Living the dream

Twenty two years ago on June 29,  I became a father for the second time.

I hope someday that I will be as good of a man as my son is.

Wrigley Field Tour, June 2012

When Adam graduated from high school one of his dreams was to either pursue an acting career on Broadway or pursue a career in sports broadcasting.  One of Adam's dreams was to someday be on Sports Center and replace Chris Berman.  Look out Boomer! He could go all the waaaaayyyyyyy!

I have watched with pride and amazement as Adam has begun to live his dream at the age of 22.   Adam is a co-host of a local radio show, Denver Sports Nation on Mile High Sports(1510 AM, 93.7 FM) on Saturday nights from 5-8.

Next week he and his partner Dario will fill in for Mac and Doog during drive time(3-6) on July 5 and July 6.

During one of their shows they will be joined by  two time Super Bowl winner and the Denver Broncos greatest running back in the history of the franchise, Terell Davis!  How cool is that?

If you haven't had a chance to check out their show, please tune in some time.  Adam and Dario have great on-air chemistry.  They are funny and they are having so much fun doing something they love.

Happy Birthday Adam!  I am so proud of you for the person you are and I am so inspired that you are living your dream and making it happen.

"Follow your bliss and the Universe will open doors where there were only walls."-Joesph Campbell

Tweet

Say Yes!

This weeks writing class is about igniting our passion.

I love this reading from Andrea Gibson.  Watch her come alive.  Very powerful.

So here is to saying YES to life.

Saying yes to life like Kelly did.  Choosing the life you have.

Saying yes to making a difference to somebody, somewhere in the world as Cassie is doing in her life every day.

"never go a second hushing the percussion of your heart
play loud."~Andrea Gibson

How are you saying yes to your life?  What will you do to play loud?

Say Yes by Andrea Gibson

when two violins are placed in a room
if a chord on one violin is struck
the other violin will sound the note
if this is your definition of hope
this is for you
the ones who know how powerful we are
who know we can sound the music in the people around us
simply by playing our own strings
for the ones who sing life into broken wings
open their chests and offer their breath
as wind on a still day when nothing seems to be moving
spare those intent on proving god is dead
for you when your fingers are red
from clutching your heart
so it will beat faster
for the time you mastered the art of giving yourself for the sake of someone else
for the ones who have felt what it is to crush the lies
and lift truth so high the steeples bow to the sky
this is for you
this is also for the people who wake early to watch flowers bloom
who notice the moon at noon on a day when the world
has slapped them in the face with its lack of light
for the mothers who feed their children first
and thirst for nothing when they’re full

this is for women
and for the men who taught me only women bleed with the moon
but there are men who cry when women bleed
men who bleed from women’s wounds
and this is for that moon
on the nights she seems hung by a noose
for the people who cut her loose
and for the people still waiting for the rope to burn
about to learn they have scissors in their hands

this is for the man who showed me
the hardest thing about having nothing
is having nothing to give
who said the only reason to live is to give ourselves away
so this is for the day we’ll quit or jobs and work for something real
we’ll feel for sunshine in the shadows
look for sunrays in the shade
this is for the people who rattle the cage that slave wage built
and for the ones who didn’t know the filth until tonight
but right now are beginning songs that sound something like
people turning their porch lights on and calling the homeless back home

this is for all the shit we own
and for the day we’ll learn how much we have
when we learn to give that shit away
this is for doubt becoming faith
for falling from grace and climbing back up
for trading our silver platters for something that matters
like the gold that shines from our hands when we hold each other

this is for the grandmother who walked a thousand miles on broken glass
to find that single patch of grass to plant a family tree
where the fruit would grow to laugh
for the ones who know the math of war
has always been subtraction
so they live like an action of addition
for you when you give like every star is wishing on you
and for the people still wishing on stars
this is for you too

this is for the times you went through hell so someone else wouldn’t have to
for the time you taught a 14 year old girl she was powerful
this is for the time you taught a 14 year old boy he was beautiful
for the radical anarchist asking a republican to dance
cause what’s the chance of everyone moving from right to left
if the only moves they see are NBC and CBS
this is for the no becoming yes
for scars becoming breath
for saying i love you to people who will never say it to us
for scraping away the rust and remembering how to shine
for the dime you gave away when you didn’t have a penny
for the many beautiful things we do
for every song we’ve ever sung
for refusing to believe in miracles
because miracles are the impossible coming true
and everything is possible

this is for the possibility that guides us
and for the possibilities still waiting to sing
and spread their wings inside us
cause tonight saturn is on his knees
proposing with all of his ten thousand rings
that whatever song we’ve been singing we sing even more
the world needs us right now more than it ever has before
pull all your strings
play every chord
if you’re writing letters to the prisoners
start tearing down the bars
if you’re handing our flashlights in the dark
start handing our stars
never go a second hushing the percussion of your heart
play loud
play like you know the clouds have left too many people cold and broken
and you’re their last chance for sun
play like there’s no time for hoping brighter days will come
play like the apocalypse is only 4…3…2
but you have a drum in your chest that could save us
you have a song like a breath that could raise us
like the sunrise into a dark sky that cries to be blue
play like you know we won’t survive if you don’t
but we will if you do
play like saturn is on his knees
proposing with all of his ten thousand rings
that we give every single breath
this is for saying–yes

this is for saying–yes

Tweet

Unwrapping my Christmas Present

I finally got to unwrap the Christmas present Laura gave me in 2004.

Laura's present to me in 2004 was to run the Bolder Boulder in 2005.

Laura got really sick right before the race that year and  injuries, a trip to Cut Bank for Kelly's graduation and more injuries delayed the opening of that present.

3 weeks ago, Laura and I ran in qualifying race for the Bolder Boulder on her birthday.  Laura already had a qualifying time from her 1st Bolder Boulder last year.

We left the house at 5:15 for the drive to Bolder, caught a Run and Ride Bus to the start line with just a few minutes to spare.

Laura's wave started 11 minutes before my start.  She was probably 2K ahead of me before I started running.

This was my first Bolder Boulder in 5 years.  I had done very little training for this race and both of my calves were incredibly sore from the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic ride that I had attempted on Saturday.

I didn't really know what to expect as I started to run.  I was surprised that my calves weren't really bothering me and I didn't feel too tired from the ride on Saturday.

The first 1K of the race should be the fastest of the race as it is mostly downhill.  When I got to the 1K sign, I was dismayed that my first split of the day was 5:56.   Good grief, I can't believe how slow I have become.

It was a beautiful morning, although it was already becoming quite warm and not a cloud in the sky.  One spectator took a quick spin while enjoying a glass of wine.

                                                Heading to the 5 mile sign.

• Denver Nuggets Mascot Rocky runs the Bolder Boulder in 1:03!!!  He is an amazing athlete.

Great moment at the end of the race.  The elite men's team from Ethopia has absolutely destroyed the rest of the field during the Men's race.

Frank Shorter was doing the color commentary as we waited for the men to arrive in the stadium for the finish.   He commented that running isn't like the sport of cycling where there are agreements made in the peleton on who will win the stage for the day.   He said that all three men wanted to win the race and would eventually make their move to win the race.

When the three men entered the stadium they ran together in unison and held hands with one another.  They had raced as a team, won the team competition and finished as a team.

I found their commitment to one another to be very inspiring.  You just don't see this in sports anymore.  There is so much emphasis on winning, at any costs it was so refreshing to see this amazing gesture of sportsmanship. 

Simply Inspiring!!!

After the race, we watched the Memorial Day tribute.

It was a great day. 

I can't wait for Christmas to come again :)

Tweet

Too good not to share

Saw this posted on Facebook.

What a thrill for Liam and his Father to have!


Lance Armstrong chatting with an Eight year old boy Liam during a climb in the Swiss Alps.

Ridestrong!!!

Tweet

What calls your heart?

What calls your heart? The closing of the Rocky Mountain News yesterday serves a another reminder that when our heart calls, we should answer. Don't screen the calls from your heart, don't let it go to voice mail. Make sure that is one call you return.

I was very saddened to see the Rocky Mountain News close. I have lived in Colorado my entire life. I have been a loyal reader of the Rocky since I delivered the paper in 1972-1973.

Delivering the newspaper in an era long since gone on an indestructible bike with canvas bags to hold the newspaper. I had to go door to door every month to collect the $2.25 so I could pay the monthly invoice. I think I made around 100.00 a month before tips. Kids today don't even get the chance to have that experience. Papers are delivered by adults in cars, all the billing is done on-line and now today the voice of the Rocky is silent, 55 days short of it's 150 year anniversary.

As I read this article I was struck by the importance of the question, what calls your heart? How many of us are ready to answer that call?

Lance Armstrong is getting back on his bike answering the calling of his heart as he continues his relentless battle against cancer.

I see so many of my friends and colleagues at the Leukemia and Lymphoma society that are called by their hearts to serve. Could they make more money if they weren't working for a non profit? Absolutely, but that is not where their hearts have called them.

I see the changes in my wife as she answers what is calling her heart as she serves as a mentor in the Colorado Youth at Risk program.

My children are both in college. I hope they will know what their hearts call them to do and follow that path.

What calls your heart? Please make sure you answer.

Please take a moment to read the column. here

Tweet

You don't tug on Supermom's cape

If only it was a fair fight.

It isn’t. Yesterday another person who was just getting his toe in the water passed away after a three year battle with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.

Matthew was diagnosed on my birthday in 2005. What is it with people being diagnosed so close to Christmas? It is strange how that seems to happen so often.

One year and one day later, Kelly’s parents were calling us. Laura came downstairs to tell me excitedly that the Grubb’s were on the phone. By the time I got upstairs, Laura’s face was ashen. Kelly had relapsed. I was stunned, heartbroken. Adam and I had seen Kelly nine months earlier at her high school prom. I would never have believed her cancer could return.

She had such a sparkle in her eye.

No fair.

One of the things I find so amazing as I watch so many of these stories unfold is the unbelievable courage and compassion that the mothers of these children reveal.

There is a bond they all share with one another. Their lives have been changed forever. They have a child that has been touched by cancer.

They don’t back away from this battle. They are tireless advocates for their children, and for others that are in different parts of this journey. They follow these stories on CaringBridge or CarePages websites.

They offer their support, encouragement and prayers. They stand by each other, raising awareness, fighting for these children. These Moms’s are tough. I wouldn’t want to mess with them.

So if I could level the playing field, I would like to put these Moms in a room with cancer and see who comes out on top.

My money is on this elite group of women.

Now that I think about it, that might not be a fair fight.

Cancer, you are so out of your league.

Tweet

Kelly's friends at the Surf City marathon expo

This is a neat story of how Dane, Shanya and I are linked together through Kelly.

Dane and I became cyber friends in fall of 2006 while he was running 52 marathons in 52 weekends. We corresponded via e-mail for almost two years before we finally got a chance to meet at the Boulder marathon last September.

Dane knew Kelly was very ill and had kindly sent her a signed picture of him running for her 19th birthday. I saw the picture that Dane had sent her when I went to visit her last February. I was so touched by his kind gesture and words of encouragement he had written to Kelly.

Dane posted an article about Kelly on his blog a week after she died and seeing her name in the title caught Shayna's eye.

http://danerunsalot.blogspot.com/2008/03/kelly-grubb.html

Shayna immediately wrote Dane and asked him for my e-mail address and we have since become very good friends. We just haven't had the chance to meet each other yet. I think that when Shayna and I first meet, we will have a good cry and then I suspect we will spend a lot of time laughing.

This weekend, Dane and Shayna were both at the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach, California so now I have a picture of two of my favorite people in the world together.

I think it is so neat that the three of us are friends and even neater that we are linked together through Kelly.

Now we just all need to end up at the same marathon. What a reunion that will be!

Tweet

Being where you are supposed to be

Do you ever feel like you are doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing, that wherever you are at the moment is where you are supposed to be?

I volunteered yesterday at a Team in Training information meeting for the upcoming season.

I had picked this particular meeting a couple of weeks ago when I recognized the names of some of the other volunteers that had signed up.

My cycling coach Gary was going to be there and Desiree(Melina's mother) was going to deliver the mission moment and Sarah who was the mentor for my group last season was also going to be there to help.

Gary is one of those people that you can't help feeling good when you are around him. He is so enthusiastic about his love for the sport of cycling. I haven't seen Gary since last July when we went riding together and we just picked up where we left off.

Desiree did a fabulous job sharing her story about baby Melina. Melina almost died the first day she was diagnosed at 5 months. Her white blood cell count broke the record at Children's hospital. 1.2 million. Normal levels would be 4500-10,000. Melina kept fighting because she had more work to do.

Melina had a blood cord transplant from a donor in Milan, Italy. There was even hope she might be able to come home and then she started having trouble breathing. Melina died at the age of 10 months. Desiree so wants kids to have a chance at life and she continues to be relentless in her efforts to give kids and adults the chance to live.

Later a young gal shared something with Desiree as she was leaving the meeting. She has a friend named Alex that lives in Milan, Italy and he just had a blood cord transplant from a donor in Colorado. She and her husband had come to the meeting at the last moment. She was right where she was supposed to be.

There were 19 people at the meeting. 10 people signed up for the upcoming season. Desiree is quite the closer. She was where she was supposed to be, fighting for kids to have a chance.

I have often wondered since Kelly died if I am being where I am supposed to be. Can I continue to do this?

For now, the answer is yes. I am where I am supposed to be. I should continue to provide support and hope to others that I meet in this journey. I believe that is what Kelly would want me to do.


Part of living abundantly is being where you are supposed to be, with the people you care about, trying to make a difference along the way.

That was how Kelly lived her life. A very dear friend of mine told me that is now my job to live joyfully. That is where I am supposed to be.

Tweet

Comfy Cupboard

I took the day off from yesterday so I could attend a ribbon cutting ceremony in the Bone Marrow transplant unit at Children's Hospital.

When I ran the Denver marathon last fall, I had dedicated one of my miles to baby Melina, who died from Leukemia when she was ten months old. Ten months. Out of all the stories I have heard since I started with Team in Training 10 years ago, that is one of the most heart wrenching stories I have heard.

The Comfy Cupboard supplies items to families who have forgotten to bring something along on their hospital stay. It will have toothpaste, deoderant, cameras, journals, games, etc. The money that was raised at Melina's golf tournament was used to fund this project.

Melina's Mom cut the ribbon at the ceremony yesterday. It was a really special moment to see the spirit of Angel Melina at work.

Afterwards I was able to go visit Mighty Mason who happened to be at Children's Hospital. He had to go to hospital last weekend due to a fever. Mason was the team hero for the fall season. I had a nice visit with Mason's parents and enjoyed seeing Mason set his parents straight on a few issues. Mason is 6 years old.

Someday I hope the Comfy Cupboard has no use.

Until that day comes, this will provide comfort to a family that didn't have the time to pack everything as they rushed to the hospital with their child.

Angel Melina at work :)

Take that, Cancer!

Tweet

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.

Tweet

The Journey matters

This isn't at all what I had planned on writing about tonight, but it is close to one of the posts I have been thinking about. I have a lot of things I have started this year and haven't finished. I have half a dozen or so unpublished, unfinished, incomplete posts. I probably have about that many books I have started and haven't finished. Unfinished grief work as my sister Jan would say.

I read a short, but very good book about leadership tonight that was written by Marilyn Carlson Nelson. She is a former CEO of Carlson a global group of companies such as the Radission and Regent hotels, T.G.I. Friday resturants.

This is an excerpt from a speech her daughter wrote as a senior in high school.

"Do you ever have the feeling you are constantly getting ready for somthing? In the morning, hurry up, rush, get ready for school, get ready for work, get ready, get ready, get ready. Set goals, work towards them".

She goes on to talk about a quote from the Frenchman named Montaigne, "The journey not the arrival matters.". To him the journey was what we should treasure. Life is a journey we all embark on and in a sense never finish.

"We should all live and love each day-the bad ones as well as the good. Today is so valuable, it should be lived and enjoyed".

"Life is always so fragile. What if. . . just what if something happened to you today? What would trouble you the most. . . an abrupt ending? Unfinished studies? Unplayed games? Unperformed dramas? No...I'm willing to bet it would be unsaid words, incomplete relationships and unfullfilled promises".

"Each one of us is only given one journey. But if we enjoy it to the fullest. . . every, every minute of it, one journey is enough".

Juliet Evans Nelson was killed in an automobile accident during her freshman year in college shortly after writing this speech. Another life cut short, another young person full of love for life that understood the importance of choosing and living life as fully and richly as possible.

I think this was something that Kelly and her family understood and embraced so there wouldn't be unsaid words, incomplete relationships.

So many things for me unfinished. There is always another day to complete them, or is there?

Tweet

Six degrees of clicking

A couple of thoughts about six degrees.

Six degrees of separation refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person they know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is an average of six "steps" away from each person on Earth.

Kevin Bacon founded SixDegrees.org which is about using the idea , "that we are all connected to accomplish something good".

To expand on that are we an average of six "clicks" away from each person in cyber-space?

How can we click to accompish something good? I do believe we are all connected to accomplish something good.

Because I clicked on a website, I started a cyber space friendship with Dane Rauschenberg, a young man who in 2006 ran 52 marathons in 52 weeks and raised over $40,000 for a charity that benefited people with disabilities. We started corresponding about running, my experience as a charity runner, the special friendship I had with Kelly. Dane was kind enough to send Kelly an autographed picture of him running for her birthday last January. Dane knew that Kelly was very ill and he was one of the first people I reached out to when Kelly passed away in March. I had sent Dane one of the links about Kelly and he wrote a blog about her. If you get a chance look for the post he wrote on March 24, 2008.

http://danerunsalot.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html

Someone else was clicking in cyber-space, reading Dane's blog. The title of Dane's blog that day caught Shayna's eye and after reading the article about Kelly, she did some more clicking and asked Dane for my e-mail address. Shayna sent me a very kind e-mail offering her support the same day Dane posted his article about Kelly.

Shayna and I have stayed in touch and she is one of my best friends in cyber space. Shayna is also a multiple TNT participant. Shayna lost her Mom to cancer and has also endured the loss of her team hero, Laiken Kenwood about five weeks after Kelly's passing.

So Shayna and I have become friends because we both read Dane's blog, in different states. We are linked together by a common interest in endurance running, share the same passion and commitment in being relentless in providing hope and inspiration to those we love and serve.

Shayna has been an unexpected source of comfort and continued support for me as I have struggled through my grief this year. Amazing the good someone can accomplish with a few clicks.

Dane had a very short post on his blog tonight and I just love this quote.

"There are many things we can't do, trying is not one of them".

I think that exemplified the way Kelly and Laiken lived their lives. Not trying was not an option for them. Not trying is not an option for Dane, for Shayna or for me.

Keep clicking, keep moving forward, keep trying. I know Kelly and Laiken would want us all to do that.

Please check out Shayna's blog. She has a very touching article about Laiken and Kelly on her blog.

http://walkerchick-relentlessforacure.blogspot.com

Relentless for a cure.

Tweet

Great Expectations

Watching the women's marathon on televsion leaves a lot be desired. I understand that NBC is trying to weave a story, but come on.

Deena Kastor, bronze medalist at the Athens marathon dropped out at the 5K mark. That should have garnered more attention, but it was hardly mentioned.

So many commercial breaks, cutting away to other events were very distracting. At one point Paula Radcliffe(Women's world record holder) is in the lead pack of runners and then she is gone from the telecast. Finally we are told at some point she stopped to go to the bathroom and then stopped again to stretch.

After the medals have been decided NBC cuts back to watch Paula finish the race. Interestingly, Paula has won every marathon she has run except for the Athens marathon. There she was featured at the side of the rode, in tears as she dropped out of the marathon.

Paula was absolutely ripped mercilessly by the British tabloids and the talking heads. Hey, put down your laptops and microphones and lace up your shoes. The marathon is never easy, not even for the most elite athletes.

It was painful to watch Paula run. It was obvious this is a race she should have not even tried to run, let alone finish it.

Kudos to Paula for finishing the race. So many times you see the elite runners call it a day as soon as they realize they can't win the race. Paula hung in there, finished what she had started.

I hope the press never again utters an ignorant, unkind comment about her courage. To be expected to win, realize that is not going to be your day and continue on. That takes tremendous courage and Paula has the added weight on her shoulders of running for her country.

This is one of my favorite running quotes, but it applies to any challenge we face.

"Finishing is winning"-George Sheehan.

Paula, you are a winner. I was very proud of her.

Tweet

New City Church goes to the movies

New City Church had it's preview service last Sunday at the Continental Regal movie theater.

It is a interesting idea as the church is now mobile. They move everything in and out for the service in cases and transport on a trailer.

We have been in the middle of an extended heat wave, so being in an air conditioned movie theater was quite nice and the seats are very comfortable.

Interestingly the Pastor told us a story about how he had not filled up the truck that was pulling the trailer and he almost ran out of gas, the truck actually cut out , but he was able restart it and make it to a gas station. I think I will have to tell him my story about running out of gas as that is one of the reasons why I am going to church right now. An interesting parallel.

Pastor Aaron thought they had about 10 new people visiting for the first time. The sermon was very good last Sunday, one of the best ones he has done since I started going to church.

The passage was from Jeremiah, 32:36-41 The part I found most interesting was how Pastor Aaron related that only Jesus could transform a heart, much the same message I heard the night I ran out of gas from the gas station attendant. The gas station attendant must be a church planter too.

Tweet

Is there a mall in heaven?

I attended the funeral service today for Patti Kaufmann. This was a traditional Jewish service so many words were spoken in Hebrew.

One thing that was really neat was all of the pallbearers were women. They were all members of a book club(The page turners) that Patti belonged to. I have never seen that before.

A couple of things came to mind as I listened to members of her family and the Rabbi talk about her. Much of what was said reminded me of Kelly.

Patti loved her family.
Patti was a fighter.
Patti never gave up.
Patti was always moving forward.
Patti was always giving back to those around her. She had tremendous compassion and love for her friends and family.
Patti loved to shop.

If there is a mall in heaven, I am sure that Patti and Kelly will be spending a lot of time there together.

Tweet

Need some inspiration? Lovelets-Megan's bracelets of hope

I stumbled across this today when I was at Panera Bread. I seem to find interesting things on their bulletin board.

Megan Dickey, who swam on Laura's club swim team passed away last summer after a battle with bone cancer at the age of 13. One of her friends has started an organization to provide gifts to children that are sick. She recently had a meeting with the CEO of children's hospital here in Denver. After Meagan passed away, she decided to make a difference. No moping around.

How awesome is that? I have no words to describe that. I am not sure how old Jenni is. I think she is 14 or 15, somewhere around there.

Please check out her website. For a 10.00 donation she will send you a special homemade lovelet bracelet or leave her a note of encouragement on her blog.

This all goes to benefit children. What a fantastic young lady Jenni is.

www.lovelets.org

Tweet