Racing to Save Lives

1-8-10

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away...

Everyone has them...those take your breath away moments...

the first time you see your newborn baby, your first kiss, a near miss car accident, accomplishing a marathon, watching your toddler take her first steps, the way your little girl hugs you when you carry her and gently pats you on the back as you walk, seeing your child sing or dance on a stage, holding her as she the cries from skinning her knee, watching their hair blow in the wind and the smile plastered on their face as you take her on her first rollercoaster ride, hugging a friend when they have just lost their child, watching your baby graduate kindergarten, hearing your little one say I love you Mommy, looking at the sparkle in her eyes, the promise of a bright and shiny future...the list could go on forever if you really think about it.

Two years ago today I had one of those moments; we were pulling into St Vincent's Hospital parking lot, heart and mind full of panic and eyes full of tears. The calls had been made and the doctors and nurses were waiting on our arrival. The whirlwind that engulfed us was mesmerizing and terrorizing. Needles, tubes, thermometers, chest x-rays and blood. Words spun around us that we had never heard... platelets, hemoglobin, white cells, BLASTs. I will never forget the moments between the hug from Dr. Jacob, both of us trying (unsuccessfully) to hold back the tears for Lauryn's sake...to looking in the rearview mirror at my lifeless baby girl staring off into space...praying to God for her to be ok...to the moment the ER doctor was sitting alongside her triage bed spelling C.A.N.C.E.R. Every breath took effort; standing was more difficult than finishing the Chicago marathon. What do you do when your world is crumbling all around you? You pray, you cry, you gather your support and STAND UP and EMBRACE IT.

So what has happened two years after sitting in the emergency room hearing the dreaded C word? What does your life shape into? How do you keep functioning through YEARS of chemo treatments? January 8th is our day of celebration. I have learned over the past two years that every day is about gratitude and turning something terrible into something good.

Gratitude for the excellent doctors and nurses that identified the Leukemia and had the knowledge and experience to attack it and bring her into remission. The same doctors and nurses, whom we place our most precious blessing in their hands with all of our faith and trust, knowing that really only God can heal, but also that God placed them here in our lives for a reason and that she will get better. Gratitude to our family and friends...without all of you we would wouldn't have made it this far. Gratitude for such a wonderful, strong, resilient, amazing, strong-willed, happy and loving little girl that has endured more than any child should ever have to endure. Gratitude for the cancer for bringing us closer, showing us the hidden strength that we never knew we possessed. Gratitude for the new friends that we have been blessed to meet and know over this past year. Gratitude for the renewed Faith and strength in God that was not always as strong and constant in our lives.

Lauryn has touched so many people, she has inspired parents to hug and play more with their kids, she has helped raise lots of money for LLS and she continues to show everyone what it means to EMBRACE LIFE.

Today is the day that I start another journey. In honor of Lauryn completing her chemo treatments in May, I have decided to complete and fundraise for The Steelhead Half-Ironman with Team In Training on July 31st, 2010. I am terrified and excited but I know that I have the two greatest inspirations looking up at me every day (ok, Jordyn looks almost eye to eye with me...but we are not going to talk about that!). If I can have only an ounce of Lauryn's strength, gusto, determination and bravery I will surely finish the race with Lizzy (The Honored Hero for the event) on my back and Jordyn running alongside me across that finish line. Won't that be a TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY MOMENT?

Won't you please help me in creating some breath taking moments? Help me to raise money to fight blood cancers so that families and children diagnosed with cancer will have a lifetime full of "take your breath away" moments.

Thank you for your support!

Dea