Moment of Truth

I see the humor in most situations in life, as you can probably tell from recent entries in this blog.  Very little is sacred in that regard.  But I find that in the days before a marathon, and during the marathon itself, I get more serious about the running, and the task ahead of me. 

I first started running 3 years ago as a way to deal with the stress and anger of my brother’s death and my sister’s illness.  My association with the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge began for purely personal reasons.  I realized that my children were learning from me how to deal with grief and loss, and I wanted them to learn that when life throws horrible things at you, there is always a way to make things better somewhere for someone else.  There was this, too:  as my sister’s illness spiraled out of control, I needed to have something in my life that I could control.  That thing became my training.  When everything else was falling apart, I could still go out there and hit my mileage for the week.  Even now, all marathons are ultimately about Steven and Theresa.  But Boston is also about Dana-Farber. 

My association with Dana-Farber has morphed into something far different since my first marathon with them.  The folks at Dana-Farber took very good care of my sister in her final days, and the way I see, it, they gave us an extra year with her that we might not have had otherwise.  But there is far more to the story than that. To me, Dana-Farber is an oasis of hope and compassion in an uncertain world.

My sister used to tell me that anytime she felt sorry for herself, she would take a look at the kids being treated at Dana-Farber and would tell herself that she was one of the lucky ones, because she had a chance at life.  It is the thought of the kids that keeps me doing this.  And I hope that Theresa would approve of my respecting her memory in this way.    

Dana-Farber is more than a hospital contained by four walls.  Dana-Farber is a community of people from all walks of life.  This community is comprised of people like you, who make their donations $25, $50, $100 at a time.  It is comprised of the volunteers for the Quaker Hill 5K Challenge, who are dedicating so much of their time and energy to bringing that fundraiser to life.  It is comprised of the fans that will come out to cheer us on tomorrow, my crazy pit crew, and my parents, who drive all the way out from Syracuse every year to spend 30 seconds watching me run by.  Tomorrow, 500+ runners, all wearing blue and orange Dana-Farber singlets, will celebrate this community.  All told, we will bring in over $4 million dollars for cancer research this year, one mile at a time.  All of us together represent hope; the runners, the volunteers, the fans, and you.  It all boils down to that. 

I’d like to share with you this video that my friend Neal recently posted on Facebook.  I love this video, because it shows what Dana-Farber is most famous for:  bringing out the best in people. 

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/02/21/steeling_their_courage/

18 hours…

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