Jeff Keith of Fairfield is empowering cancer survivors to live healthier, happier lives.

Keith knows all about what it is to strive for life. At the age of 12, he was diagnosed with cancer, two weeks later his leg was amputated. As an athlete already….and his family behind him…he pushed on, big time.

He went through 18 months of brutal rounds of chemotherapy, but it didn’t beat him. He went on to serve as his high school’s ski team captain and would then become the goalie for his Boston College lacrosse team.

He is a model for so many, becoming the first amputee to run across America which you can see here: http://bcove.me/glmv2o4w

Even though he is now 50-year-old, he remembers like yesterday those shocking moments as a youngster when he learned he had cancer.

“As we all know when cancer gets into your body, it speeds rapidly and with osteogenic carinoma, which is what I had, it would have spread to my lung had it continued to grow.  But, thankfully, that one injury brought it out and amputation followed on Christmas Eve of 1974, my right leg was amputated. I think I was not completely forewarned for many reasons. Doctors said they were going to remove a part of my leg, but never used the word amputation or said you’re going to have one leg for the rest of your life. I do remember it like yesterday, waking up in the room by myself with a nurse next to me. My parents were down the hall, and the first sight looking down at the end of my bed and seeing my  leg not there, obviously I was 12, I was in tears as anybody would be, and it was very frightening. It was not easy to comprehend because I just literally just wanted to jump out of bed and go back to my hockey practice. And back in the mid 70′s, that was dark ages of prosthetics, the general consensus across the country was amputees would sit at home or would not do sports and to me, that was not acceptable and I made a pact with myself in the hospital room two days later. They showed me a picture of Teddy Kennedy Jr. learning to ski on one leg, and that to me was the beacon of light, that I needed,” said Keith.

Keith has raised millions for cancer research and founded the Connecticut Challenge, Swim Across America and Swim Across the Sound.

For more information on Jeff Keith and ways to get involved with the Connecticut Challenge, go to their website at http://www.ctchallenge.org/ .

Once a single New Haven single mother on welfare, Suzanne Palmieri is a published author, getting a deal for a total of four books from two different publishers in one day.

Palmieri, also known as Suzanne Hayes, depending on which book of hers you are reading, credits a teacher and playwright for her success at a time when she felt like dropping out of high school and college. Both encouraged her to write, write, write. She ended up with a Master’s degree and is now a teacher herself, impacting the lives of others.

“‘It was a beautiful blue and white house,” was the first sentence Palmieri ever wrote. That novel is underneath the bed. She wrote that novel, tried to get it published, had some interest with agents, she didn’t understand how the industry worked. She wrote another one and that one is also under the bed. However with that novel she got an agent, but felt uncomfortable with the book, and a little uncomfortable with the agent, so she terminated that contract and every writer that she knew at that point thought that she was crazy.

Palmieri told me that’s another thing for writers to know is that you can follow your instincts, if something doesn’t seem right, don’t do it.

The third book… “The Witch of Italy”, is already a hit and her gut told her it would be.

“The Witch of Italy” had its debut on March 26, 2013. “It’s been welcomed with wonderful reviews,” Palmieri said. “So many people are contacting me and I’m so happy about that.”

Coming out at the end of May is “I’ll be Seeing You”.

Palmieri has enough energy for two people and is in a grove now cranking out the books. But even though she is now an internationally published author, she says the most important thingshe’ll ever do is be a good Mom to her three daughters.

For more on her work visit suzannepalmieri.com or follow her on Facebook .

Australian vocalist and string bass musician, Nicki Parrott travels the world and now calls Connecticut home.

Having played with famed guitarist, the late Les Paul, for about a decade, she’s learned a lot about performance.

“I want to entertain and that’s what I learned from Les Paul; the biggest thing was entertain them, but give them quality. So I want to tell a story. I want to give as much emotion as I can to my performance. I want to play with great people on stage, but I want to entertain, I want to feel that the hour out of their day they’re sitting there — sometimes you get a smile you might get a tear — and that’s the best thing you can ask for sometimes.”

You’ve moved somebody by doing what you love to do, for thank you for moving to Connecticut and getting engaged to a Connecticut guy, cuz we’re going to hear a lot of you and I’m going to let the viewers listen to what you do.

You can see Parrott at the Norwich Jazz Party in England in May and at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook in August, celebrating the late Les Paul’s music with Bucky Pizzarelli.

And be sure to check out her web site nickiparrott.com ,Facebook or MySpace

The late Captain James Arruda Henry of Groton, Connecticut did not learn to read or write until he was in his 90′s. Even so he lived a full and rich life. Only his wife knew that he was illiterate.

Once he learned to be literate he wrote a book, each chapter contains adventures of his life. He took his book, “In A Fisherman’s Launguage” to classrooms and read it to children, and became a folk hero and inspiration to everyone who heard the story. He was so proud.

Henry’s eldest granddaughter, Marlisa McLaughlin, describes when the family learned of his decades old secret.

It’s the hope as the family pushes literacy through the Captain’s book, that his story will become a movie, as we speak, the screenplay is on the desk of a Hollywood producer…keep your fingers crossed, this would be the feel good movie of the year.

Mary Ann Wasil of Milford, Connecticut will never be cancer free, ever. Her story is one of courage like so many women who fight breast cancer. Mary Ann, a single Mother of three now college-aged children, was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer in 2004.

Between then and now she fought her first bout with cancer which included a double mastectomy, chemo, subsequently she had a stroke and had heart surgery. All the while she kept the faith and her humor between dark moments and tears and founded a breast health organization for girls and called it The Get In Touch Foundation and created a daisy wheel which guides the viewer how to stay in touch with their body. More and more young girls are being diagnosed with breast cancer and Mary Ann wanted to leave her mark on the “Let me see how I can help others” world. While she thought she had eradicated the dreaded disease, it came back  a few years back and she continues rounds of  chemo to this day

Mary Ann will tell you point blank that she’s not going to be around as long as she wants to be, but she says none of us knows how long we have, and that while she’s on the planet she chooses to live well, every day. Her book tells it like it is and it inspires and is humorous and is a very good read for anyone who has hit the wall after a breast cancer diagnosis, she can be your guide.

The Awesome Foundation of Connecticut has awarded Elinor a $1,000.00 grant to help her do this, but others around the state who want to donate chalk, because they are going to need lots and lots of it, will also be a part of making something beautiful happen.

Where do you donate the chalk?  West Haven Council On The Arts is the fiscal agent. Address to send donations for chalk and other supplies:

“Chalkville”  C/O West Haven Council on the Arts ,PO Box 16513 ,West Haven, CT 06516. It is fully tax deductible.

So get going and help out and when it’s all done West Haven and Connecticut get to be known around the world for something beautiful.

Greta Bogaert Bylo of North Haven is about to get on a list for a lung transplant. She has Cystic Fibrosis. Now in her late 40′s, she has lived with a rare form of CF since she was 6 years old.

This mother of four talked to me as she waits for a life-saving surgery that could come at any time.  In this video clip you will hear Greta’s oxygen as she speaks.

Greta tells me what it was like to grow up with cystic fibrosis after she was diagnosed at the age of six, she is now in her late 40′s.

“When I grew up there wasn’t a lot of information. I didn’t understand growing up. I wasn’t sure about my future, or how long I would live, or when I would get certain ailments of the disease. And I find that information is the best. To know more is better. So I’ve researched and I’ve studied and I’ve learned along the way.” See your doctor regularly, follow the instructions, they know best, and the best thing that my Mom always did and my Dad was encourage me to do what a normal child would do … I climbed trees, I skied, I swam, I did gymnastics,  the more normal and the more active you can keep a child’s life, the better.”

Greta is truly a model for others, living life to its fullest and continually helping others. we are pulling for her that someday soon she will able to take in fresh air on her own and live a more normal life.

Listen to the whole interview below.

Ken Mysogland says the department is looking for people who can accept children at whatever developmental emotional psychological stage or age that they are, love them like their own, help them strengthen, bond with them, help them pull through traumatic events and work with us as a team with the department with services, whether it’s counseling or in home services according to that specific child’s needs and also to have families that are also available to work with the children’s birth families on a case by case basis because we also know that children that see their foster and adoptive parents working with their mom and dad or their relatives really sends a beautiful message to that child that everyone is working on their behalf.

The state wants these children without homes to be loved and they want to be clear they will help you with the transition. If this sounds like something you want to investigate go to their web site CTFosterAdopt.com.

Have you been? The 1906 Roman Renaissance Classicl Revival-style Eolia mansion at Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford, Connecticut is stunning. It has 42 rooms and is set on 230 seaside acres. Once upon a time, it was owned by Edward and Mary Harkness, the mansion was named after Greek god of winds.

This structure is Connecticut’s own version of the hit PBS show,”Downton Abbey.” There are servants quarters on the third floor, which are not open to the public, and plenty of call boxes spotted around the home when the mansion was in its hey day.

Today it is a place where all can enjoy this place as the scene of stunning weddings, private events and seminars with its panoramic seaside views of Long Island Sound. This place was once a working farm and was just a summer home for the Harkness family, as was the case with all the magnificent mansions in nearby Newport, Rhode Island, just summer homes.

Edward Harkness, originally from Ohio, was heir to a fortune started by his father’s investments in John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil company. Harkness did not keep all of his money to himself, he and his wife would give a huge portion of it away, some 200-million dollars went to wide-ranging charities.

The state would acquire the land and the mansion and its out buildings in 1950 after the death of Mrs. Harkness and is now part of the State Park System.