and Rachel for all your work on this book!  We truly will treasure it forever. 

A few facts on Organ Donation:

The importance of time

 

The length of time donated organs and tissues can be kept outside

the body vary:

 

Heart: 4-6 hours


Liver: 12-24 hours

Kidney: 48-72 hours

Heart-Lung: 4-6 hours
Lung: 4-6 hours

Don"t forget to leave us a note to let us know you stopped by and please continue to pray for our family.  We love you all!




   
Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Are you a donor?  If not, please reconsider!

http://www.donatelife.net/

Taken from donatelife.net website:

Learn the facts

Despite continuing efforts at public education, misconceptions and inaccuracies about donation persist. Learn these facts to help you better understand organ, eye and tissue donation:

Fact: Anyone can be a potential donor regardless of age, race, or medical history.

Fact: All major religions in the United States support organ, eye and tissue donation and see it as the final act of love and generosity toward others.

Fact: If you are sick or injured and admitted to the hospital, the number one priority is to save your life. Organ, eye and tissue donation can only be considered after you are deceased.

Fact: When you are on the waiting list for an organ, what really counts is the severity of your illness, time spent waiting, blood type, and other important medical information, not your financial status or celebrity status.

Fact: An open casket funeral is possible for organ, eye and tissue donors. Through the entire donation process the body is treated with care, respect and dignity.

Fact: There is no cost to the donor or their family for organ or tissue donation.




   
Tuesday, March 29, 2011

The monument company has installed Mallory"s headstone and footstone. It turned out beautiful and is a great representation of Mallory.
 
Here is the front of the headstone, the green ribbons are for Organ Donation Awareness:
 
 
Here is the back of the headstone, the quote is Mallory"s favorite quote and the butterfly was actually carved using a drawing Mallory did a few years ago:
 
Here is the footstone:








 




   
Sunday, March 27, 2011

I just wanted to remind everyone that I will be placing an order soon for TeamMal tshirts and "In Memory" decals.  If you scroll down all the details are below.  The order will be placed on April 6th.  I will need your order and money before that date to be included in this order.  Thank you so much for continuing to support TeamMal.

We will be taking lunch to the Transplant Clinic at Emory during the month of April, this will be our first TMAK (TeamMal Act of Kindness) event. If you have an idea for a TMAK event, let us know!  Also, April is National Donor Awareness month so I will be posting various information related to this as it is very dear to Mallory.  If you aren"t already a donor you should reconsider....two different families gave us 4 1/2 more years with our brown eyed girl.

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that Mal"s monument is up, I know I promised pictures soon, and will get them up in the next day or so.  Thank you for continuing to check TeamMal and for the continued prayers for us during this very difficult time!  It is still just unbelievable and oh how we all miss her.  Love you my sweet girl!!!!

The Smiths 




   
Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Well, it is hard to believe it has been 2 months since we had to say good bye to our sweet girl.  We miss her, oh how we miss her!!  Everything we do, everything we say seems so incomplete now.  A part of our family is missing and it makes every minute hard, very hard.  Thank you to everyone who continues to pray for us, please keep it up, we need it.

There is still time to order shirts and/or a decal.  I will be taking orders for probably two more weeks then we will place the orders.  Thanks to everyone that has already placed their orders.  The more shirts and decals we have the more lives her story will touch.  Details on the shirts and decals are in the two posts below this one.

On another note, Dierks is perfect, he is so adorable and we are all totally in love with that sweet Little Man! 

Keep checking in for more information as we will be doing some TMAK (TeamMal acts of kindness) in the near future and will share our progress here on the journal. 

To subscribe for email notifications when a new entry is made send an email to teammal717@gmail.com with subscribe as subject.

Please leave us a note from time to time, we love hearing from all of you.   Still missing her every minute...The Smiths




   
Tuesday, March 8, 2011

 

I just wanted to let everyone know that we had some car decals made in memory of Mallory. Mallory’s wonderful friend McKay is heading this up for us. The decals come in pink or white and are $9.00 each. If you want to place an order please send an email to teammal717@gmail.com and we will reply with further instructions. Proceeds will be donated to Georgia Transplant Foundation in memory of our sweet girl.


If you want to order a t-shirt, the details are in the post below.
To subscribe for email notifications when a new entry is made send an email to teammal717@gmail.com with subscribe as subject.
We have been notified that about 12 different individuals/companies have made a donation to GTF and/or Donate Life GA in memory of Mallory, AWESOME! Thanks for the prayers and support during this difficult time for our family. Like the old song says….One Day at a Time Sweet Jesus!!! The Smiths

 





   
Sunday, February 27, 2011

Since I have had several people want more details on the TeamMal shirts I thought I would make them available for anyone that is interested to purchase.  I will place another order on April 1st.  In order to be included in the order I need you to email me at teammal717@gmail.com, please give me the quantity and the size you want and your mailing address.  Adult sizes Small, Medium, Large and Xlarge will be available for purchase.  The shirts are $9 each, this includes shipping.  Once I receive your email I will reply with the mailing address for you to send your payment.  If you want to be included I will need your check to me no later than March 25th.  Any profits from the shirts will be donated to Georgia Transplant Foundation in memory of our sweet brown eyed girl.  TeamMal thanks you!!

 

Be sure to go back to the journal entry from January 22nd and submit your story, we look forward to this book being created in memory of Mallory!  It only takes a few minutes to submit your story and we are hoping for MANY!!

To subscribe for email notifications when a new entry is made send an email to teammal717@gmail.com with subscribe as subject.

Please leave us a note from time to time, we love hearing from all of you.   Still missing her every minute...The Smiths




   
Sunday, February 20, 2011

Hello Everyone.  Dierks William Smith is here!!!  He was born yesterday, February 19th, at 9:44 a.m. (9+4+4=17)!!!  Dierks weighed 6 lbs. 9 ozs. (same as his Aunt Mallory), 19 1/2 inches long and he has wonderful long eyelashes (also like his Aunt Mallory).  Every nurse that has seen him has commented on how long his eyelashes are and the fact that they have never seen a baby with such long eyelashes. He is PERFECT, just PERFECT.  Michael, Angela and the baby are all doing just fine.  He is the most beautiful perfect little baby and we all are in love!!  Michael and Angela will be wonderful parents!  Yesterday was exhausting for all of us, especially Angela, and was so very emotional.  Oh yeah, yesterday was our wedding anniversary, 28 wonderful years so this was a great day for Dierks to enter the world.  We cannot wait to tell Dierks all about his Aunt Mallory.

We miss Mallory so much, my heart still aches with every breath I take. I still cannot believe she is gone, it was such a long journey for her.  We are planning to do events/acts of kindness several times a year in memory of our sweet girl and will post details here.  We did get her headstone ordered and it should be here in about 10 weeks.  We will post pictures when it gets installed at the cemetary for everyone to see.  Also, be sure to go back and read the update we did on January 22nd and follow the instructions to submit your story about Mallory. 

We will update again soon and thank you for checking in on our family.  Also, if you want to receive an email when an update is posted just send us an email to "subscibe" and we will add you to the list, email address is teammal717@gmail.com.  God Bless and please continue to pray for our family when you think about it.   Lisa AKA  NANA

 




   
Sunday, February 13, 2011

Let me start by saying we miss Mallory so much, it just still does not seem real...at all!

We now have an email address for Team Mal, teammal717@gmail.com, If you want to receive an email when we make a journal entry, please send us an email to the one above with the word "subscribe" and we will add you to the list.

A few Sundays ago our Pastor, Mike Linch, talks about Mallory and her faith during the service. If you would like to hear the wonderful things he said, you can listen to the podcast at http://www.northstarchurch.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=59188 click on "Listen Now" for Heartland Part 2, Water.

For those of you that emailed Priceline on behalf of Mallory I wanted to let you know they FINALLY refunded the airfare for the trip she and Joe were unable to take. We made MANY phone calls and sent MANY emails and they FINALLY decided to do the right thing.

Friday night I attended a banquet for KMHS cheerleading. The booster club always presents a scholarship to the senior graduating with the highest GPA. Coach Gillem asked me to attend, they have decided going forward to name the scholarship The Mallory Smith Cheer Scholarship. Another great tribute to our sweet girl doing what she does best, touching lives!!! It was a great honor and a very emotional night! Thank you to Coach Gillem and the KMHS program for deciding to honor Mallory! Also, thank you Rhonda for taking me, I could not have done it without you.

Here is a picture of the framed certificate we received:



and here is a picture with Coach Gillem and Shannon O"Keefe, the recipient:



Thanks for checking in on us and please continue to pray for our family during these difficult days. BTW, Angela is due February28th, we are hoping Dierks will decide to come early, we cannot wait to meet him and tell him all about his Aunt Mallory. The Smiths
 




   
Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Be sure to read the post dated February 5th if you haven"t already done so!

Sweet Mal
 
Sweet Mal, I hope before you left, you knew just how amazing you are!
I hope you knew how you shone brighter than any shining star!
I know that you were loved and I know you knew it well!
BUT, you touched so many more lives, that only time can tell!
What a great testimony you were; of faith, endurance and love
What a great example of kindness like our Heavenly Father above
Oh what the world is missing, without your joyful smile
But oh I know Jesus was delighted to hold you, His precious child
And when your pawpaw saw you, I can’t imagine his happy face
I bet all was rejoicing in Heaven just to witness that sweet embrace
Yes, we will miss you so, but oh how your memory will live on
Your laughter, smile and spunk are memories that can never be gone
And although our hearts are broken, I know in time that they will heal
For we KNOW we will see you again, we absolutely KNOW we will!
So have fun up there sweet Mal, enjoy heaven and all your new friends
For when we meet again sweet girl, this time, it will never have to end!
 
Love You Always!
Heather Nelson
Cousin
 
John 14:3
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” Thank you Jesus!




   
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Well, this past week has been busy with a lot of things to take care of, things but not fun things. When someone passes away there are just way too many very difficult decisions for the ones left behind to deal with. We miss Mallory so very much. We have always been a very close family but the past 4 1/2 years we have grown even closer and there is an empty spot here now, in our hearts and in our home. We do take comfort in knowing that she is in heaven probably making everyone laugh and not hurting any more.
Yesterday we attended a memorial service for Mallory at Children"s Healthcare of Atlanta (Egleston). Some of the doctors, nurses, etc. were unable to attend Mallory"s service a few weeks ago. We are so honored that the staff put this together and they did an AWESOME job celebrating Mallory and her legacy. We were presented with a few items in memory of Mallory. A poem was read and we received a copy of this poem on a beautiful 8x10 piece of glass, we will treasure this forever. The poem is title "When you thought I wasn"t looking"
in case you want to google it.
Mallory wanted to be a nurse and work at Egleston on the Transplant Floor, and she always wanted a Childrens employee badge. We were presented with a Certificate for Mallory as an Honorary Nurse
and her very own Employee badge with her picture on it.

 

Thanks you CHOA!!!
Thanks so much for continuing to check on us, send us cards, text/call us and most importantly thanks for all
the prayers for our family. We will update again later in the week. The Smiths




   
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Just had to share this....During Mallory"s service a couple of weeks ago, FOUR people decided to accept Jesus!!!  She is still touching lives and will for many years to come.  Love you Mallory and miss you more than imagineable!!!


   
Thursday, January 27, 2011

We wanted to say thank you again to everyone for all the support we have received, especially the past 10 days.  The amount of love we are receiving from our family and friends is a great reflection of our sweet Mallory. Thank you for the prayers, cards, gifts, phone calls and all the wonderful meals that have been provided. We are missing our girl TREMENDOUSLY, however we are relieved that she is no longer suffering and is dancing in Heaven with our Glorious GOD! Please continue to pray for our family as we push through each day.
 
We are still having folks ask how they can help.  I am sure Mallory would be very happy to know that folks are donating to the GTF (Georgia Transplant Fund) in her memory.  I have spoken to a representative at GTF and she gave me permission to post her contact information here:  Cheryl Belair, 678-514-1181, email address is
cbelair@gatransplant.org   Cheryl advised me that people can make a one time donation or have a monthly amount charged to their credit card. I am praying we will honor Mallory well with our generosity to such a great cause.  Also, I want to say thank you to the wonderful folks at Geosyntec (this is where Joe works) for your very kind donation in Mallory"s memory.
 
We have had several folks contact us about various things they are planning to do in memory of Mallory, we will share those as we get more details.  This girl is so special and is still touching lives everywhere!!
 
Mallory"s favorite quote:  "Just when the caterpillar thought his whole world had ended, he became a butterfly"
 
Thanks for checking in.  Oh yeah, we are trying to make it so you can sign up to receive an email when we update TeamMal, having to work around some security issue with our service provider.
 
LOVE YOU MALLORY ELAINE SMITH and we are proud to be your mommy and daddy!!
 
Please continue to sign the guestbook, we look forward to reading your notes.
 
Stay Tuned....
 




   
Saturday, January 22, 2011

Remembering Mallory (submitted by a former teacher of Mallory"s from KMHS)

Mallory Smith was an amazing young woman who will live on in our hearts forever. Because
of her strength, compassion, humor, and faith, she inspired all of us to be better people. For
a gift for Mallory’s parents, we are compiling a book about inspirational and funny stories
about Mallory. If you knew Mallory personally, please share one or more of your stories and
submit them to the email address below. If you knew Mallory only through following her on the
TeamMal website, we would still love to receive your stories of how Mallory inspired you.

Responses that are poignant, serious, and humorous are all appropriate. The point of the book is
to illustrate how Mallory inspired all of us.

Please send your story in an email and include your name. If you have a photo that you
can attach for the story, please do so. We prefer that you type the story in the email
instead of attaching a file, but we will accept whatever you send.
If you have several stories that are short, please include them together. If you have
several longer stories, please send each one as a separate email. There is no length
requirement.

Please e-mail your stories to:

E-Mail Address: RememberMallory@gmail.com

We have also established a Facebook Group for the project: http://www.facebook.com/#!/
home.php?sk=group_193802817296394&notif_t=group_r2j

For more information, please contact:

Edie Parrott (EdieParrott@etcmail.com)

Melissa Faklaris (Melissa.Faklaris@cobbk12.org

Haley McGinnis (HaleyMcGinnis@gmail.com)

Stories will be entered in the book in the same order as they are received.
We would love to have as many stories as possible. Please spread the word.
If you have digital photos of Mallory that we can use in the book, please email those to us
as well.




   
Thursday, January 20, 2011


To all the wonderful folks at Emory, Thank you!!  We know all of you did everything possible to save our sweet girl and we will be forever grateful!  THANK YOU!


Mallory"s service on Tuesday was a beautiful celebration of her life.  Mike, Marlon, and Haley all did wonderful telling Mallory"s story and sharing her life with us.  Thank you to everyone involved at Winkenhofer, Northstar and Rolling Hills Cemetary. And we can not forget David, thank you for being there for us.

We are in the process of sending out Thank you cards, however a few of the arrangements did not have cards on them so we have no idea who sent them.  If you do not receive a card, I apologize in advance.  I would like to
know who sent the ones with no card, so if you do not receive a card from us within the next week or so, please email us so I can properly thank you,
lisasmithga1@gmail.com.

Thank you for all the prayers, cards, phone calls, messages, food, gifts, etc., we are truly blessed with wonderful family and friends.  All the love we are receiving is a great testimony to what a wonderful person our sweet girl
is.  THANK YOU.

I have had a few people ask about making a donation in memory of Mallory, this is a great idea.  I would recommend making your donation to the Georgia Transplant Foundation, www.gatransplant.org phone number 770-457-3796. Also, if you haven"t already made the decision to become an organ donor, now is a great time!!

Please continue to sign the guestbook, we love hearing from everyone, it is therapeutic for us.  Please leave us a note and tell us a funny story you remember about Mallory or something she did or said to inspire you.  If you have never met our girl and only know her through Team Mal, tell us how you learned of her story. 

Please also continue to pray for Derek and Kenny.

We love you all!

The Smith"s




   
Sunday, January 16, 2011

Funeral arrangements for Mallory”
Visitation:
Monday 1/17/2010 6pm -9pm.
Winkenhofer Pine Ridge Funeral Home
2950 North Cobb Parkway
 Kennesaw, Ga. 30152

Church Service:
Lie in state from 1pm to 2pm
Tuesday 1/18/2010 2pm
Northstar Church
3413 Blue Springs Rd.
Kennesaw, GA 30144.

Graveside Service to follow
Rolling Hills
4355 Highway 92
Acworth, Ga. 30102


Thanks again for all the prayers and support from EVERYONE!!!

The Smiths




   
Sunday, January 16, 2011

The family will be meeting with the funeral home this afternoon. We will post the arrangements then.

The Smiths




   
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Our girl is no longer in pain, she is now with our Lord and her PawPaw. We are so very proud of Mallory. She passed away today at exactly 17:00 hours. Arrangements will be posted later. Thank you all for being on this journey with us. The Smiths


   
Saturday, January 15, 2011

These are the hardest words I have ever had to write. Mallory’s condition has taken a turn for the worse, we have spoken with the Dr.’s and everyone is in agreement the best thing for Mallory is to discontinue life support today. It is time for us to accept God’s will and give her back to the Lord. Please Pray for Mallory.




   
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Last night was a decent night. Mallory"s last blood gases were not too good so Dr. Ram was called and a change has been made to the ventilator and the gases will be checked again shortly. Dr. Parekh (liver doc) came by little bit ago and they are concerned about the bleeding that Dr. Ram saw yesterday while doing the bronch. Please keep those prayers going for our sweet Mallory! This girl is a fighter!! Thank you Rhonda and Joe for staying with me overnight last night. PRAYING!! The Smiths


   
Friday, January 14, 2011
So Dr. Ram did the bronch late this afternoon. He removed many blood clots, pulled some fluid for testing and saw some bleeding. Mallory"s platelets are very low, she received 2 bags so far today. Please continue to pray for her lungs and her body to heal. Thank you to our pastor Mike Linch for bringing us lunch today and to Diane Smith for providing us dinner. Praying, Praying and. Praying! The Smiths


   
Friday, January 14, 2011
Mallory"s blood gases have been just okay today....kind of up and down. Dr. Ram has decided to go ahead and do a bronch so that will happen at 4. She is getting more platelets as hers were low this morning. All to report for now.


   
Friday, January 14, 2011
Mallory had another quiet night, which we are thankful for. Dr. Ram just stopped by, nothing new to report. We wait and watch and make chages as needed. Several folks have asked about providing a meal for us and how to get on the list, just send me an email lisasmithga1@gmail.com. Thanks so much to everyone for providing us with a meal, everyone knows how hospital food can be! Right now we have meals through Sunday. Praying for the healing of Mallory"s lungs. The Smiths


   
Thursday, January 13, 2011

Mallory has had a pretty quiet afternoon.  They changed one vent setting and a slight change on her dialysis settings. Other than that it has been quiet and we like quiet. Thanks you to Elli and Ross for the awesome Barbecue dinner it was delicious!  We also want to thank Bill and Sherry,  you guys may be  far away but still close to our hearts.  We found out that Mallory’s last two CMV test have come back negative! We are still on pins and needles waiting on the last KPC bronch test from Wednesday, so far they have been negative for anything. We are still asking for prayer for God he heal Mallory’s lungs. At this moment (Thursday night) it seems as if they have now been able to get the bugs out of Mallory’s lungs but (I hate that word) now the questions is has the damage been to extensive to Mallory’s lungs for her to survive from such a serious lung injury. That is why we are asking for specific prayers to heal Mallory’s lungs completely. Again, a heartfelt thank you to every health care provider that is/has taken care of Mallory, and everyone who have raised Mallory up in prayer

The Smiths




   
Thursday, January 13, 2011

Sorry for the delay just wanted to get things together before we posted anything. Mallory had a stable night again and her blood gases have also remained stable. So far the mini-bronch that was done yesterday has not grown anything!!! Still very early but still exciting news, a EKG has been done (no results yet. They also check Mallory’s legs for blood clots (did not find any). Mallory’s blood gases at noon were completely normal so they are not going to be a make lot of changes today, let her lungs heal as much as they can. Dr. Ram is still very concerned about the actual condition of Mallory’s lungs and the ability for her to recover for such a critical illness. So we continue to pray!

The Smiths




   
Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Please pray for Kenny and Derek....Check out their website and leave them a note from TeamMal!!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/derekpage/journal

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kennykretz




   
Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Ok so it’s been a very busy afternoon here. They moved Mallory from the oscillator to the ventilator. This went off without a hitch (yea) and Mallory’s blood gases were good also. This good news was short lived. Later in the afternoon Mallory’s vital signs began to drop and the respiratory group was brought back in and blood pressure meds were given to help stable her. Dr. Ram had to be called in help adjust the ventilator. So they have now been able to stabilize Mallory’s blood gases but they are still are lower than on the oscillator. They were able to give Mallory another treatment for the KPC that will make a total of 5 treatments so far. Michael and Angela were finally able to make it home after being snow bound with us for the past 3 days and Joe was now able to make it down here too.  Thanks again to all the awesome Nurses and Dr’s here in Emory’s 5E ICU department for taking wonderful care of our little princess. Please keep praying for the medicine to work and heal Mallory’s severely infected lungs.

The Smiths




   
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Dr. Ram is back today, he had been out a couple of days due to the ice storm here....we are so glad he is back!! He wants to move Mallory from the oscillator back to the ventilator, so this should happen this afternoon Please say a prayer this will be uneventful. The Smiths


   
Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Mallory had another stable night (very good for her considering everything that has been going on). She received a unit of blood and her white blood count was up (a small amount from yesterday). Mallory’s liver numbers are also up but this is no surprise considering how sick her body is. No Dr.’s yet so we will make a update after rounds. Thanks for checking in.

The Smiths




   
Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Mallory has had an un-eventful afternoon/evening. She has received her third dose of Gentamiacin this evening. They have been methodically decreasing the oxygen provided by oscillator which is a good thing. So now we sit, wait and pray (we are getting better at ALL THREE). We pray the treatment is effective and ridding Mallory’s body of these vial bugs!
We would like to thank Maw Maw and Robert keeping everything safe for us at home during the snow/ice storm. We would also like to thank all the nurses, Dr.’s and other hospital staff who have spent the night at the hospital for the past two nights (due to bad weather) to insure that everyone could be taken care of THANK YOU!

The Smiths




   
Tuesday, January 11, 2011

We thought we would try to explain a little more about the medicine and getting it to her lungs. I might totally mess this up but I will explain the best I can.  Mallory has KPC (Klebsiella pneumonia) in her lungs, which has been getting worse. The only medicine it is subsceptable to is Gentamiacin and she needs to receive this in an inhaled mist form, she is also on IV Gentamiacin. Mallory was changed from a traditional vent to an oscillator this past Sunday morning when we almost lost her. On a traditional vent adminsitering the gentamiacin is not an issue however with an osciallator we were told it could not be done. Michael kept asking...why can"t we just pour the meds down her trach...can"t hurt anything, right? So, we mentioned this to a few different folks here and that is when Dr. Flores came up with an idea to get the meds in Mallory even while on an oscillator. Using a few different items, which include a couple of towels, IV tubing and a clipboard (and a few other items) he made something and we decided to give it a try. The Gentamiacin has to be given every 12 hours, so Mallory is briefly disconnected from the oscillator (each time), the new contraption hooked up then she is hooked back up to the osciallator. Then the IV tubing is pushed down into her trach by Dr. Flores so that it will deliver the medicine to her lungs. The medicine is put in a syringe then hung on the IV pole so gravity will force the meds in, it gets to a certain point where oxygen is hooked to this line and the meds get sprayed into her lungs. Hopefully, the medicine or at least part of it is actually penetrating her lungs and killing this horrible bug. This procdure has never been done, however we are hopeful that maybe, just maybe, this is the miracle we have all been praying for! Mallory has so far had an uneventful day, her blood pressure and heartrate are perfect at the moment.

The only way we will know if the medicine is working is if we see her start to improve and we have no idea how long this will take. We are remaining confident that GOD will answer our prayers and heal her lungs. Mallory is still VERY critical, but we BELIEVE!!! Keep fighting sweet Mallory, keep fighting!

The Smiths




   
Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Mallory had a stable night, no way to tell if the medicine is working yet. We haven’t seen any Dr.’s but let everyone know what is going on as things change.

The Smiths