I can't believe that it's been 15 years since that horrible day that I lost my beloved mother to the disease called Lupus. On this day, I lost that very essence that gave me life. I didn't quite know how this day was going to be. I thought that maybe I would fall into a funk today. I thought that maybe I would be sad all day long. But that wasn't the case today. I'm doing wonderful and it's wonderful to share happiness with my wife and my son. I do admit that I do think about my son and how he will never know his grandma...physical. But I don't let that get me down. He will know and love her. He will feel her spirit. He will be proud to be a Boykin. Today, tickets are available for the Lupus Benefit Concert "Poets Against Lupus." I picked this day in honor of my mother's life and her passing. We must all follow our purpose in life. We must all stand for something. I stand for love and that is why I'm a lupus activist. For those of you who can not make the concert, you can donate to the Lupus Foundation of American on www.firstgiving.com/spokenvizions, which is a secured site sponsored by the Lupus Foundation of America. Thank you for lending me your eyes and ears.

Respect.

Floyd