I’ve always been someone who loved a challenge….well most of the time anyway. Telling me I can’t do something is like waving a raw a steak in front of a tiger, a red flag in front of an angry bull, a juicy worm in front of a hungry fish (you get the idea). I probably hold the world record for saying “you wanna bet?”.
The other
day while I was doing my awkward facsimile of running, I was thinking about the
different challenges I’ve faced. I broke
them down into three categories: The ones self-imposed as goals (raising a loving
family, successful career, run the Boston Marathon), the ones I foolishly took
on in response to the phrase “I bet you can’t….” (scary flashbacks to college
days), and the ones that life foisted on me (Leukemia falls into this
category).
It’s the
first category that caused me to start Help in the Nick of Time with the goal
of helping families dealing with a child fighting cancer. I hate asking people for money, especially
these days when so many people are struggling as a result of the pandemic. If I was going to ask people to part with
their hard-earned money, I had to do something equally hard. To show
my commitment I choose running a marathon each year.
This year I
will again challenge my aging body to respond to a new marathon challenge in
April. For the last three years since
the stem cell transplant, I have been gradually improving from using a walker
to walking/jogging, to last year’s goal of doing 26.2 miles over 4 days in
under 5 hours. Never one to be
satisfied with just achieving a goal, this year I planned on doing even
better.
I think the saying
on planning goes something like “Man plans and God laughs”. I noticed my running was becoming more
challenging which I chalked up to age and the after affects of chemo. Turns out it’s another little challenge
called Parkinson Disease. Currently it
doesn’t stop me from jogging, although some days I move like the Tin Man after
a rainstorm, but it does make it a bit more difficult. Not
one to shy away from a challenge, my goal this year is to meet or beat the marathon
goal of last year.
Some might
ask “Why keep doing this?”. Thanks for
asking. This year will be the 15th
year of my marathon challenge and the 12th year of Help in the Nick
of Time. In that time, we have blown by
the goal of raising $100,000 and are well on our way to a quarter million. But what really makes me feel good is the
stories of joy and relief we have brought to children and their families who
are struggling emotionally and financially with cancer. Sometimes its as simple as paying for
parking on their daily visits to the hospital, toys for a young child spending
their birthday in the hospital, or fixing a parent’s car so they can take their
child to treatment.
So this year
I’m back to do my part but I could use your help to continue to bring smiles
and happiness into lives struggling with childhood cancer. Come on along for the ride, it should be an
interesting one.
Happy New
Year!
