Board Member Spotlight: Tom Checkosky. Co-Owner of Pepicelli’s Pizza Ashland

Board member since: January 2012

Tom and Lisa Checkosky

“I don’t believe in coincidences.” Tom Checkosky will be the first person to tell you that he’s here (meaning Ashland) “by the grace of whatever it is you want to call God.”  Checkosky used to be operational partner for 7 Domino’s Pizza restaurants in Western Pennsylvania. He started out as driver, became manager, worked his way up the ladder, and then left.

Before the recession hit, he was a regional manager of Best Buy for three days until the economy made them cancel plans for 10 new stores.

Then, after almost two years out of the food sector, he went into a local Pizza Pan restaurant to pick up an order and then proceeded to reconfigure the entire kitchen for the owners who seemed to be having “organizational issues.”  This lit the fire within Tom to get back into the pizza business.

Pepi seriously enjoys summer!

After an exhaustive search, Tom stumbled onto a pizza place for sale in Ashland, Virginia.  The landlord gave him a great deal on rent and even paid to move his store when Smokey Pig Catering left the space next to Ashland Ace Hardware. Other local residents wowed Tom with kindness, dinner, and good advice.  "I'm from up north.  I'm not used to people being nice to me without there being some kind of ulterior motive. I was sold."

And so Pepicelli’s Pizza of Ashland was established.  This was in 2007 and they are about to celebrate their 5th year in business.

Tom with Jimmy and Ani

Tom brought down his wife, Lisa, and two kids, Jimmy and Ani and they've been here ever since (EVERYONE helps at the store when necessary).

"Something always seems to happen every couple of years or so to make us move or whatever.  We've been in Ashland five years and it hasn't happened yet.  I'm convinced that we're supposed to be here."

The Checkoskys (and Pepicelli's Pizza) are active throughout the Ashland community via MAP, the Ashland Street Parties, and several other activities.

Through a strange series of “non-coincidences,” the Checkoskys became aware of CJ’sThumbs Up Foundation and were touched by the Reynolds’ story.  Tom was so moved that he decided to do everything he could to help make CJSTUF successful and even quit smoking as a result of his involvement with the Foundation.

Pepicelli’s Pizza donates meals to The Lunch Bunch (A joint effort between CJSTUF and Conner's Heroes Foundation to feed the families on the 7^th floor of Children’s Hospital of Richmond) and was the Business Of The Month in May of 2011.  They will be the BOTM again in September, donating a portion of the month’s sales to CJSTUF.  On Monday, September 24th, CJSTUF co-founder Roger Reynolds will be delivering pizzas to Pepicelli's customers who add a small donation to their order.

Tom has dived into his CJSTUF participation with both feet and has become one of our most enthusiastic supporters.

Which is why we wanted to know the answers to:

4 and 1/2 Questions!!!

1) How often do you eat pizza made by another pizza place?

Answer: “Only on vacation and only mom and pop places.  Leonardo’s Pizza in the Outer Banks is a particular favorite as well as Causeway Pizza in Garden City Beach, NC.

2) Can you describe an atom? (I stole this from a website on interview questions)

Answer: “He’s the husband of Eve.”

(smart aleck)

3) How much taller than you is your wife, Lisa?

Answer: “5 inches.”

4) What animal, that you don't currently have, do you want most of all right now?

Answer: “I want either a big bird like an African Grey or a Cockatoo or a big dog (even though I already have two of each).”

and

1/2)  Don't you just love it when...

”employees don’t show up for work?”

Answer: “Yes I do!!!”  (There may have been a touch of sarcasm in his voice)

Visit www.pepicellis.com for information about Pepicelli's Pizza of Asland.

This Is Why We're Here

We here at CJ's ThumbsUp Foundation often post photos of financial assistance grants going out in the mail with the caption, "This is why we're here" or publish updates about this event or that, trying to keep everyone energized about the mission of CJSTUF.org.

But that's only part of it.

A large chunk of why this non-profit exists is because of a little girl named Charlotte Jennie who was born on July 9, 2005, seven years ago today.  SHE’S why this thing exists at all.

So many of you already know about Charlotte (CJ) that it seems ridiculously redundant to retell the story but what we will say is that because of this amazing, adorable, courageous, intelligent, curly-haired girl, and the way she charmed everyone she met (still seems to), we are moved to try and keep that energy moving forward.

It is very difficult to think that our little Monkey Butt would have just finished her second year of school, that she would now be swimming or going to camp, that we would be taking trips to see grandparents…

But that’s not the reality with which we’ve been entrusted.

The reality is that at any one time there might be upwards of 70 families of children receiving treatment on the 7^th floor of VCU/Children’s Hospital of Richmond and so many others moving through the various outpatient clinics.

The reality is that we just sent out 10 more Financial Assistance Grants totaling $5,000 and that just barely brought us even with demand FOR NOW.

The reality is that there are many, many other parents, grandparents, siblings, and caregivers all struggling to keep it together right now, at this very moment, through the worst nightmare imaginable.

The reality is that, because of Charlotte’s inspiration, upon which we draw every day, you have been moved to support our mission which, in turn, gives us a very strong coping mechanism allowing us to face each day as it comes.  Please believe it when we say that some days the act of getting out of bed seems like more than we can bear.

Today is one of those days.  But we WILL get out of bed because of Charlotte and what this Foundation has become to those who have built it and to those who have benefitted from it (some of the same people fit into both categories).

So Rachel will go to her first day of school at The Dominion School For Autism as principal and Roger will meet donors and do his show at WHAN Radio.  Many will raise a chocolate milk toast and watch Mary Poppins or Finding Nemo or Lady and the Tramp or one of her other favorite movies (she had several).  A listen to the Curious George Soundtrack is in order as well. Or giving "five" to Snook from "Big, Big World."

Hopefully all will be inspired to be more than they are right now and keep growing from there.

This is why we’re here.

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl.

Charlotte has had a rough few days.

Roger here. Charlotte has had a rough few days. I think the various drugs she has been forced to take have finally caught up with her. She had been doing so well and everyone had been so amazed at how well she was tolerating the chemo, it was hard to imagine they were actually working. Guess we can put that notion to rest.She has been constantly lethargic and easily fatigued, hardly eating or drinking anything, and not really wanting to go anywhere much (she did, however, seem to perk up when she found out she was going to Anja's. Thanks Meredith). She's been very patient with Mommy and Daddy dragging her around to various places mostly because we had to when all she really wants us to do is hold her.She's had a few bouts with moderately severe abdominal pain, which we believe to be not much more than really bad gas but when she's writhing in pain and crying so hard it scares you, it's hard not to panic. We've had to resort to infant 101 training and bicycle her legs and rub her belly to get relief going. It seems to work.Yesterday was very busy as Rachel had to teach in the morning and I had to dress up as Rompy for the Mascot Mile at Children's Hospital in Richmond, zoom up to Short Pump Middle School to drop off the outfit to the Romp n' Roll tent at the Touch-A-Truck event, head down to John Tyler Community College for a duo Southern Horizon gig with John, then get back home in time for Mommy to get to RNR for a Birthday Bash.Rachel was pretty beat from the morning classes so I did the BB instead (she has covered plenty of classes and BB's for me and will do so again so it wasn't hard to decide). It was a Superhero Adventure Birthday Bash and although there were chaotic parts, it was a great time. I got to wear a cape the whole time and at the end, at least three kids were already browbeating their parents to have their parties at Romp n' Roll. Gotta love it!Mommy stayed home and took good care of Charlotte making sure the IV fluids pump was set up and running correctly. It didn’t take long for her to zonk out last night after I put her to bed. I don’t think she even made it through two books.Charlotte got up about 9:30 this morning, after I left to go teach and Rachel brought her down to the store so we could all go to lunch to speak to a friend about getting Charlotte's Thumbs Up Foundation rolling at a meaningful pace. We went to Panera (yum!) and although the meeting ended up not happening, Rachel, Charlotte, and I actually got to eat lunch together. Kind of a rarity these days. We jotted down a few more ideas about CJSTUF and we got CJ to eat a bit. Granted it was only a container of apple sauce but I was very happy about it. Tonight, after we got all her meds and fluids going, I got her to eat a container of Mandarine oranges and a half of a Honey Stix cracker. Not a 7 course meal but, again, something. Personally, I think she has gotten over the hump of this round.We had our Rompy's Rainbow Station Adventure Party tonight (open house, really) and CJ came down for the first part. She didn't do much and mostly she wanted to watch videos but at one point she asked to go into the gym where I tried to referee the mayhem of a gym and art room packed to capacity with kids and grownups.I think it was a great event and both RNR and Rainbow Station got some business out of it. We're thinking of making it an annual event. Don't see why not.Chick-fil-a gets an extra shout out because, with all the stuff going on yesterday, I forgot to go pick up the chicken nugget trays for today. D'OAH! Remember, they're closed on Sundays. (I think there's a song in there somewhere). Well Pam took pity on me and actually let me in on a Sunday(!) to get those trays. Yes, she was in the neighborhood and all that but it certainly wasn't something she had to do and because of her kindness, we didn’t have to go out of our way to get trays from Food Lion or Kroger that would not have been what we wanted. So go to Chick-fil-a at VA Center Marketplace and tell them how awesome they are.Tonight, CJ sat with me on the couch to see the end of the Denver Bronco/New England Patriot game (GO BRONCOS! 5-0 even in those godawful hideous uniforms!) and then slowly faded as Mommy and Daddy watched “The Soloist” On Demand (Wonderful movie). Just brought her up to bed and here I am.Side note-The Randolph-Macon College field hockey team won their fifth game in a row yesterday 5-1! Congrats ladies. Sorry CJ couldn't be there. We'll try for the next one. I would like to encourage as many Richmond area fans of Charlotte to try to make to a game. Check out www.rmc.edu and click on athletics for more info.Now about that Mascot Mile…I was placed at the first turn on the grass right by the traffic cones holding up the big sign with the arrows on it. I was being Rompy, waving at passing cars and pedestrians, and waiting for the kids to come running my way so I could bark my encouragement as they went by. The announcer said, “Go!” and they were off. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as if they were told to stay on the grass because as soon as they came to where they were supposed to get onto the grass and head my way, they simply stayed on the road around the parking lot and never even came close to me. So much for that. I’m very glad I went up to the start/finish line area to schmooze and pose for pictures or I would have thought it was a tremendous waste of time.The weather’s cooling off and I’m looking foreword to getting under the big comforter! Nighty-night.

Today was a mostly good day

Today was a mostly good day.Charlotte and I went to her OT appointment at Children's Hospital (West End) where I was not allowed to follow the princess into the back. So I sat in the lobby and read/played on the iPhone. When they came out, Lauren told me that CJ had worked very hard and they haad worked a little on strengthening that left side as well as using both hands together.Afterwards, we went to Costco and had our traditional Daddy/daughter meal of "pizza and ice cream." Charlotte was beyond adorable. There were lot's of older people eating and they all just fell in love with her. Her lack of shyness didn't hurt. And everyone keeps commenting on her eyes!We ran some other errands and I left multiple messages at the hemonc clinic to try and get a concrete time for our appointment tomorrow. It took all day but finally Nurse April called (love her!) and told us to be there around 9. I'll probably be there quite a bit earlier than that.Tomorrow starts her new chemo drug Velcade. It's nasty and has lots of side effects normally but I believe it's still low dose (I could be wrong) It will be the only chemo drug administered via an IV and we'll go in twice a week for two weeks before switching back to one of the others.Here are some cheery details: http://www.chemocare.com/bio/velcade.aspThis afternoon, after working at Romp n' Roll, Rachel went with Kobey to his own dr. evaluation thingy and when she got back, she discovered she had a fever. So I shooed her off to bed and I didn't work much on RNR stuff.The good part was that Charlotte and I watched movies and read books together.Rachel, seems to be feeling a little better if it weren't for that darned cough that keeps hanging on to both of us.Here's a new musical thing I've been following. Doug Bickel is one of the most amazing musicians I've ever met and he has linked a ton of videos to his Facebook site. Just search for "Doug Bickel' and you'll find him. He's the jazz keyboard professor at U of Miami and his insights into the tunes are very enlightening.Son of Epic (part 2) is on its way.

New Caring Bridge Page

Oooh....NEW CARING BRIDGE!!!
There are updates to this site as you may have noticed. Some great features include:
o We can now put over 50 pics on the photo section (before we were limited to 12)
o The links section has been changed to RESOURCES and has more flexibility. Our Care Calendar, bracelets, and other information have been updated there (it disappeared for a while).
o We get to see some pretty interesting stats about our website and we can also track the other Caring Bridge sites that we are following regularly too!
Anyway, on that note, I thought you would be interested to know that the 61K+ hits that our site has generated is the result of over 630 unique visitors! Just goes to prove that 1) Charlotte has a lot of fans and 2) You folks are repeat offenders (if not addicts!). Thanks again for your continuing support.
I haven't written in a few days but Roger has kept you updated. Yes, I am sporting my new haircut. For those of you who know me well, you know that my hairstyle seems to change with the season. Until Thursday, my hair was the longest it had been since before Charlotte had been born (after which I proceeded to go much shorter and then gradually grow it out again). Anyway, while I am not brave enough to shave my head, this was the next best thing, I guess. I'm getting used to VERY short hair again but I think I like it. Charlotte seemed to like it too as she gave me a big smile when I came back from the haircut. I even brought home some hair "for the birds" from the hairdresser's. So a quick shout-out to Karin at Diva's for always helping me look as beautiful as I can possibly look! She's been cutting my hair for over 5 years and she's great!
Roger is out in WV as we speak and playing a Civil War Ball with Southern Horizon. For those of you that know us, that sentence just doesn't seem bizarre, does it?
Charlotte had a fabulous day with a playdate with her friend Abby from church that included lunch and lots of kid time. I understand from my mom that she has had a wonderful appetite all day and stayed VERY busy. She finally conked out around 8:30.
I have been very on the fence about trying to get her in for PT/OT next week. First of all, it's very difficult for them to try to get us "in" as Children's stays very busy with their clinic but I also feel like she has just been doing so well. We tried to get her back into therapy the week we ended up back in the hospital and it was oh-so-frustrating to have that setback. Anyway, I have decided that maybe we will just enjoy this upsurge and let Charlotte rest and rejuvenate as much as possible before Thursday/Friday's craziness.
As many of you know, my parents are now here and oh is life so much easier again! It just allows Roger and I to focus our efforts on work and not have to worry quite as much about Charlotte (As evidenced by what will be almost 20 hrs of work at Romp n' Roll on my part over this weekend alone!). This is the first opportunity they have had to see Charlotte since her diagnosis (she had seen them in Florida just prior to her first hospitalization) so I think the Mutual Admiration Society is very much in effect on Slash Ct.
Many of you have inquired about further details for the Head Shaving party on April 10th. Plans are definitely still in the works but we have to hash out some final details. My guess is that timing will be late afternoon/early evening to accomodate work schedules, etc. Jackie, our fun-raising guru will hopefully meet with us in the next few days and give us some solid news...we appreciate your patience as well as everyone's willingness to help and support!
The piano-moving may move (HA) to after Easter due to logistics with schedules. We will let you know when we have a different date.
FINALLY, I want to give a shout-out to Melissa, Katherine, Liz, Miriam, Amanda, Anna, Kim, Bruce, and about 50 other people who I am forgetting to mention by name: These wonderful women (and even a few men) just spent the last few days organizing and running the Mid-Atlantic Regional Music Therapy Conference in Richmond. This has been a labor of love (I'll use that term a little loosely!) on the part of the members of the Virginia Music Therapy Association for over a year and a half. Melissa and I had been local co-chairs of the event and had been in the middle of LOTS of planning, budgeting, and all kinds of other craziness when this speed bump hit our lives. One of my first calls was to Melissa (mainly because she works at MCV and I knew she would find out sooner or later that we were there) and her first directive to me was to STOP worrying about the conference. Anyway, the rest of the team rallied around Melissa and from what I understand, the conference was a giant success. I was sad to have missed it all and I owe everyone on the local committee a drink (or 3). I owe Melissa a whole KEG! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything that you ALL have done!
Ok, I have written enough of a novella for one evening so I promise to sign off! Let's pray for some sunshine, eh?
Rachel

Another long day -

Another long day...Roger and I were up early to appear on the American Family Radio show (did you hear it?). It was a great chance to share our story again with the world and talk about how much we appreciate the thoughts, prayers, and support we have received in the last (GULP!) four weeks. Yes, indeed, it has been FOUR weeks since all this happened. Hard to believe. It seems longer, mainly because each day and week seems to bring a new adventure with logistics and knowledge.Anyway, Charlotte slept well last night and we had to get her up for a busy day. We got her AFO brace fitted for her leg (PURPLE!) and she got a new pair of orthopedic shoes too (pink and purple!). Then it was off to Children's Hospital where we got to go through all the intake stuff and then met with Dr. Montaserio (her rehab doc). He was most impressed with her progress, especially when she reached up with her left leg and kicked his hand! Still working hard on walking and release the grasp or using her left hand. It was very interesting that while we have been surrounded by people at MCV who knew all about brain tumors, PNETs, and all the other vocabulary with which we have become familiar in the last few weeks, few of the folks we talked to at Children's Hospital knew about her type of tumor. It made me realize how rare this thing is that happened to her...even at another hospital it is considered relatively "rare". When you are involved in something so much, you tend to forget that it's not a normal part of everyday life for other people. I constantly have to remind myself that it's not "normal" for your child to have a brain tumor...or even to be this sick for that matter. It starts to seem normal to me after a while. Probably weird but that's where I am...Anyway, we actually didn't have PT/OT or speech today. They had to set up numerous appointments so I know I am getting out the calendar and scheduling our world around CJ. Have to make sure we don't double book! Since they are having to bump us up around waiting lists (due to the urgency of her case), we actually have to go to some of the satellite Children's Hospital offices (West End and Midlothian) for some of our appointments. Not as convenient but that's ok. She will have PT/OT tomorrow, speech Thursday afternoon and they are also scheduling a NeuroPsych exam soon. This will be to get a "baseline" for her neurologic functioning and will probably take a few days to complete due to her age and the breadth of the exam.After getting home, she had a wonderful visit with Larson and Alexander and then mom tried to take a nap. Much thanks to Grandpa and Juanita for domestic chores and a yummy dinner. Dad came home and got her to sleep after much fussing. We just had to wake her up or would face another sleepless night. She's currently eating her dinner in her new cozy footie pajamas and listening to Dora stories. Does life get much better?At the risk of waxing on (and on), here is my moment of enlightenment for the week: I never wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. EVER. I always knew that I would need to go back to work after having my kids for many reasons. While the primary reason was probably income, the secondary reason was my sanity. I just would probably never be a great SAHM and needed that balance of home and work in my life. After I went back to work from my maternity leave, I never regretted it. Those first four months home with Charlotte were great but I definitely needed to go back to work and I never (ok rarely) felt guilty or wished I stayed at home.Fast forward to our new situation and oh how things change. Over the past week, I have wanted nothing more than to stay home and take care of my little Charlotte. I want to be the one who is with her (even when she drives me nuts), be there for all her doctor appointments, and be there to watch over her...Because of that, other things in my life are definitely slacking. Romp n' Roll has (unfortunately) taken a small back seat in my life and I have trouble motivating myself to get work done. Not to mention the time and fatigue factors...even if I did have the motivation, I usually have neither the hours in the day nor the energy.Anyway, I will end my mini-novel here (mainly because I must get back to my daughter) but if I seem distracted, antsy, grumpy, or in any other way not myself (yes, Roger, grump is NOT my normal self...) I am sure you understand why...Must run...Rachel

A quick addendum to the evening:
Charlotte was rather grumpy for a while (channeling her mom's energy???) but looking at recent get-well card arrivals and reading for a while really made her day. Her eyes completely lit up when she saw the homemade pictures from Kyle and Katie (Thanks!) and the homemade painted heart from Ketty's friend from church. Thanks, All! Then we read her High Five magazine (I think each story 3 times!). When she ran out of options, she said, "I want to pick some new books myself". I got her off the couch and she walked with me barely holding her hands over to her bookcase. She carefully picked out two selections and returned to the couch. We did this TWICE and each time her walking was more and more independent. By the end, she was walking with very little support and doing a GREAT job holding her hands out to grab a chair or the edge of the couch if needed. Yay!
BTW, forgot to mention in a previous post that the doctor has told us that we don't need the wheelchair. We can get by with our jogging stroller (and it will probably actually be more supportive). Because of this, I don't think we will need the wheelchair ramp after all (thanks to those who had offered).
Must rest and enjoy some time with my hubby...once CJ finally falls asleep!!
Rachel

GOING HOME!

We are going HOME!!
Today will be a little crazy so I apologize in advance if we don't get to speak with any of you personally, but we have been given the CLEAR to go home today. We will be getting things together, meeting with nurses to go over care of her port, and getting a wheelchair and brace for her leg. Outpatient rehab will start on Tuesday at Children's Hospital of Richmond.
YAY! We are so excited!
More updates to come...