Trust Gratitude Inspiration Friday #6

I had so many different things I noticed today that I found inspiration from. 

Today, Adam and I played in the fourth annual golf tournament hosted by Angel Melina's parents, Mike and Desiree.

It was truly an honor to be a part of this special day to honor the life of this precious little girl.

Adam and I were two of 104 golfers that came together as a community to honor the incredible work that Desiree and Mike are doing in support of families that are trying to comprehend what no one can understand.

Last year Des and Mike donated 24 yearly Zoo passes to families who had children in the oncology ward.

That might not sound like much, but it is a huge gift to these families.  They also stock supplies for families with children in the bone marrow transplant unit.

They do this out of love for Melina, and for the compassion they have for these families.   Childrens's Hospital is having to expand the bone marrow transplant unit as there are too many children in the oncology ward.  Incredibly sad to hear of  that need.  Heart breaking.

It is also so inspiring to know that Mike and Desiree continue relentlessly in their efforts to provide support and hope to so many families.

One of the tee boxes had three very special young women watching over us.

Wow, how much love is present for these three angels?  I had to stop and take a picture, and wipe away the tears.  The tears now are no longer tears of sadness, replaced by tears you have when you just feel love in your heart.

Trusting that someday a cure for cancer will be found.

Gratitude for the stand Desiree and Mike are making in this fight.

Inspired by all of the love that lives on in our hearts for Melina, Kelly and Laiken.

What inspired you today?

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Laura's birthday present to me on her birthday.

I got the nicest birthday present possible from Laura on her birthday.

An inviation to go run on 5K.  We drove up to Flatrions for the Bolder Boulder Flat Out 5K.  This is a qualifying race for the Bolder Boulder 10K road race on Memorial Day.

At the end of the race, you are seeded into the appropriate qualifying wave.

I hadn't done any training for this race, hadn't run for 12 days.  I told Laura as we were driving up that we had changed identities.   When Laura swam competitively her only training for 5K road races was the prior 5K race which could be weeks or months apart.

When you are a teenager and have a fantastic aerobic engine, one might get away with that kind of a training plan.  For me, it doesn't work so well.  Duh...

The flat out 5K is not really flat, but you are supposed to run flat out, at 100%.  Now I can sometimes run at 100% for the final .1 of the race, but through either very poor design or a sadisc race director the last .1 mile is all uphill.  There were two people in front of me that I might have been able to pass if I was willing to pay the price and suffer.  I opted out as my left brain told me it would hurt too much.  It isn't worth the effort. 

I crossed the finish line and was handed a card that told me I had qualified for the ED wave. At least I got into a qualifying wave.  

As we waited in line to register there was a young boy, I am guessing who was about 6 that had the same color coded card as me :)  I will never get a big head about my running abilities.

It was a fun morning for me to spend time with my little girl this way.

Laura, I am so proud of you.

You are the only person I know that has friends from the age of about 18 months, two year olds, 3 year olds, 5 year olds that all fight over you, cry when they can't sit next to you. 

I love how you play all out with your kids at Kids Club and come home with bruises on your knees from chasing after them.

So to my running and roadie buddy, I look forward to many more runs and rides with you, having fun,  playing all out.

Happy Birthday, little girl.

I love you :)

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Trust Gratitude Inspiration Friday #5

Wednesday night I attended my friend Brittany's college graduation event.  It was held at the Denver Center for the Performing arts.



This was a huge milestone in Brittany's life. 


Brittany was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia shortly before her 16th birthday.  Her doctors never expected her to leave the hospital.

Nine years later Brittany received her college degree from the Community college of Denver.

That is persistence, being unstoppable in the face of cancer.  Take that!

I almost started to cry as she walked past me, remembering Kelly's graduation from high school.   Another person who was unstoppable in the face of cancer. 

After graduation, Brittany's parents invited us to join them for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. 

I got a rocking acknowledgement from Brittany's mom, thanking me for who I am for Brittany.  It is hard to hear acknowledgements about ourselves, but if you can let them in what an amazing gift that is.

I think what real struck me  about this evening was how important it is to build and nurture your life support systems.  Brittany has a huge life support system.  People she knows and trusts completely to have her back.

                                                                Kriztina and Brittany

Who are the people that will walk towards you when you are dying? 

Those are the people we need to surround ourselves with.  Who is that for you?

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Do you know what is at stake?

I just love ideas like this. 

Simple idea to raise money for cancer research and it is a race against the clock.  Cancer never rests  in this fight and sometimes the clock runs down to 00:00.

If 10,000 riders join this virtual ride in the next 48 hours, Radio Shack will donate $75,000 to Livestrong for cancer research.

I am riding the Virtual Tour of California for Kelly and Laiken.

Now, more than ever, we need to talk about the global cancer crisis – this year, cancer has become the leading cause of death worldwide. And if something doesn’t change, one in two people will be fighting cancer by 2030.


We have to fight back, push our leaders to act and dedicate resources to realize a world without cancer. Every single story and rider strengthens our cause and helps to make our voices heard. That’s why I RIDE FOR LIVESTRONG – will you cheer me on?

Please join me in this ride by clicking here and or you can cheer for me every day by clicking here.

Livestrong!!!

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Wisdom from Harold Hill

I love this thought from  The Music Man. 

"Oh, my dear little librarian. You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays  I don't know about you, but I'd like today worth remembering". -Harold Hill

How many of us spend our lives waiting for tomorrow,  for someday.

Tomorrow I will start... Fill in the blanks.

Do you have a tomorrow or a someday you are waiting for?

Don't wait. Start right now.

It is that simple and that hard.

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Trust Gratitude Inspiration Friday #4

I had the honor of sharing just a bit of Kelly's story at the Denver Light the Night corporate kickoff meeting yesterday.

This was the largest turnout that the Rocky Mountain Chapters has ever had.  There were approxmiately 180 people in attendance and many movers and shakers in the Denver community.

We were treated to an inspirational speech by the featured guest speaker, Meg Brown.  Meg is a former NCAA basketball player at the University of Texas and is also the author of a book, Dancing with the Enemy. 

Meg is a non-Hodgkin's  Lymphoma survivor.  She shared her top six things to help you cope with any crisis in your life.

1. Expertise ~ When times are tough, you need the knowledge, experience, judgment, guidance of professionals who have the tools to help you make it.


2. Positive attitude ~ When times are tough, the bad is obvious. You have to find the good. With positive attitude comes the ability to laugh. Laughter is medicine.

3. Love ~ When times are tough, let yourself be sustained by the affection and concern which comes your way from the people who care about you.

4. Faith ~ When times are tough, faith is your one constant. Faith lets you talk, cry, laugh. Faith is your peace, your comfort, your strength.

5. Exercise ~ When times are tough, you can still get your butt out of bed. Exercise short circuits self-pity, takes your focus off the problem, and gives you a sense of accomplishment.

6. Luck ~ When times are tough, you can do everything right, but you might not have the luck.

I was inspired to witness her humility and gratitude as she shared her story as she wondered aloud, why me, why was I the lucky one.

Meg walked a 1/2 marathon with Team in Training and mentioned that she totally loved Team in Training.

When I was given the opportunity to talk, I looked to see where Meg had moved to in the room and I said to her, "Meg, Team in Training, 17 events.  I've got your back".

I then shared Kelly's story and as many times before when I spoke about Kelly, any fear that I might have about public speaking disappeared.

I was standing for Kelly's life and the love that lives on in my heart  for her every day. My voice didn't waver, there were no tears. 

I was so grateful to have the opportunity to share her story and just let Kelly's voice inspire the people in the audience.

I bought two of Meg's books that she was selling and donating a portion of the proceeds to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. 

I bought one of the books for my friend, Brittany(9 year AML surviivor) who is graduating from college next Wednesday.  Something her doctors never said she would do.  I love it when doctors are wrong.

I shook Meg's hand and thanked her for sharing her story and I asked her if I could give her a hug as well.  She said sure, "I love hugs".   I have learned to love hugging. 

I left the meeting feeling inspired, hopeful, grateful.

What inspired you today?

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