Friends,
I'm long overdue for an update, and as we begin week 14 of Ironteam training, I could be quick to report on my continued athletic development, the success of our team, and the constant increase of my fundraising. But I won't do that.
Christmas week, I went to a funeral celebrating the life of my friend Dana's Aunt Carmel, who fought a long and hard battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and who passed away on December 13. She was in the hospital for 57 days, and in intensive care for 14. She was only 63, and she left behind a huge family that loves her very much.
I didn't know her aunt, but I wanted to go to support Dana, and to continue to support the cause. If funerals are a sign of a life well-lived, and loved, well, Aunt Carmel's has to be one of the most incredible lives ever lived. Over 800 people attended her service. She had lived her whole life in and around San Francisco and San Mateo, and the channels of people who love her were as wide as they are deep. Just being in the presence of so many people who were so incredibly devoted to this woman made you feel like you had to have known her, and loved her yourself. I mean, how could you not?
Both my grandmothers died during the holidays, thirteen years apart, the most recent of which was just last year (ironically, she died on the same day as Aunt Carmel). It's so horrible to lose someone you love at all, but particularly in a season that is supposed to be full of endless joy. Though it may help you realize how lucky you are to have had them in your life at all, it doesn't make their loss any less painful or any more fair. In three of the past four years, Decembers have been marked by cancer - a return to chemotherapy; a struggle, a scare - not just by one person, but by multiples. And these are just among the people that I know.
I am continually reminded of the selflessness of our honorees, both those who are currently fighting, and those who survive. So for unseasonable losses, and for all the unfairness...well, for that, we must continue to fight for a cure.
Thanks for your love and encouragement. I am so very grateful to have all of you as my supporters. With the generosity of 25 people, I've now raised over $3100 towards my goal of $10,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and that number continues to rise.Here's to a happy and healthy 2006. One of these years will be the one in which we also cure cancer!
Much love, Maureen
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