Having worked in the NASCAR industry both Jarrett and I were familiar with the Bundle of Joy Fund. NASCAR driver Kyle Busch, and his wife Samantha created the Bundle of Joy Fund after they had their son, Brexton, through IVF at REACH. Kyle and Samantha wanted to do something to help other couples with infertility by provding financial assistance for IVF.
Once we received the news that IVF was going to be our only option we decided to apply. The deadline for that round of applications was only a few days away, so I worked on the application day and night. Part of the application process is both Jarrett and I had to write a letter to Kyle and Samantha. I had followed Samantha on social media for years and knew all about her IVF journey. Many times she would post something on her blog about the difficulty of infertility. So many times I would have experienced the exact same thing. This made writing our letters a little easier. We already felt such a personal connection with Kyle and Samantha.
Traffic finally cleared and I dropped off the application. I wanted our application to stand out so I added pictures of us, our families, our pets, and our hopes and wishes for our future kids. I had no idea when or if we would hear anything from the application. All I could hope for was that the application made it's way to Kyle and Samantha.
Around the middle of May I received an e-mail from Charlotte Motor Speedway. They said I had won a contest and had been selected to be the guest of Daniel Suarez for the NASCAR All Star race. If you know me at all you know NASCAR racing is my sport. I eat, sleep and breath it. I even moved from Indiana to North Carolina just to work in the industry. Early in our relationship I made sure Jarrett knew that he either had to like racing or he was out lol. Lucky for him he fell in love with the sport too. (probably because in his mind he thinks he is a NASCAR driver)
Getting an e-mail saying I was getting free tickets to the race and getting to meet Daniel was a welcome surprise.
So on May 20th we drove out to the speedway for our meet and greet with Daniel. I knew we were going to be in the garage area, and most likely we would be seeing people we used to work with. Sure enough as soon as we arrived we saw one of our old co-workers who is a camera operator. He said he was on the shoot with Daniel and would be seeing us later. What do you mean shoot? No one told us there would be cameras!! I thought I would get a picture with Daniel but a full video camera production?! Good thing I did my hair and make up!! Usually when attending a race I'm in a ball cap, tank top, and jeans. At least I was sort of camera ready.
We were waiting to meet Daniel when we were approached by a woman named Lori Halbeisen. We were told she was with Toyota Racing (She actually works for Kyle Busch Motorsports) and Lori was taking us to the Toyota Racing motor coach to meet Daniel. That was more than fine with us. It was about 90 degrees outside and this place had air conditioning. So off we went with Lori and a camera following us every step of the way.
As soon as we walked in the motor coach we were welcomed by about 3 more cameras and several other people we worked with at SPEED Channel. All of this attention for us meeting Daniel Suarez?? This was more Dale Earnhardt Jr. level attention. The thought had crossed my mind before that maybe this had something to do with that application. I had revealed to Jarrett my suspicion of it all. He agreed that it was very odd we had just out of the blue won this contest (that we never entered), and when I received the e-mail from the track they used an e-mail that I hardly ever give out (but it was on the bundle of joy application.) He didn't want to get his hopes up and I didn't either. Still this just wasn't adding up.
Now sitting in this small area surrounded by all these cameras I was really freaking out inside. All they kept telling us was Daniel was on his way. I kept thinking about what I would ask him. There was lots of pressure now that cameras were all around, and we were the only people there to meet him. All I know about Daniel Suarez is he is from Mexico and loves old Volkswagen Beetles.
Just then the doors opened and Kyle and Samantha Busch walked out. I knew right away what they were there for. I couldn't believe it. The entire time they were speaking to us I didn't register one word they said. I was just completely stunned.
Jarrett had a similar reaction. Even though he told himself to not get his hopes up, he was just never fully convinced we were there to meet Daniel Suarez.
Kyle and Samantha are awesome people. They took their hardship and turned it into something that is changing lives. To date 11 babies have been born with more on the way. It is all because of the financial assistance provided to couples from the Bundle of Joy Fund.
Jarrett and I received $10,000. This has helped tremendously with cost. I can't tell you just how much things all changed the moment Kyle and Samantha walked through that door. The burden lifted off our shoulders was instant. We got back a feeling of freedom we hadn't had in a long time. Jarrett and I finally had something truly wonderful to celebrate. We hadn't had much of that the past few years.
Back to all of those cameras. This life changing moment was all captured for a feature story on Fox Sports and NASCAR Race Hub. Our old SPEED co-workers had been in on the plan all along. After Kyle and Samantha surprised us we were promptly fitted with microphones and did an interview with Kaitlyn Vincie. All the years we worked at SPEED were spent behind the camera and now the tables had been turned. For our first national television interview I think we did pretty well. Click the link below to watch......
NASCAR Race Hub Interview
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