By this time next week I will have completed my first 5k as part of the Stop Cancer event. This is a big deal to me as I have not done one before but I would be remiss if I didn’t thank those who have made this possible by helping me to believe in myself that I could do it and maybe more importantly, being the inspiration for my challenging myself in this way.
At the top of my list is my husband, Kirk, who did his first 10k run at this same event two years ago in my honor and in honor of many others who have faced the cancer battle. Kirk is the one who inspired me to be here in this place to do my blogging for the last almost seven years. He is the one who does all of the programming and designing and development of my websites. He is the one who has always believed in me when I might not have believed in myself. And he is the one who helped me to consider participating in this event by getting me the step counter that has served as the training inspiration that I needed, having me join him at the park on weekends as he trained and even getting me the shoes that make the experience so much more comfortable for me.
And if that wasn’t enough of an inspiration, I have all of you to thank. Kirk’s sister, Judy, has chosen to join our 3-person team for next weekend’s event and when we hit the pavement, we will be wearing our team shirts that will carry the names of all of those who have dealt with cancer that YOU chose to honor. We will be inspired to do our best as we remember all of those whose names we are carrying on our backs and all of the others that we will never know whose undertakings of cancer battles have been so much greater than we could ever imagine. And while we may have only three people on our team, we know that we have so many other supporters out there who are not able to join us physically but are rooting for us in our mission.
We are also grateful and inspired by those who chose to make a contribution to cancer research in honor of our team members. We are well aware that everyone is asking for donations for so many different organizations all of the time and we know that many of those who join us here are not in a position to contribute and we completely understand. But, we are so grateful for every single dollar that has been donated and thank those who have contributed for the additional inspiration that you have provided to us.
While we can no longer add names to our shirts since the order had to be submitted earlier this week in order for them to be printed, shipped and received on time, there is still time to make a financial contribution if you are inspired to do so. Just click on the this Stop Cancer link and it will take you directly to the site where you can add your donation. Although it does not appear that we will reach our financial goal at this moment, that is okay since there will always be more important things than money that inspire us and all of the love and support and inspiration that receive from all of you is at the top of the list right next to the one who has inspired this entire effort and that is Kirk. I am deeply indebted to all of you.
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Barbara Jacoby is an award winning blogger that has contributed her writings to multiple online publications that have touched readers worldwide.