I’m known as Denise Wa on our teams to differentiate me from Denise Whe although we’re as different as can be. She’s very laid back and calm; let’s just say that I’m not. That’s why they won’t let me be Captain any more. Just kidding, I think! I’m married to a wonderful man named Rick and have two children, Jill who is 29 and lives in California and Aaron, 16, who keeps us busy with his baseball and golf. I work for Raymond James Financial in the Information Security & Privacy Office as manager of Privacy and Data Protection. Have questions about identity theft or spam emails? I’m your gal for answers!!
My aunt, Becky Herndon, passed away from breast cancer several years ago with my mom by her side. Mom used her RN and Hospice background to be Aunt Becky’s hospice nurse the last few months. I swore then that I would do whatever I could to end this disease. Since then, my two sisters in law and two very good friends have all been diagnosed. Thankfully, all four are survivors!!! A couple of years later the 3 Day came to Tampa and a few of us started talking about it. Those few backed out but I was lucky enough to find out that Sheila and Janice wanted to do it. They recruited Sherry, Kee Kee, and I found Marlana to create our first Thanks for the Mammories team. We had no idea what we were in for. What an incredible experience!!! The childbirth analogy is so true – you can’t believe you would ever go through that again but the next week you’re signing up for the following year and preparing to train and fundraise again. I won’t kid you; the training and fundraising is brutal but if it saves one life it’s worth every thing it takes.
Year 2 we had 21 women and 1 brave man and Year 3 saw us grow to 2 teams and 37 people. Last year was the birth of the first all men’s walking team and our brother team called SOBs (Sons, Others, and Brothers). They were the rock stars of the Tampa Bay 3 Day! This year our teams are growing by leaps and bounds but you will be amazed at how close everyone becomes. These women and men will be the new best friends you never knew you would have and I hope you love them all as much as I do.