Duetotherelentlessnessofthisdisease,Brianhas,again,requestedthatIspeakonhisbehalf.Bytheway,Anne,please addspokeswomantomylistofresponsibilitiesinthepoem,thanks! Thepast12monthshaditshighsandlows.

. Shortly after the golf outing, we were instructed to immediately stop the Clinical Trial of Ceftriaxone because the study was unlikely to reach the predetermined efficacy criteria. This was the rather bothersome clinical trial that Brian had been participating in since June 2010. Then, the salt in the wound came when we learned that Brian was part of the placebocontrolgroup. Earlier this year, the promising clinical drug trial of Dexpramipexole was shut down for, again, failure to demonstrate sufficienteffectivenessinslowingdowntheprogressionofALS. Since 1995, more than 35 very large and very expensive clinical trials have been conducted for ALS, but none have provedsuccessful. Well,asBrianlikestosay,Itwasntallbad! In the fall, Brians older brother, Steve, and his sisterinlaw's brother, John Clark, ran for Team ALS in the Chicago Marathon. Steve battled agonizing leg cramps nearly all 26.2 miles, but showed tremendous perseverance by finishing therace.StevewasalsorecognizedbytheALSAssociationastopfundraiser.ThankyoutoSteveandJohnforyourtime, dedication,andsupport.

In May, Brians parents and nephew, Wilson, traveled to Washington D.C. for the National ALS Advocacy Day and Public Policy Conference. Reportedly, Wilson, who is only 10yearsold, 'stole the show' and may have a future career in politics!Brianisveryproudofhim,aswellashisparents,andthankfulfortheirALSadvocacyefforts.

Finally, our friend ds, Kim and David D DeJesus s. In addition to teaming u up with the A ALS Associatio on to host BIT TE NITE 'Bite e To Fi ight Lou Gehr rigs Disease' in November r, they organized a celebr rity fashion sh how to benef fit ALS resear rch earlier this year. .Thefollowin ngvideodebu utedattheev ventandwasalsospearhe adedbytheD DeJesusFami ily. http://w www.youtube.com/watch? ?v=NHXvs7Ub bDn8 They ycancorrectme m later,but Ibelievethe efashionshow walonebroug ghtinaround d$180,000!R Regardless,asincerethank yout toKimandDa aveforyourtireless t suppo ortofBrian,our o family,an dthishorribledisease.

One last thing before I close, you may hav ve seen the new n Brians B Bullpen tshirt ts that we ha ave for sale, I just want to o point toutthatthe eartwork,slo ogan,typeofshirt,everyth hing,waseith her designed orselected b byBrian.He m madethelogo o on th he front to re esemble a sun nflower, whic ch recently be ecame the off ficial symbol of hope for A ALS. At the c center, he tied d inthe ebullpenthe emewithhissilhouette s fro omhistimeas a apitcherat tMillikinUniv versity.Onth heback,thes sloganRefuse e to Lo ose was the battle cry us sed by his high school fo ootball coach h but has transformed int to Brians att titude toward d fightingthisdisease.Alotofth houghtwentintothese,which w iswhyB Brianchosean nupgradedqualitytshirtwithseparate e styles for men and women. Th hat was my in nfluence, you ure welcome e ladies! They yre just $15 and we ask t that you wear them masateamto oawarenesswalks w orruns,aroundtown,anywhere! !

Well, , thank you all a again for supporting s us. I know Brian looks forw ward to this every year a and that just makes me so o happ py.Enjoytherest r ofthenig ght.Thankyo ou.