August 3, 2008

August 3, 2008

Before busy season, a charity show in the works

I know that it has been a while since I have written in my journal but since the last time I wrote, I have been keeping busy. I have tried to keep my site up to date with all of the latest news even though I might not have been writing often.

One of the things that I am working on now is "An Evening of Hope," a benefit show that I am organizing in memory of my friend Stephanie Joseph. Stephanie passed away earlier this year after a long battle with soft tissue sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that she was diagnosed with at 8 years old. She was just three months from receiving her journalism degree when she passed away.

When I was younger, Stephanie and I trained together at the All Seasons Ice Rink in our hometown of Naperville. We both also went to Neuqua Valley High School before going our separate ways. She went to the the University of Missouri for college while I headed to Los Angeles to work with Frank but we of course stayed friends.

The show is Sept. 27 at the Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva, Ill. I am very fortunate that my friends and Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, World Champion Kimmie Meissner, U.S. Pairs Champions Brooke Castile and Ben Okolski, U.S. Pairs Champions Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, World Champion ice dancer Shae-Lynn Borne, Canadian National Champion Jennifer Robinson, U.S. Bronze Medalist Ryan Bradley and others are joining me in raising money for the Stephanie Joseph Foundation in collaboration with the Make-A-Wish Illinois Chapter.

I am hoping that the money raised by "An Evening of Hope" will help the Make-A-Wish Foundation grant the wishes of five children in the Chicagoland area. After Stephanie was diagnosed with cancer, the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted her wish of skating with four-time World Champion Kurt Browning. It definitely was such a cool experience for her and with your help, I really want to help other kids to have their wishes granted.

For ticket information or to make a donation, visit www.stephaniejoseph.com. Each ticket comes with admission to the autograph signing after the show. I would love to thank each of you personally for coming out to support the Stephanie Joseph Foundation.

Let me tell you a little bit about what else I have been up to.

I was happy with how I performed on the Grand Prix last season but I really hope to improve my performances this coming season. After a good outing on the Grand Prix circuit, I came away from the U.S. Championships with my second national title. It's a little nerve-wracking to try to defend a title so I am definitely satisfied with how I skated in that tough situation.

The support that I received in St. Paul absolutely helped me through the event. Thank you to the girls with the Evan signs, especially above the kiss and cry and in the skyboxes. And thank you also to everyone who wore the cool Evan shirts.

It was rough outing for me at Four Continents, falling on my quad, but I felt confident having that experience going into the World Championships. Training was going well heading into Worlds. However, I just could not get used to my new blades. It was really frustrating to have equipment problems but it's something that every skater goes through from time to time so I was just trying to make it work.

Right before leaving for Sweden, my blade snapped while I was doing a jump. I knew something wasn't right as soon as I hit the ice so I headed over to the emergency room to get checked out. The doctors found that I had a sprained rotator cuff and sprained ligaments in my left forearm, elbow and shoulder – not good. It was one of the worst things that could have happened but thankfully, I didn't break anything. I always hate having to be off the ice though.

I knew that I could not perform to the best of my ability at Worlds with those injuries so I made the difficult decision to withdraw. Honestly, I was disappointed because I felt that before the injury, my skating was almost where it needed to be. I think that I could have done well at the competition but things happen— and at least I was able to end my season on a high note at the Japan Open.

The summer has been another hectic one for me. Besides performing in a ton of shows in Japan, which has some awesome skating fans, I also had the chance to work with Tatiana Tarasova in Russia. I really like the fresh and new perspective that she brought to my skating. I think my new programs, to "Bolero" for the short and "Rhapsody in Blue" for the long, are awesome.

I'm getting ready for the new season right now but I'm looking forward to golfing in Sun Valley, Idaho, at the end of the month. Then I am really getting down to business with Frank so I can rock this upcoming season. I hope that you will all be along for the ride to the Worlds in my adoptive hometown of Los Angeles.

Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes this year. I am just now getting to all of my mail and my e-mail but some of the things that I have already gotten to are so awesome. Although I really appreciate everything, a special thanks goes to my friends at the Evan Lysacek Fan Forum for the care package they put together for me. It was so cool to come home to a giant box of messages and presents from people Canada, China, Czech Republic, Japan, Mexico and across the United States.

I am so fortunate to have such caring fans. Like I said, it takes me a while to get back to all of the e-mails but I am doing my best to respond to everything that comes my way because every letter really does mean a lot to me. It's nice to know that I have people behind me. Thanks for all the continued support.

I'm sorry that it has taken me such a long time to write since the last time. I think this is probably the longest journal entry ever written so thanks for reading. Now go out and enjoy the last days of summer.