At a loss for words

Today I learned that a dear friend of mine is under hospice care.  She has been battling stage four cancer of the liver and intestines since being diagnosed three days before Christmas in 2011.

The last time Laura and I saw Potts she was volunteering at a 5K road race.  Her battle with cancer hadn't stopped her from her love of volunteering, from coming out and supporting all of the runners she loves and those who love her fiercely in return.

Laura showed Potts her engagement ring and Potts sweetly stated she wanted to come to Laura's wedding and be a stand for her marriage to Chris.

I don't know if there is anyway that she will be able to come and I know without a doubt if she is able she will be there.

So Potts, here's to you.  The kindness you have shown to Laura and my family has mattered greatly to me.  You have made a difference in our lives.

I love you and am sending love and light and prayers your way.

In love and gratitude....

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Small Kindness Blogsplash

Kindness is a Very Good Thing. Even teensy compassionate acts help the world go round. Let's celebrate these Small Kindnesses. Fiona Robyn's  novel 'Small Kindnesses' will be free on Tuesday the 27th, and people around the globe will be writing about our own small kindness on our blogs or elsewhere - will you join and and help spread your kindness with the world?

Click here to get a free copy of Fiona's book today on Amazon. 

Thanks for Fiona and Kaspa from Writing our Way Home for creating this event for a world that needs more kindness. 

My kindness story begins with my decision to run a marathon for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in 1999.  It was a decision that has greatly influenced and changed the course of my life. 

There are many stories of kindness that are weaved into the fabric of my journey and of course it starts with Kelly and there is so much more to this story of kindness. 

This was part of a slow awakening for me and looking back now it was the beginning of a yearning I had to be more, to love more.  The climb up the corporate ladder had lost it luster for me.  There had to be more.  Someone had told me years ago, that everyone needs a purpose larger that is larger than yourself. 

I found a new purpose through Kelly's battle with Leukemia and along the way, I reconnected with my family and became part of Kelly's family. 

This was a kindness I had never experienced before.  Kelly and her family(Don, Patty, Marci, Molly, Rose, Aunt Linda and Uncle Bill) opened their hearts, homes and lives to me.

I was embraced by this amazing, loving family.  Their love has been such a blessing in my life. 

The day I got back to Colorado after laying Kelly to rest, I was blessed to make a new friend who reached out to comfort me after reading about Kelly's passing.  I finally had the honor of meeting Shayna in person last summer after corresponding for four years. 

When Laura and I were training for the Paris marathon in 2011, I reached out to Kim Mailhot, aka the Rock Fairy to ask about having her make one hundred rocks that we could give as a keepsake to those who donated to our fund raising efforts for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  To my utter amazement Kim donated her time and talent in making these for us.  The following year I asked Kim if she could make 1,000 rocks to help with another fundraising campaign and again Kim donated her time and talents with a help of a few other fairies.  You can read more about the Rock Fairy by clicking here. 

Blood Cancer Freedom Fighter Rocks

Late last year, I reached out to a friend of mine and asked her to run as a Woman of the year candidate for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Cassi reminds me a lot of Kelly in the way she lives her life.  She is a very kind and loving person.  Oh and Cassi ran for Woman of the Year when she was 15 years old!

Cassie with Taylor and Jack at Grand Finale

I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge my children Laura and Adam for the ongoing kindness they bring to me every day, and my wife Sue  for the last 30 years of the kindness she has brought to my life.  I know her single wish for me is to be happy and she has patiently planted and nurtured that seed with love in only the way that she can in this incredibly journey.  

A family of runners in San Francisco 

So on this day of the kindness blog splash I send my thanks to each of you that have shared your kindness and touched my life, opened my eyes and my heart. 

In love and gratitude. 
  

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Wonderful Women

I was on Facebook earlier this morning and just happened to stumble on a comment posted by Patti Digh in response to link that was posted by Kim Mailhot(A.K.A, the Rock Fairy).

Patti's response was "love, love, Love this!"  Well if Patti loves something it is something I want to check out.

I clicked on the link to a post from Kim's blog and by the end of the article, I was in tears.  These are the good kind of tears where you are so incredibly touched by kindness and love that the tears just fall.

I had written to Kim about two weeks ago asking her to limber up her fairy wings and see if she would make  some rocks for Cassandra Perkins woman of the year campaign.

Cassandra, her mom Joni, and I intend to rock this campaign and we are thinking big.  Last time Kim made a batch of rocks(100)  for Laura and me as we were training and fundraising for the Paris marathon last year.

Who better to help us rock this campaign and in the process rock cancer than the Rock Fairy. I asked Kim could we place a larger order?  500 rocks, maybe even 1000?

You can read an inspiring story of love and kindness by clicking here.

Cassandra and I were at a fundraising kickoff meeting earlier this week and we were presented with an icebreaker set of questions.

Who you are.
What your role is in the campaign.
What super power would you have?

Cassandra's answers:

Cassandra Perkins
Woman of the year candidate
"I don't know if this is a super power or not, but if it is, I would put an end to bullying."

Kim referred to Cassandra as a 15 year old wonder woman.  I really loved that description of her and think it is very accurate.

Before coming to the meeting, Cassandra had given a presentation to a group of 25 girls at a middle school,
"Be the voice" on bullying.   Her mom told me that Cassandra had changed the lives of 25 girls!  How awesome is that?

15 year old wonder woman?  Yes!



Just as Cassandra has the backs of these young woman that she advocates for, the Rock Fairy's have Cassandra's back and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's back.

The Rock Fairy's advocating for a world without cancer!

Who is going to win in this fight against cancer, against bullying?

My money is on these wonderful women.


"Love is the answer to every question, Baby!"~Kim Mailhot

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Rachel's Challenge

I went to a meeting last night to learn about Rachel's challenge.  An amazing friend of mine had posted something about this earlier in the week  on Facebook and I had forgotten about it.

I saw it again late in the afternoon and I clicked on the video content and listened to the intro.  Rachel's challenge is about Rachel Scott who was the first person that was killed at Columbine High school on April 20, 1999.

I still vividly remember hearing the initial news reports and watching in horror over and over again the reports on the local news and CNN, trying to make sense of how this could happen in our community.

I had friends and colleagues who had children that were in the school that morning.   A friend of mine from Team in Training had a sister who was in the cafeteria and he feels so lucky to still have his sister.

Rachel Scott was heavily influenced by the writings of Anne Frank and much like Anne Frank she aspired to have a big impact on the world.   In an eerie parallel, Anne Frank died in a concentration camp and Rachel Scott died on the anniversary of Adolph Hitler's birthday.

“How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment, we can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make their contribution toward introducing justice straightaway... And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness!” 
― Anne Frank

The film clips of Columbine, the 9-1-1 calls were hard to watch, to listen to.  Reliving it all over again.  Disturbing for me, unknowable to what was felt on that day.

Rachel Scott lived a purposeful life in her 17 years.  To date Rachel's challenge has reached over 17 million people worldwide.

Rachel believed in  the power of kindness and that kindness mattered.

Here are the 5 components of Rachel's challenge.

Look for the best in others.
Dream Big!
Choose positive influences.
Speak with kindness.
Start your own chain reaction.

"I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion then it will start a chain reaction of the same."- Rachel Scott

Please visit Rachel's Challenge by clicking here. 

My request would be for everyone that is reading to start your own chain reaction of kindness.  Start with your family, start with one person.  See what you can create.

Rachel lived this in her 17 years.  17 million people and counting have heard her message.

At the end of the presentation, we listened to this song by Jewell, Hands and watched a tribute of Rachel Joy Scott's life.

"I am never broken,in the end only kindness matters." ~Jewell

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