2012 is the year that my carbon based life form has been pumping blood throughout its system for forty sometimes long and sometimes short years. It’s difficult for me to fathom this fact. I recall being a toddler pushing two years old (I think) and waking up to fireworks in a trailer across from Disneyland in California. I completely recall memories of the beauty that is the Grand Canyon and peeing close to the side of its grand cliffs. I have fond memories of the actors portraying gunslingers in Old Tucson where great westerns were once made. I recall the burning hot playground equipment soaking up the rays in Arizona. I even remember fights breaking out at grocery stores during an infamous blizzard. You see I recall so much of my great life that it raises immense sadness in me because dear friends have a son that may never get to reflect on things like this nor live to see forty. This adorable little boy was born with a horrible genetic disease called cystic fibrosis.
I feel so lucky sometimes that my life has been relatively easy. I’ve never had to worry about much in these almost forty years. That is why that this year not only am I running my second marathon (Cleveland Marathon), but I have decided to dedicate this run to one little boy so that he and others like him may be able to say I recall later on their life when they were a kid of sitting in the back of the family car on a journey across the country. Remembering how that felt. What you saw. What you smelled. Everyone deserves that chance to have great memories. We all deserve to be able to remember great moments in our lives. All of us deserve the freedom from stupid hospital visits, daily breathing treatments and special diets. On Sunday, May 20 I will be running for Aidan. Please show your support by donating what you can to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation through my fundraiser called “Kicking CF in the face.”
Thank you.
Cystic Fibrosis for those that don’t know much or anything about it.
CF is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of 70,000 people worldwide. A defective gene and its protein product cause the body to produce unusually thick, sticky mucus that:
- clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections; and
obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food. - In the 1950s, few children with cystic fibrosis lived to attend elementary school. Today, thanks to advances in research and medical treatments, many people with the disease can now expect to live into their 30s, 40s and beyond.