As you all know I’ve had a lot going on for the past few years. A triathlon here and there, surgeries (one back, one knee), and then BAM!!! a twin pregnancy with the associated twin child rearing. Life spins out of control for me most days.

(Begin super sappy stuff)

There have been moments that have stilled my heart and remind me how precious life is. Back in 1992, when I was 11 years old, cancer stripped my beloved grandmother from me. That was the moment I started to hate cancer. It took a while for me to really understand what it was, but by the time my amazing Aunt Peggy was diagnosed, I knew enough to know that I had to do more than just sit by. Prayers are powerful, but I wanted to take action. I joined Team in Training and found like minded people that wanted to turn their frustration with the disease into something positive. I had a wonderful experience and was able to fundraise over $6000 for the cause thanks to my friends, family and all the brownies I made them eat :-)

I had to take a hiatus from training and raising funds when we found out about our wonderful blessings, Mina and Evie and it seemed like I had a little reprieve while basking in the blissful state of motherhood. In November my girls were almost 18 months old. It was then that I found out that a high school friend and cross country teammate, Leslea Vardy, passed away when complications related to her cancer treatment compromised her immune system. She had battled cancer (loosing a leg in the fight) and went into remission only for it to come back. From what I knew, she had been responding well to her treatments so her loss was a shock. Leslea was a remarkable woman, excelling at everything she did. She was the epitomy of intelligence, grace, generosity, kindness, courage and strength – the light of God shined through everything she did. Her loss was felt by many, but what hit home most for me were the thoughts of the loving husband and a beautiful little girl that she left behind. The state of bliss inspired by my daughters turned to fear at the thought of leaving them without a mother, or worse loosing Seth or one of them. These thought have driven me to change the way I do a lot of things. I’ve taken on so many things just so I can do whatever I can to lower our risk of cancer. Seth thinks I’m crazy most of the time.

Even with all the things that I did trying to keep cancer at an arms length, it struck close to home again when two of my closest friends each lost one of their cherished parents. Voids like these cannot be filled.

(End super sappy stuff)

The prevalence of cancer has been on the rise, showing no bias or mercy on those it affects. It is truly a pandemic. It is for these reasons that I have decided again to fundraise for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This time I have decided to run the Nike Women's half Marathon in San Fransisco in October. That's 13.1 miles, more than double the distance I have ever attempted running, but it seems like an appropriate way to remember Leslea. I'll also be running with my friend Annita who runs for the father she lost in April.

Why do I choose to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society when there are so many other organizations that fundraise for cancer? Partly because they give people like me the opportunity to feel like they are making a real contribution to battling this horrible disease. I also feel like the organization uses their funds wisely and in ways that I approve of. Donors to LLS have helped contribute to the development of ports and the life saving drug Glevec which have been able to help people diagnosed with all types of cancers. They are also rated favorably amongst the charity watchdog groups - http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3993.

A bit about donating to LLS: 74.2% of every dollar donated goes directly to the cause, with a main focus on research and patient services.

**To help make your donations go further I want you to know that it is my intention to match 25% of what ever you donate so that 100% of what you donate gets spent on cancer research and patient support.**

A few ways you can help (feel free to do as many of these as you can):

• Prayers are always needed and much appreciated. This will be a long race as I anticipate it taking well over 3 hours for me to complete since I’ve slowed down a little with age.
• Motivational comments as well as ‘suck it up’ type comments help encourage and keep me in check. My fatigue and excuses pale in comparison to the struggles of those I do this for.
• Follow me on our family webpage. I am going to start putting some information on my journey there as well as updates on the girls :-) Tuesdays would be a good day for you to check it out as I will try to post something at least once a week on Monday night. I will most likely send out a couple more reminder e-mails, but this is the primary way I plan on sending out updates - http://www.berryberrybusy.t-berry.com
• Register to be included in the Be A Match database. The process has come a long way, is easier than ever and you never know whose life you might save. All it takes to register is a cheek swab, it’s really that easy! - http://bethematch.org/
• • Donate
• An online donation via my fundraising page is super easy and secure - http://pages.teamintraining.org/ntx/nikesf12/tarathornberry
• Send a check to my address 1316 Maywood Court Plano, Texas 75023
• • Consider purchasing items that I am hand making - lotions, sunscreens, bug bars, lotion bars, soap sacks, hair ties and crochet items. I am starting an etsy shop to sell these items, and will be announcing items and costs on the family blog. I hope to have items listed this weekend - http://etsy.com/shop/MrsTberry

Thank you all for your time. I appreciate all manners in which you might reply - even if it might be a request only for cute pictures.

Wishing you all the best,

Tara