For a third year in a row, I found myself speeding toward
the Washington DC mall to try and meet up with the rest of David Cook's Team
for a Cure early morning on the first Sunday in May. Going along with
what seemed like the theme of this particular weekend, I was running late and
cursing my tardiness. I had worried about missing the bus toward Washington Saturday
morning, nearly bit my friend's head off when she had to run back to the hotel
room having forgotten the Night of Hope cocktail party tickets later that same
day, and there I was watching time click away as traffic lights stood between
me and the team pep talk. It seemed no matter what I did, there just
wasn't enough time to relax but for the third time I miraculously managed to
just make my destination in the nick of time and once I was there, none of that
seemed to matter anymore.
There was a light rain falling, the kind of annoying misting that is just wet enough to damper an otherwise good morning. At least a normal morning but no amount of bad weather could ever ruin the feeling of pride I felt watching the sea of survivors leading off the race festivities as they marched toward the starting line. I don't know any of these people mind you. With the exception of David himself and a few other friends on the team, my fellow race participants and I have never shared more than a friendly smile and yet we each hold dear the desire to make brain cancer death a thing of the past and because of that bond we are like one big family. We will never know each other's names but we've felt one another's pain, have held onto the same hope, and though we'll never say the words to each other every one of us wishes all the others the best.
At the post race ceremony the sun had begun to smile down on all of us, like the spirit of everyone we've lost wrapping everyone in a nice warm hug. During the ceremonies, one of the yearly rituals is announcing the top ten earning teams and, this year the number three earners were the team Kisses for Kayla. The team has been there for at least the three years I've participated but this year Kayla Wenger's parents accepted the honor alone as the 11 year old lost her battle in March. Seeing them standing there alone made my heart ache. Later in the ceremony, the Rabbi Joseph Weinburg award for courage was awarded to Zach Lederer. This award is given to young survivors who are inspiring and the last two years I was inspired by people younger than me who never gave up and managed to beat the odds with a positive attitude. I, being someone who wanted to die from a simple stomach flu, find that pretty impressive but they were nothing compared to Zach. Zach beat brain cancer as a child, he was a survivor and out of the evil clutches of this horrible killer, only for the cancer to come back this past year as he entered his Freshmen year of college. Tears streamed down my face watching this guy younger than I am talk positively about the money we raised and the good work we all do inching toward a cure. Then he said, "I'm not going to beat this but we together are going to beat this disease." It really puts missing a bus or subway delays into perspective, huh?
As the crowd broke up, the speakers boomed with David Cook uplifting ballad "We Believe" and I thought about the day when there wouldn't be a need for The Race for Hope and the accomplishment I would feel in knowing that thanks to the generosity of my friends and family, I could say I was a part of the end of brain cancer death.
Statistics:
*In it's first 15 years The Race for Hope raised over $15 million
*This year it has raised $2.3 million and counting
*My 2012 total is now $310- over 300% of my initial goal. Thanks to every person who donated as little as a dollar
There was a light rain falling, the kind of annoying misting that is just wet enough to damper an otherwise good morning. At least a normal morning but no amount of bad weather could ever ruin the feeling of pride I felt watching the sea of survivors leading off the race festivities as they marched toward the starting line. I don't know any of these people mind you. With the exception of David himself and a few other friends on the team, my fellow race participants and I have never shared more than a friendly smile and yet we each hold dear the desire to make brain cancer death a thing of the past and because of that bond we are like one big family. We will never know each other's names but we've felt one another's pain, have held onto the same hope, and though we'll never say the words to each other every one of us wishes all the others the best.
At the post race ceremony the sun had begun to smile down on all of us, like the spirit of everyone we've lost wrapping everyone in a nice warm hug. During the ceremonies, one of the yearly rituals is announcing the top ten earning teams and, this year the number three earners were the team Kisses for Kayla. The team has been there for at least the three years I've participated but this year Kayla Wenger's parents accepted the honor alone as the 11 year old lost her battle in March. Seeing them standing there alone made my heart ache. Later in the ceremony, the Rabbi Joseph Weinburg award for courage was awarded to Zach Lederer. This award is given to young survivors who are inspiring and the last two years I was inspired by people younger than me who never gave up and managed to beat the odds with a positive attitude. I, being someone who wanted to die from a simple stomach flu, find that pretty impressive but they were nothing compared to Zach. Zach beat brain cancer as a child, he was a survivor and out of the evil clutches of this horrible killer, only for the cancer to come back this past year as he entered his Freshmen year of college. Tears streamed down my face watching this guy younger than I am talk positively about the money we raised and the good work we all do inching toward a cure. Then he said, "I'm not going to beat this but we together are going to beat this disease." It really puts missing a bus or subway delays into perspective, huh?
As the crowd broke up, the speakers boomed with David Cook uplifting ballad "We Believe" and I thought about the day when there wouldn't be a need for The Race for Hope and the accomplishment I would feel in knowing that thanks to the generosity of my friends and family, I could say I was a part of the end of brain cancer death.
Statistics:
*In it's first 15 years The Race for Hope raised over $15 million
*This year it has raised $2.3 million and counting
*My 2012 total is now $310- over 300% of my initial goal. Thanks to every person who donated as little as a dollar
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