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Hollis Malkowski has never run a marathon before, but on November 5 he will race in the 2017 New York City Marathon. He signed up late, has not had much time to train, and was warned by his avid marathon-running aunt that this was not among his brightest ideas.


He bought new shoes for the race, which he claims are bulky and ugly. He has been training in rural New Jersey among bounding deer in a reflective vest and lamp belt. The athletic 22-year old says it is not his finest fashion statement.


So why is he doing this run?

After years of both physical and mental decline for my Grandmother Milligan, the moment we’ve tried to ignore finally hit on Friday morning:

Grandmother Milligan’s health is very poor and she will likely pass away today and perhaps in the next hour or so.  Please keep the family in your prayers.

I cannot think of Grandmother without thinking of the striking way she was described by Kristen Milligan, Inheritance of Hope’s co-founder who died in this month five years ago.  Kristen's book Consider It Pure Joy  begins with her going to the hospital for surgery, commencing what became a nine-year journey with cancer.  She had a special visitor:

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Holley Kitchen battled metastatic breast cancer before losing her fight in 2016. She put her family first. She adored her two sons, Bryson and Colby, and made the most of her time with them. She learned to live intentionally and inspired those around her to do the same. Holley’s sister and friends share some things for the boys to know about who their mom was.

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Inheritance of Hope spoke with two of Holley Kitchen’s sisters, Missy Hobbs and Teri Larcom. They shared with us three pieces of advice based on how Holley lived out her last months. Holley battled metastatic breast cancer and passed away in January 2016. She serves on as a champion for a researching a cure and building an intentional legacy. We celebrate her on "Holley Day", October 13. 

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On October 13th, 2018, Inheritance of Hope is celebrating Kendra Scott’s 3rd annual Holley Day, in remembrance of Kendra’s dear friend, Holley Kitchen.

Holley and her family were served on an Inheritance of Hope Legacy Retreat^Ⓡ in May 2015, just eight short months before she passed away from metastatic breast cancer.  

20% of in-store and called-in (not online) Kendra Scott sales on October 13th will benefit other Inheritance of Hope families! 

Of all the things Holley Kitchen wanted to be—wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend—the role she is most widely known for is something no one wants to be: the face of metastatic breast cancer. Like most true heroes, Holley was an ordinary woman facing extraordinary circumstances. How she soared beyond those confines will forever define her as a champion of this disease. 

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Artistic whiz Mikki Skinner is a volunteer who brings her photography acumen to serve our families in a unique way. She captures memories through her lens, little and big moments, that tell the experience of a family on a Legacy Retreat®. 


Her philosophy is about a photo increasing in sentimental value as time passes, like an artifact. It shows a split second in time that transports you to relive that one “sparkly memory”. If Mikki can bring a smile to a child or spouse, to help them rekindle the love of someone they lost, that’s what she hopes to do for each family. Check out her 12 favorite camera moments. 

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Fourteen-year-old Ethan Harned would prefer that attention be on Inheritance of Hope (IoH) instead of on himself, but his is a story that needs to be told. Ethan has raised $526 by selling wristbands, and the seed money came entirely out of his own savings. Most adults who hear about his initiative are surprised and ask what led him to use his own money. Ethan’s reaction is surprise too—that more people are not doing what he has done.

We typically think of resting and recharging as getting away or going on vacation. I’m the CEO of an organization that focuses its events around retreats, so I hear exhales of relief all the time. One of my favorite examples is an African-American woman from the Atlanta area who attended one of our Legacy Retreats^® in New York City. She had never even been on an airplane. At one point, her volunteer, a burly man in his twenties, was pushing her in a wheelchair through Times Square. It started to rain and he thought, “This is a disaster.” At precisely that moment, this terminally ill woman looked back at him and said, “This is the best day of my life.” I love being able to provide the best day of people’s lives even when they are facing death.

We all need love to thrive, and when you’ve found the love of your life, it’s hard to imagine losing that person. While we know that everything precious has an end point, it can be a difficult reality to face head on. This can be even more difficult when you’re facing the loss in a young family.

We’d rather live in the clouds and float away from the haze of despair, but darkness has a way of slithering in and smothering the fragility of peace. Losing one’s spouse is a devastating burden that can wrench a family apart. In the event of a terminal illness, it’s important to make preparations so that your loved ones can support each other as much as possible after the inevitable.

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(image: Pixabay)

It’s been said that the saddest thing about death is not the actual end of life itself, but leaving your loved ones behind and creating the reality of not being able to spend time with you anymore. Needless to say, death is always hard to accept, even if we’re all aware that it is a natural occurrence. The only thing you could do to ensure that your loved ones' grief and pain would be somehow appeased after you’re gone is to prepare something that would remind them of you fondly – your legacy, so to speak.

In today’s society, technology has become intertwined in people’s lives, so much so that it’s now also considered an instrument for dealing with instances such as death. The manner for leaving your legacy and final wishes is not just through paper these days but also via digital tools.