Possibility 5K

"I dwell in possibility"~Emily Dickinson

On Sunday July 22, Colorado Youth at risk dedicated the 2012 Possibility 5K to the  Possibility of ending violence in our community.  


You can learn more about Colorado Youth at Risk by clicking here. 

My wife gave this event life.  It is her vision to raise awareness for this agency and attract new mentors to this program.

Sue and I have both mentored young people for Colorado Youth at Risk.  Sue is a super volunteer for Colorado Youth at Risk.  She has worn many different hats as a mentor, a small group leader and a community coach.  She has such a passion for the young people that she is serves.

One of the things that we both saw as a possibility for Colorado Youth at Risk was to be able to introduce CYAR to the running community.

Runners know what it means to show up for a race, for their training partners, for their community.

A friend of ours is a new runner was looking for 5K races to run.  She found our race on the Active.Com website and chose the Possibility 5K because she has a heart for working with young people.

She went to a creating promise tour meeting to learn more about becoming a mentor.  She made the commitment to mentor a young person for the next program that will start in the fall.

Sue and I are thrilled beyond words because this is exactly what we thought could be possible with this event.

Our friend wore this on front of her race shirt to honor those we lost during the latest violence in our community.  I know she will be an awesome mentor.

Runners do whatever it takes to get to the finish line.  The might  even pick someone up along the way!

"It rocks you hard, but you have to take a step back, look at all of these horrible things that have happened lately and choose to make a difference."Sam Granillo, Columbine High school survivor. 


What will you choose to make a difference?  What possibility will be born from your choice? 

Denver Bronco Junior Cheerleaders!

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We Are Aurora

Hey twitter! You get it first! We Are Aurora tribute t-shirt! @DnDenver@DSNAdam @JIDAdvertising #WeAreAurora http://5280shirtshop.com 

Well Twitter got the breaking news about the Aurora tribute t-shirt from 5280 Shirt Shop.  If you read this and are on Twitter, please help spread the news.  I would love to see this go viral.  Social media can be so powerful.  Please do what you can to help raise awareness about this.

Please visit 5280 shirt shop by clicking here and place your order for your own We Are Aurora t-shirt. I already ordered a shirt for myself and for my wife, Sue.

100% of the profits for each shirt sold will be donated to the families and survivors of the Aurora shootings last week.

Last Friday my son Adam and his co-host Dario hosted a poignant show on Mile High Sports where there was no conversation about sports.  It was an open forum for people to call in and talk about the shootings at the Century 16 theater in Aurora last week.

Adam and Dario both grew up in Aurora and within a mile of the theater and they both felt the urgency to do something to contribute to the healing in the community, to help the families and everyone that has been touched by this horrific tragedy.

They partnered with James Hernandez the owner of 5280 Shirt Shop and Just Incredible Design to create the Aurora tribute shirt.  5280 Shirt Shop is Dario's and Adam's first sponsor of their radio show, Denver Sports Nation.

Adam and Dario are also working on another fundraiser where many other radio talk show hosts and their fans  will be joining Denver Sports Nation to attend a showing of the Dark Knight rises where we take our community back, unafraid and united in our support.

We are Aurora!

Light and Love x Aurora x forever ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

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The Stories we have to tell

These are the lives we have to learn about, read about so we can tell their stories.

Photo courtesy of  http://carlymarieprojectheal.com

As time passes the lives that were lost at the Century 16 theater's will fade from our memories. 

Books will be written about the shooter, everyone will have an opinion.

Gun control, assault weapons.  What was the founding father's intent for the second amendment?  The debate will rage on and lives will be lost again to assault weapons.

Senator Romney and Governor Hickenlooper both said that stricter gun laws would not have made a difference.  The outcome would have been the same.  There is no way to know if that is the true.  They do not know that to be true.   I think that is an outrageous statement.  Why bother?  Do nothing and hope for the best. Our elected officials in action.  

Lets do everything we can to keep the memories alive of those that were lost on July 20.

Read their stories, learn about their lives.  Read them, share their stories over and over again.

Every person that died deserves to have their stories told by the media, by us.  Every life matters.

Please read the story about Alex Sullivan by clicking the link here.  Talk to your spouse, your children, your friends about Alex.  Share his life.

I will post something every year on the anniversary date of the shootings just as I do on April 20 to remember Columbine.  I will never mention the shooter of either of these events by their name.

Please take the time to learn about the people that we lost by clicking the link here.  Our world is worse now without them.

My son, Adam went to high school with Micayla Medek.   Please take the time to read about Micayla.

When the conversation moves to the shooter, lets stop and say, "Let me tell you something about Alex Sullivan, Alex Teves, John Larimer, Veronica Moser-Sullivan, Jessica Redfield, Micayla Medek, AJ Boik, Jesse Childress, Matt Mcquinn, Jonn Blunk, Rebecca Wingo and Gordon Cowden.  Let me tell you about their lives."

It is our honor and our sacred duty to share their stories. 

We are Aurora!

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Wordless Wednesday

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We are Aurora, Colorado

View of Mount Evans from Aurora, Colorado

We are Aurora, Colorado. 


This is my home.  I raised my family here. 


This is my community. 


We live a mile from the Century 16 theaters. 


I got a text message from my son at 3:09 am on Thursday morning. 


"Just saw the new Batman movie in Parker.  There was a mass shooting at Century 16.  I almost went there...Wow."


"You really can't take life for granted.  I love you all."


Adam had been invited by two groups of friends to attend the midnight release of the new Batman movie.  


He chose to go with the group in Parker.  


Six of his friends went to Century 16.  They had seats in Theater eight.  


The killer chose Theater nine.  His friends made it out of the theater okay. 


Twelve people in theater nine did not. 


Adam found out while he was on the air Friday night that a classmate of his from high school(Micayla Medek)  was one of the twelve people that had not made it out of theater nine. 


Adam and his co-host Dario went on the air last night on Mile High Sports to serve a grieving community.  There was no talk about sports last night.  There will be another day for that.  They provided an open forum for people to talk about the shootings, to begin a long slow healing process.  The tone of the show was perfect, respectful, hopeful.  


I was so proud of Adam and Dario last night.  I am so grateful that my son is safe.  My heart aches for those who lost their sons and daughters. 


Tomorrow, my daughter Laura and I will be running in the Possibility 5K.  We will run carrying the Colorado state flag. 

 Tomorrow's race will be dedicated to the possibility of ending violence in our community, in our world. 


I don't want to refer to the people that lost their lives as victims.  They went to the theater to enjoy a midnight release of a much anticipated movie.   They went to the theater at midnight.  They couldn't wait.  They were excited. They were choosing life.  Let it rip!  That is not how a victim lives their life.   They are the winner's. 


Here's to the winners...


Jessica Redfield was an aspiring sports writer in her mid-20s who had narrowly escaped another mass shooting in Toronto just last month.


Alex Sullivan was at the movie as part of this 27th birthday celebration. Sunday was to be his wedding anniversary.


Matt McQuinn was killed while trying to provide cover for his girlfriend, a family spokesman said.


Petty Officer Third Class John Larimer was a U.S. Navy sailor from Crystal Lake, Ill.

Micayla Medek is among the dead, her father's cousin, Anita Busch, told the AP.


AJ Boik graduated from Gateway High School this year where he played baseball, a family spokesman said.


Jesse Childress was injured in the shooting and died at the hospital.

He was a reservist with the Air Force and worked as a cyber-systems operator at Buckley Air Force Base.


John Blunk, "He always talked about if he were going to die, he wanted to die a hero," his estranged wife, Chantel Blunk, told NBC News. Blunk was at the movie with a friend who credited him with saving her life.


Veronica Moser-Sullivan is was just 6 years old. Veronica's mother, Ashley, 25, was wounded in the attack and lies paralyzed in a nearby hospital, authorities said.

Alex Teves' father, Tom Teves, told ABC News that his son had blocked his girlfriend from a bullet when he was shot and killed himself.


Rebecca Wingo was 32, the coroner reported. Wingo grew up in Quinlan, Texas, about 65 miles east of Dallas. She graduated from Ford High School. Her friends say she was funny and always cracking jokes.


Gordon W. Cowden was 51, the coroner reported.


We are Aurora, Colorado. 


We are Platte Canyon High School


We are Columbine


This is my home, my community. 


In the words of Emily Keyes, ""I love u guys. K?"

Get back to living.  Let it Rip!!!  That's how the winner's lived their lives.  Let's get after it.

Light and Love x Aurora, Colorado x forever...

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Light and Love and meeting a friend

I finally got to meet one of my favorite people in the world last week. A special friend, a special person.

Our paths almost crossed in London a year ago.  We both saw Les Miserables, one night apart.  We were both in the London Theater district for two nights, different plays, different theater's. Over 5,000 miles from home and we were probably one minute, one turn from bumping into each other.

We didn't realize we were both in London until after I left for Paris.

A friendship that began when my friend clicked on a link written by another friend about Kelly's passing at the age of 19.

Kelly with her transplant donor, Emily.  February 2008.

She  wrote my friend to get my e-mail address.  She wrote to ask me if she could wear Kelly's name on the back of her Team in Training jersey for a marathon she would run in October.  I found her e-mail in my inbox the morning we got home from Cut Bank, after laying Kelly to rest. 

We became good friends, sharing a bond of love for our team heroes, our angels.  Shared a dream of a world without blood cancer.

Shayna and Cathie at Team In Training Inspiration Dinner

Shayna's team hero Laiken passed away 37 days after Kelly at the age of 13.

Kelly and Laiken are our connectors.

The tag line at the end of every post  on my blog ends with Light and Love x 19 x forever.  Light and Love is Shayna's tag line. I borrowed it.

When we write to each other, we end with Light and Love x 13 or Light and Love x 19,  always end with Light and Love for Laiken and Kelly, for each other.

We have been waiting over four years to be able to hug each other.  Shanya was on an epic road trip with her son, California to Chicago and points beyond.  Denver was one of their stops.  She took the time to call me.

I can't describe the what I felt when as we were finally able embrace.  It was worth the wait, a hug filled with tears and laughter.

We talked for almost two hours.  I savored every moment, not wanting to say good-bye.

Thank you Shayna for your friendship and the love and light you bring to my life x 13 x 19 x forever!

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