Hi Everyone,
My name is Kels (Kelly Kirkland Phillips) and I feel really good today to want to write something. My health isn't doing so well, but as you all know, I need a lung transplant. My mind feels strong enough to want to share a bit about me and My Grandfather, My Hero!
My own personal Guardian Angel.....
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The man who the world knows as Harold “Lefty” Phillips is my grandfather, who I just call Papa. When I’m in trouble I meditate on his strong energy to get me through. To me, this great man, my Papa, was admired by so many people for being such a great family man. He was more than that to people who admired him as a Player, Scout, Coach and Manager of the Baseball Teams: The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Anaheim Angels.
I could sit here and fill this all up with newspaper clippings of how great of a man he was (and still is to me) or his baseball cards and all sorts of neat things, but the truth is he was Papa first and he was Harold “Lefty” Phillips to the world second. My Papa managed the Los Angeles Dodgers and scouted some of the great pitchers of our time. Does Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale or Sparky Anderson mean anything to you? It sure does to me. He made a name for them in the history of baseball. My Papa was also the manager of the Anaheim Angels.
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My Papa is another reason I’m fighting so hard to raise awareness for chronic lung diseases: Asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (C.O.P.D) and the big one that is killing me called Pulmonary Fibrosis. I was sick since birth with Asthma and I slept in a zipped up tent around my bed that blew breathing medicines into my tent while I slept. When I woke up in the morning, My Papa would get me out of my tent and hold me on his lap on his favorite chair while we both took our breathing treatments together at the same time because we both have the same lung disease and we also shared the same passion for baseball. I can't tell you what it meant to me as a child to sit on my Papa's lap while he went over the strategies for the next game. I would also give my little old' advice on what I thought, at that age, would be the best thing to do. He was the light of my life and with my Papa being sick with severe chronic Asthma; he still managed to accomplish so many things in life while doing what his passion has always been: BASEBALL!
His career as the Manager of the L.A. Dodgers and the Anaheim Angels ended too early, he died at the age of 52 just shy of his 53rd birthday. I suspect that it wasn't Asthma that killed him. I believe that it might’ve been Pulmonary Fibrosis but I don’t know. I feel him all around me all the time, along with his wife, My Nana who was the backbone and the matriarch of the family. My Papa is my hero and yes, he accomplished more in life than anyone I know. He rose to fame while living with a severe chronic lung disease and it truly is a winning story. I’d love to continue to keep his legacy alive but I need to keep myself alive to do so. Unfortunately, I’m in the fight of my life and I need a lung transplant. Flyers w/donation envelopes attached are available. If you’d like to be a part of this winning story, please send requests and donations to the following:
Address: Fight Pulmonary Fibrosis
c/o Tema Price
6965 El Camino Real
Suite 105 - 472
Carlsbad, CA 92009
Phone: 760 – 687 – 6800
Website: www.GiveForward.com, enter Kelly Kirkland
Website: shorter version URL: https://gfwd.at/12v7yeI
Smile and Keep Living!
Sincerely,
Kels (Kelly Kirkland Phillips)
