28th
Home at Last
Well, we are finally home again and very glad to be here! In some ways this
ride was much easier, but also much harder than I could have ever expected.
I was well trained for the physical challenge, and although extremely tough,
I was ready. On the other hand, the emotional part of the ride was much
harder than I could have imagined. I met families every day from across this
great country dealing with cancer, and each one of the ambassador kids
touched my heart.
Thinking back, I had to deal with strong emotions when our son, Riley went
through his fight with cancer, especially coping with chemo and it’s
effects. When our daughter, Katie had to battle the same cancer these
emotions resurfaced. Somehow though, these close to home battles were
different than looking at other kids and their families. What I learned is
that when you are dealing with this yourself, you just do it and take it day
by day. When looking at these stories from the outside, you feel helpless.
Then again, maybe it just brought home the fact that our kids and myself are
cancer survivors and made me realize the bullet we all dodged.
I left home heading for Vancouver with the following goals in mind:
1. To complete the cross country journey.
2. To reach our goal of $50 000.
3. To make some new and lasting friends.
4. And of course, the big one was to have some positive impact on kids
living with and beyond cancer.
Well, I made the journey and we exceeded our goal, having raised $53 000 to
date (all thanks to your very generous donations)!!! I also made some
amazing friends that I hope to keep for life. In addition to raising
much-needed funds for Kids’ Cancer, I hope that we’ve sent a strong message
to these kids and their families that we care and are fighting for them.
This ride was a once in a life time opportunity and I encourage anybody with
the heart and drive to help to get involved in some capacity next year. You
can ride (full ride or ride-alongs in your area), donate or volunteer.
www.searsnationalkidscancerride.com
I am also happy to tell you that Carl and I proved that tandems can climb,
and speaking of my tandem partner, I left with a tandem partner and good
friend and came to the finish line with an awesome tandem pilot and AMAZING
friend. Thanks Carl!!!
Thanks to all of you for your support and encouragement!
Terry
