Behind the Mask with Cassandra Perkins

I had the honor last week of being a guest on Cassandra Perkins radio show(Behind the Mask)  last week along with an all star cast of guests,  Woody Roseland, Brittany Ross and Christa Black.

It was my first time on the radio.   I was a bit nervous at the start, but once we got going I had a great time.

Cassie's first guest was Woody Roseland who is a five time cancer survivor, stand up comedian and inspirational speaker who is currently running for Man of the Year for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Woody lost his leg to bone cancer and he has not let that stop him or define him. You are not your cancer!   He rides his bike across the country in an effort to raise money for cancer research.

Brittany Ross shared her story of being diagnosed with A.M.L at the age of 15 and was given three weeks to live.  Brittany is now 28 and will be getting married in September of this year.

Christa Black shared a very powerful story. You can read more about Christa by clicking here. 

What was really cool about the radio show, was every speaker shared a story of hope.

If you are interested you can listen to the  entire podcast by clicking here.    Be sure and check out Cassie's show and follow this young woman who continues to inspire me as she makes a difference in the world.

I love this young woman for who she is in the world, for what she stands for. She is a champion of hope.

Check out Cassie's Tedx talk she gave last year. WOW!!!

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A Night in New York, Cassandra Rocking Cancer

May 19, 2012 was the grand finale of the Leukemia and Lymphoma's Society Man and Woman of the Year event.

Getting ready to rock blood cancers

It was wonderful evening, filled with hope and inspiration. 

The fourteen men and women who took on this challenge to make a difference in the fight against blood cancers, raised over $280,000.

Marc Paolicelli,, 2nd from left, Kelly Barr-Orr,3rd from right, Man & Woman of the Year

The boy and girl of the year stole the show as the candidates walked across the stage to receive a hand made gift made by Jack and Taylor.

I thought Cassandra looked absolutely stunning in her dress.  She told me she was nervous, but it never showed.

I am so proud of this young woman, for who she is in the world.

I am so grateful that she came into my life, that we are friends.

I don't know what the ripple effect will be of Cassandra's efforts.  Who else will be inspired by what she is doing?

Who else will see this as a call to action, to get involved, to make a difference?

Cassandra met the son of a current board member at the Man and Woman of the Year Kickoff event. Michael(16 years old) is a confirmed candidate for next years campaign. Ripple #1.

Cassandra, Ralph and Michael

I introduced Cassandra to Rick Peterson who was sitting at our table.  Rick, a former president of our chapter board of trustees was blown away by Cassandra.  His mouth dropped when I told him she was fifteen and a freshmen in high school.

Rick's daughter is a cancer survivor.  Allison was a girl of the year for our chapter.  She has graduated from high school and is now attending nursing school.

Rick told me he now wants Allison to run as a woman of the year candidate for the Rocky Mountain Chapter.after she finishes college. He had never thought about that as a possibility before for Allison.  Ripple #2.

What ripple effect will Cassandra have in the lives of Taylor and Jack?

What will it mean for my friend Brittany to have Cassandra in her life?

Cassandra and Brittany(11  year AML survivor)

I would be remiss if I didn't take a moment to recognize two people who contributed greatly to the richness of this journey for both Cassandra and myself.  Two incredibly compassionate and loving women.  The world needs your art.

Thanks to Kim Mailhot(A.K.A the Rock Fairy) for donating her time and talent and spreading love into a world that so needs her message.  "Love is the answer to every question."~Kim Mailhot

Thanks to Laurie Maves for donating her time and talent in creating a beautiful painting she made for Cassandra that was auctioned off at the gala.

Friends sharing a special moment

Ralph,  Cassandra, Laurie and Dustin

For me one of the things that I hoped would come out of this campaign would be in planting seeds of inspiration.     That other young people could see what was possible when you say yes to a challenge, when you say yes to your own life.

I hope that message is heard and understood by everyone.  Everyone can serve, everyone can make a difference.  You just have to take that first step.  Follow your heart.

I knew Cassandra already was living a life of service before I asked her to run as a woman of the year candidate for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Cassie, thanks so much for believing that we can create a world without cancer, for standing in that space of creation and possibility.  Thanks for your courage, your compassion, your kindness. The world needs this. The world needs you to be you!

 A heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.  How does it get any better than that?

"Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."~Martin Luther King

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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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28 Days of Love: Day 1

I saw on Facebook this morning that my friends from 30 days of Thanks and 31 Days of Wishes have started a new series this month called 28 Days of Love.

Please check it out and join in the fun of spreading love in your life and in the world.

I went to a Team in Training information meeting tonight to honor my love for Kelly, for Laiken, for Brittany and  for so many people that I love who have had their lives touched by cancer. 

"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love".-Mother Teresa.

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31 Days of Wishes: Day 12

Nine years ago today my friend Brittany was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia(AML) shortly before her 16th birthday.

Later that month, Kelly suffered a relapse of Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia(ALL) shortly before her 12th birthday.

Brittany wasn't expected to ever make it out of the hospital, wasn't expected to see her 16th birthday.

I spoke at a Team in Training information meeting the day before Kelly turned 12 with my heart breaking as I didn't know if she would have any more birthdays.

Two young lives whose lives and their families turned upside down.

Both determined, both fighters, courageous, inspirational, loving, kind, gentle...

Kelly and Sarah at graduation

Nine years later, Brittany still lives with the pain, shock and fear of that day. 

Tonight Sue, Laura, Brittany and I will go to a Team in Training event to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society.  

Brittany is the team hero for the Rocky Mountain Chapter just as Kelly was.

Brittany creates the possibility in her life of a world without blood cancer.  A world where no one has to hear the words, "you have cancer".

We fight on to honor Kelly's life and to make a stand for everyone that is touched by this disease.

My wish for today  and everyday is for Brittany's dream to come true.

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30 days of Thanks: Day 11

Today I am thankful for:

For being asked to speak at the last minute at the Team in Training kickoff meeting.

For a very special moment Brittany and I shared with each other at the end of my talk.

For being able to talk about my love for Kelly.

For the gratitude I feel in my heart.

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Adventures with Brittany

Interesting things seem to happen when Brittany and I get together.

At the Light the Night walk in 2008, we were going to walk together and right before the walk, we got separated and we were never able to find each other.

I had planned a bon-voyage party for her last year before she left for Florida. I reserved a large room at CB&Potts. I sent out an Evite and had about 10 confirmed people and no one showed up other than my family, Laura's boyfriend and his cousin.

We sat there for 3 hours waiting. I thought she would never speak to me again after that.

At this years Light the Night walk, we started off walking together and then got separated when I tried to go back and get Sue and Keegan. Sue had bought a stroller that didn't have front wheels and that turned out to be quite the adventure. We tried to catch up and then Sue told me to go on ahead and see if I could find her. I never did. I finally saw Brittany again about 1/4 mile short of the end of the walk. She had managed to have a good time walking with some of my colleagues at work and had also talked one of my co-workers into doing the Lake Tahoe Century ride with Team in Training next June. Brittany is relentless for a cure!

Last night, Brittany and I went to see Wicked at the Denver Center for performing arts. It was a totally amazing experience. The show is so powerful and moving. WOW!

We walked back to my car, got turned around a couple of times finally making back to the parking garage only to discover in horror that the garage was closed for the night.

I couldn't believe it. She just laughed about it. She told me "it is always an adventure when we get together".

Brittany seems to love me in spite of these misadventures. Brittany is another person that appreciates the gifts in life, even the unplanned ones.

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Moab Century ride

Last Saturday,  I completed my third century ride with Team in Training and my seventeenth event with TNT since I first started running for Kelly in 1999.

Sue, Laura and I headed out for Moab on Thursday afternoon with my Fuji bike safely packed in the trunk. Adam wasn't able to come as he had to work.

Friday morning, Laura and I went out for a quick run where we saw some rocks, red rocks.

Later that morning we had our last workout before the century ride. We did a 30 mile ride where we saw some rocks, red rocks.

We headed off to the the TNT inspiration dinner. There was a slide show that ran continously of our heroes and angels. There were probably 30-40 different pictures on the slide show. The minute we walked into the room, Kelly's picture was the first one we saw.

As I was standing in line at the buffet I felt my heart breaking again for Kelly, for Laiken.  There were other pictures of young people on the slide show.  It is so sad and infuriating at the same time .

The Rocky Mountain chapter was one of six chapters attending this event.  Combined the six chapters had raised $350,000 to support the mission of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!

Saturday morning we gathered in the darkness outside our hotel waiting for the start.  We rolled off at 7:05 with a police escort for 125 Team in Training cyclists.  It was already warm when we started.   That was not a good sign.

We rolled out of town and immediately started climbing.  The first part of the climb was fairly flat giving us a chance to get our legs underneath us before the road turned uphill too steeply.

I had a weird conversation with my cycling coach.  He told me I was riding my bike like a triathlete.  I asked him what that meant.  He said I was riding like I wanted to get from the swim to the run.  I wasn't quite sure what to do with that piece of advice 45 minutes into a ride I had been in training for five months so I filed it away for the time being.

After the first aid station, I caught up with another group of my teammates and one of our other coaches, so I just tucked in behind the last cyclist and let the coach set the pace for our small group.

We saw a sign that told us the first climb of the day was upon us.  The Little Nasty as it is affectionately called or maybe not so affectionately.

I was riding with Andres Pedraza who was a collegaue of mine on the Board of Trustees for the Rocky Mountain chapter.   I was riding in front of him as we started the climb up the Little Nasty.  He told me he liked having me in front of him as the pictures I had pinned on the back of my jersey were helping him stay motivated.  I told Andres I had lots of reasons to be riding.  Here are four of them.

My heroes and angels.

Brittany-24

Alyson-5

Kelly

Laiken

Parts of this climb have a 14% elevation grade.  Ouch! 

I actually got in a good rhythm during this portion of the climb.  I was in the correct gear on my bike and made it to the top of the first climb fairly easily.

It was a neat moment for me as I was able to lead Andres on this first climb and was able to get a good picture of him during the final moments of his ascent on the Little Nasty.

Smooth pedaling.

No worries!

Great music, pulling you up the hill.

Who the heck are you?

We left the summit of the Little Nasty and encountered the next sign called Tom's Misery named after a friend of the race director who was quite miserable when he found out he wasn't done climbing and there was much more to come.

We encountered a sign called the Launch pad and then we saw the sign announcing we were about to start the climb up the "Big Nasty". 

So our group decided we better commerate this moment in the true pioneer spirit.

Rocky Mountain TNT mocks the Big Nasty!

Like many things in life, the fear I had of being able to climb the Big Nasty were overblown.  I didn't fall off my bike.  I didn't have to stop and walk.  Some of the climbs I had done in Colorado were much harder.

There was one stretch where the road looked incredibly steep and so long.   I remember feeling very afraid  and I asked Kelly to stay with me during for the rest of the climb and I felt her presence as I have so many times before and we rode to the top of the Big Nasty together.

After the Big Nasty there was still many more miles of climbing to be done.  The next stretch was called the Stairway to Heaven.

Finally after 30 miles, we were about to start our first descent.   As always, that wasn't much fun for me and was even worse than normal as the road was really torn up and there was lots of loose gravel to try and navigate around.   My wrists were aching by the time I finally got to the bottom of this descent.  It was quite treacherous, lots of sharp switchbacks and the gravel that was all over the road.  What a relief to finally hit a nice long straight section with a nice gentle descent.

When I got to the TNT aid station, I caught up with Andres again and we set off on a long out and back section that had lots of rolling hills and zero shade for 18 miles.  It was really hot at this point and it didn't seem like we were ever going to get the turnaround point.

The return part was even worse.  The sun was beating down on us.   I had to let Andres go,  I couldn't stay with him.

When I got back to the TNT aid station, I was in bad shape.  I was dehydrated, and think I may have had some heat exhaustion.  Looking back now, I realize as hot as it was I had stopped sweating.  I felt awful. The people at the aid station were very worried about me and wouldn't let me leave without having someone else to ride with.   I sat in the shade for 45 minutes, drank two full bottles of Gatorade. 

The last 15 miles were a blur.  I couldn't drink any more water.  The sun continued to beat down.  I couldn't do anything, so as best as I could I pedaled on.

We stopped 2 miles short of the finish line to wait for the rest of our chapter so we could finish as a team.

I sat in the shade for another 30 minutes, one of my teammates gave me the last of her powerade.  That seemed to help a little.

Finally we were off and finished the ride as a team.

It was ironic that the part of the ride I was so fearful of wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  It was the last 50 miles of rolling hills and the heat that had done me in.  

My Garmin said I had only rode 98+ miles, not 100.  I didn't care.  I didn't tack on the extra mileage to get to 100.

I got off my bike and walked back to the hotel with Sue and Laura. 

I haven't been back on my bike since,

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Brittany and Brandan fight on

Brandan went on his Make-A-Wish trip last week to go on a Disney cruise with his family.

My friend Brittany who is a 8 1/2 year AML survivor was able to spend some time with Brandan before they left and I suspect she may have spoiled him just a little bit.

I think this is pretty cool. Two of the heroes that I ride for, run for, spending some time together.

Brandan has a rare and dangerous form of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. He has a long and difficult road ahead of him, so please keep Brandan and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

I met Brandan for the first time at the Team in Training Winter kickoff last year. Brandan is about the same age as my great nephew Keegan. So hard to imagine how different their young lives are.

I am so excited for this Thursday to arrive. Brittany is moving back to Denver! I am going to meet her at the airport and if time allows we will run over to the Mile High Station for the Denver Light the Night kickoff celebration.

Brittany is an avid volunteer for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. When she was in Orlando, I don't know how many events she went to for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, in addition to the time she spent volunteering at Give kids the World. Every time she has a chance to volunteer, raise awareness, give something back to the cancer community she is there.

Brittany and her family have raised over 100,000 through the Team in Training program.

Relentless for a cure and Brittany go hand in hand.

It is going to be great to have her back in Colorado and have her lend her passion and support to the Rocky Mountain Chapter.

Game on!

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TNT Group ride-Elephant Rock Metric Century course

TNT training ride on Saturday followed the Elephant Rock Metric Century ride course.

We did some pace line training. It is really cool if you can grab the wheel of the rider in front of you. Saves so much energy as you can draft is you stay close enough. Requires constant communication and trust with the people you are riding with. It is very powerful and also a bit unnerving. To do this correctly the front wheel of the bike you are riding should be right next to the rear wheel of the bike in front of you. This was our first pace line ride of the year so the gaps are a bit too far apart to get the benefit.


Rode up and down some rolling hills towards Palmer Lake.


Made sure that everyone was properly hydrated including Brian(Our sag wagging support :)


Andres got up after taking a nasty fall in the gravel. Andres is a board member for the Rocky Mountain chapter. Andres cut his leg, will have a good case of road rash, hurt his elbow and wrist on the fall. It is always unsettling to see a rider go down. Hope he is okay today.

We had our largest group ride of the season. 27 cyclists!

We have three cancer survivors riding on the team. One of the survivors is the Colorado Springs coach! Very cool to have them out providing additional inspiration to us.

The ride this week was not nearly as hard as last weeks ride. My legs did not feel very good again today. I had not been on my bike since Monday so I took it fairly easy today. My heart rate skyrocketed during the first climb of the day. I backed off the intensity and spent a lot more time trying to relax on the bike and spin at a higher cadence to try and keep my legs fresher.

I actually felt pretty good during the last climb of the day. I was pleasantly surprised when I got to the top of Tomah Road and started to descend. I even managed to enjoy the descent. I remembered a tip my cycling coach from the 2003 season gave me and it really helped me feel like I had better control. Thanks, Gary!

2 weeks from Saturday is the Copper Triangle. 3 mountain passes, 78 miles and 5,900 feet of climbing.

9 weeks to the Moab Century and the encounter with the Big Nasty. 30 miles of climbing right out of the start....

I hope I will be ready. I am very nervous about the first part of the race. I have plenty of inspiration and reasons to ride. My heroes and my angels will pull me to the top.

For all of us involved in this fight to find a cure, the truth is that it will not happen soon enough.

I found out when I got home on Saturday that another angel had earned his wings. Please keep the Lindgren family in your thoughts and prayers.

"When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight".- Kahlil Gibran

My heart breaks again for some I don't know. The battle rages on.

For now I will continue to pedal. I wish I could do more...

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Thoughts on 7-11 Day

I drove down to Colorado Springs on Saturday to ride with the group of people that trains out of that area for the Moab Century ride on September 19, 2009.

It was an amazing day, great scenery, with some very challenging climbs. Coach Dale told me that some of the climbs we did today were harder than what the Big Nasty climb in Moab will be.

We started off doing a few miles on a bike trail before heading towards the west side of town.

I stopped and took this picture during the first really descent of the day. A lot of times when I ride I don't take the time to notice my surroundings.

A few climbs later and we headed towards Garden of the Gods. Pikes Peak is in the background which was the inspiration for America the Beautiful...

We started the climb up the Garden of the Gods road and were treated to some amazing scenery. The rock on the left of the photo seems to be suspended in mid air. Gorgeous.We continued down the road, enjoying some awesome scenery. I wish I could have taken more pictures. It was just amazing.

We headed off towards Seven Falls and Dale told us this next part of the ride would be a nice steady climb. He told me to go on ahead as he was going to do the ascent with Bonnie and Jetta. Just keep going up to you get to a dirt road and then you just turn around. Sounded easy enough.

NOT!

Parts of this climb were so steep that I almost fell off my bike into a ditch. I could barely stay upright.

I saw a parking lot in the distance and hoped that this was where I would find the dirt road and be able to turn around. I was sorely disappointed as I passed the parking lot the road turned up into some steep switchbacks.

The sun was absolutely beating down mercilessly at this point. I looked at my Garmin watch and thought I could run faster than I am riding. I was mashing the pedals, not spinning. Oh my gosh this is hard. How much longer to the top? The hairpin turns continued and finally I saw what appeared to be another parking lot. Straight up for another quarter of a mile and I see a dirt path. I was at the top. HOORAY!!!

I got off my bike to wait for the others to join me and my legs were shaking. I felt like I was about to fall over my legs felt so rubbery.

I saw Coach Dale. Jetta and Bonnie had stopped at the parking lot by the waterfall at Seven Falls and he had rode up to join me.

We stopped and took a couple of pictures and started back down. Naturally the sun went behind a cloud. It was now cool, overcast. I would have given anything for that during the last three miles. Dale told us later that we had climbed 2,000 feet over the last 3 miles which is even steeper than the climb of the Big Nasty in Moab.

We were back down where Bonnie and Jetta has stopped in the blink of an eye. It was kind of a scary descent for me. The switchbacks are so sharp you have to be really careful not to overshoot and end up flying off the edge of the road or veering to far to the left into the path of a car coming up the other side.

Dale cajoled Bonnie and Jetta to finish the climb. Somewhat reluctantly, but being good sports they accepted the challenge. I decided to ride back up with them and off we went.

It was Deja Vu all over again as I struggled up the steepest switchback. I made it to the top in time to be able to snap a picture of Jetta and Bonnie as they launched up the road to the finish.
Back down we went towards the waterfall and being in tourist mode and wanting to capture the day, I stopped and took a picture. Gorgeous. I love waterfalls and the sound of water!


During the last part of the descent, it began to rain to add to the challenge as now the roads were wet making braking even more difficult.

We continued on our tour and headed off towards the Broadmoor Hotel where at a very busy intersection we watched a deer wait patiently at a 4 way stop sign where she safely crossed the road and scampered into the trees.

We continued past the historic Broadmoor East course, build by Donald Ross where Jack Nicklaus won the 1958 U.S. Amateur and arrived at the roundabout entrance to the famous Broadmoor Hotel where we were eyed suspiciously by the security guards.

We turned and headed back to the bike shop where we had started the ride from.

Total distance today was only 46.4 miles which included over 3,000 feet of climbing.

I began the day thinking about Megan Dickey and Patti Kaufman who both passed away on 7-11 day one year apart. Meagan in 2007 at the age of 13, Patti last year.

I remember during one stretch of a hard section of climbing, thinking of all the people I was riding for, why I am riding. How many times did I lean on Kelly to get me through a bad patch of running or get me to the top of a climb? I miss her so much and I cry for just a moment.

I am grateful that I can ride for her and keep her memory and my love for her alive. I am grateful for the love I feel for Laiken and the people that she has brought into my life, Shanya, Stacey, Donna, people I have not met, but people I care about. I am grateful that I can ride for Brittany, Trista, Mason, Brandan and my latest little hero, Alyson in the hopes that a cure for all cancers will be found someday soon.

Till that day, I will keep pedaling, keep running, for my heroes and for my angels.

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Oh no, IMADEAMESS

My two year great nephew Keegan gave me the title to my post. I thought that was fitting as I have the emotional stability of a two year old right now.

Brittany left me the nicest message on my cell phone today and I have been crying ever since I listened to it.

Brittany is going to featured speaker at a black tie gala fund raiser for the LLS chapter in Orlando on Saturday.

She went shopping at the Magic Kingdom today and bought an Eeyore stuffed animal. She plans on carrying Eeyore with her all day tomorrow to honor Kelly and will put Eeyore next to her on the podium on Saturday and share with the audience that Kelly is her inspiration for the night.

I am crying as I type this. I can't explain how much that has touched me. Brittany shares an unbreakable bond with Kelly and for her to honor Kelly and keep her memory alive in this way....

I don't know what to say.

I know Brittany will keep fighting for Kelly. It is such an honor for me to know such amazing people.

Please take a minute to watch this message to cancer here

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Angels, Heroes and Eeyore

I woke up last Tuesday feeling very sad as the one year anniversary of Kelly’s passing was a week away.

I felt like I was managing my emotions fairly well and had been trying to stay upbeat for the most part. I had even planned a Saint Patrick’s day get together with the South Denver TNT group to celebrate Kelly's life.

Yet as I started off to work, I felt overwhelmed with sadness. I even posted my status message on Facebook , I was getting a head start on feeling sad about next week.

As I was driving to work I thought about another team hero of mine, Brittany Ross. I thought about callng her next Tuesday. I just knew I would feel better if I could hear her voice. While the thought of calling her made me happy, I started to cry. Happy and sad at the same moment.

I kept Brittany in my thoughts the rest of the day. I found some comfort there.

Later that afternoon, Brittany had sent out a text message asking for everyone to let her know their favorite Disney character, and to leave the message for her on Facebook.

I was so happy to hear from her and sent her a request to add me as her friend on Facebook.

It was really amazing to me as I had been thinking about Brittany for much of the day. I was so down. Did she somehow sense I needed to hear from her?

This was something I had experienced many times with Kelly. I would be feeling discouraged and when I would get home there would be an e-mail from Kelly in my in-box. My heart would leap when I saw her name. This wasn’t something that happened just once. It was uncanny. She always seemed to know when I needed to hear from her.

Last fall right before the Denver marathon, I got a package in the mail from Kelly’s parents. They wanted me to have something of Kelly’s to treasure, to inspire. Don and Patty thought the marathon was the follwing week and for some reason they went back to my website to double check the date. I am sure that Kelly nudged them to check that. Don and Patty sent the package through FedEX overnight service. Kelly knew I needed to hear from her.

My hero, now my angel, forever my hero.

Brittany and I had an amazing chat via Facebook later that night. I told her that my favorite Disney character was Eeyore. That was also Kelly’s favorite character. Kelly told me that the very first time we ever talked on the phone.

Brittany now lives in Orlando, Florida and works for the Walt Disney company. Brittany is going to recruit Eeyore to be on the Light the Night team next fall. I know Kelly will like that.

Brittany shared this with me the other night.

So I wanted to do something in Kelly's memory and I was over at Walgreens yesterday and I was looking at IPOD holders for my IPOD and I found one with Eeyore on it and since you had told me that Eeyore was her favorite character, I decided to get it. I take my IPOD with me everywhere I go, and that way no matter where I am or what I am doing, a piece of her is with me all the time.

My angels and heroes. Even Eeyore has to smile about that.

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Celebrating with Brittany

Today Brittany Ross is celebrating 8 years of being in remission!

Brittany was diagnosed shortly before her sweet 16 birthday. It was a miracle she lived to see that birthday.

She was told she wouldn't graduate from high school, would never be able to attend college.

I think Brittany reacted to this challenge the same way Han Solo did in the Empire Strikes Back when told that the odds against successfully navigating an asteroid field were approximately 3,720 to 1.

"Never tell me the odds". Who does she remind me of?

So today, I celebrate along with Brittany.

I celebrate her friendship, the unconditional support she has given me. Brittany has been such an important part of my healing process this year.

I celebrate her health and her future as she begins a new and exciting part of her life.

I celebrate the hope that she gives me, to all of this who are in this fight to find a cure.

Keep celebrating Brittany, forever and always.

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