Movember is coming to a close and for some (most wives / girlfriends), this is a joyous day. For others, like me, it’ll be a sad day when I hack this guy off my upper lip. Some people find our Mo’s to be detestable and vile and associate us with their weird Uncle Marv and that guy from the laundromat who is always asking what fabric softener you use. Others correlate these furry little creatures with woodsmen, pro baseball players from the 70’s, Olympic distance runners from the 70’s, porn stars from the 70’s and well, pretty much everything that a man should be/anyone from the 70’s.

No matter what way you look at it, our ‘staches have formed a bond between us that is bigger than 30 days of joy or misery depending on how your freak flag flies. At the time of writing this, Movember has raised just under $100 million dollars for men’s health awareness and testicular cancer research this year. Wow. What a f%#king accomplishment when you really think about it. With that kind of money you could buy a fleet of hovercrafts or pay Richard Branson to be your best friend for life or buy every single item from Nick Offerman’s woodshop for everyone at your office.

However, that money will be well spent providing folks who don’t have the resources to fight cancer and giving families across the globe a chance to stay together and complete. That money will go to the Livestrong Foundation that is fighting like hell to stop this disease. That money will go to someone who just found out they have cancer. News that would destroy a family, organization or a rowdy group of bros who just found out that one of their own won’t make it to next Movember. Think about that. What a terrible disease we have on our hands. We are forever grateful to the Mo bros who keep this machine running and are inspiring people across the globe. Adam, Tom, JJ and all the other guys running the show, we love you!

We Mo bro’s wake up everyday during this month and giggle and make fun of each other, but we all just hope and pray (yeah I said pray. Suck it, atheists) that we won’t have to make that call or hear that diagnosis. We are paying our debt forward to the Movember team and Livestrong Foundation who are the front lines fighting cancer and making sure men out their don’t have to cut their Mo growing days short. We are fighting for our friends and family who have already unfortunately lost the battle. We are fighting for those who have lost everything and are trying to find a way back. We are growing our ‘staches challenging our friends to do more exercise outside of setting their fantasy lineup or talk about their lingering issues with a doctor or find a way to see any kind of doctor just to make sure everything is working properly. This movement is about having fun with your friends, making new ones and making sure we all stick around long enough to keep doing this.

I know I didn’t raise a million dollars, but I got better at what I’m trying to do (aka the blog you are currently reading) and I am more conscious about my health and that’s what it’s all about. I grew a filthy fucking ‘stache and hopefully I inspired some people out their to do the same. There is nothing better than looking a fellow Mo bro on the street in the eye, nodding a smile of approval and carrying on your day knowing that there are others out there like you. Others who actually give a shit and aren’t afraid to let that ‘stache fly. So I challenge everyone out there with a Mo to enjoy this last day of Movember who were brave enough to let it grow.

My parting words for the Movember and Bro Journey community before we set sail into the non-hairy world of December: instead of offering to buy that pretty girl a beer tonight, use that extra $5 and donate it to someone’s Movember page to help fight cancer and build the Mo community. Besides, that mustache is like a tractor beam, its irresistible!

Mo on.

p.s. Make a last minute donation to The Bro Journey here.

We have 18 team members and have raised over $2,600. Which is 16 more team members and $2,000 more than last year. Also, Max and I cried a lot less, so there’s that.