I know I've not been around for a while, but life gets busy that way... The Virginia Beach Rock & Roll Half Marathon has been and gone, and it was a rocking good time. Now on with the training for the Marine Corps Marathon... This weekend we're doing 18 miles.
I'd like to take a few minutes of your time to tell you all who I'm running for on Saturday... I'm dedicating each and every aching step of those 18 miles to my Grandad, Derek.
In 1994 he lost his granddaughter (my cousin) Amy to brain cancer.
In 1997 he lost his nephew (my mom's cousin) John to lung cancer.
In 1999 his wife (my grandmother) Gladys was diagnosed with breast cancer. After several surgeries and years of treatment, she died of the disease in 2006.
In 2007, his brother (my great-uncle) Art died of colon cancer.
And on Monday he was himself diagnosed with colon cancer.
He knows full well what to expect from his up-coming treatment. He's sat with it all before. He knows the pain and the illness and the fear and the hope against hope.... And he knows that in the end, it may not work for him.
Personally, I'm holding onto the hope. I hope that they've caught it early enough that the treatment is successful. I hope that he doesn't suffer too much. I hope we'll get to play golf together next summer. I hope we'll get to go out for a drive just so we can listen to the baseball game on the radio. I hope he'll get to finish making himself that cello, and learn how to play it. I hope that my (future) children will get to know him.
I know that none of my family (so far) have been afflicted with a blood cancer... but I'm here, raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in the hopes that every step we take toward finding a cure for blood cancers also advances our efforts in finding a cure for cancer, period.
So when you're on the trail on Saturday, if you don't have a personal honoured teammate that you're running for... please feel free to send a little thought out to my Grandad.
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