Racing to Save Lives

My grandma was my best friend. Most people think that's weird, but she truly was. The times that I spent at her house were some of the best memories I have of childhood. We finished each others' sentences. Sometimes, we could have entire conversations with just saying single words to each other because we already knew what the other person was going to say (which was probably more creepy than cute to people around us). She was the one who introduced me to England, and who instilled in me my love for history, knowledge and tea time (what would I do without cucumber finger sandwiches?).

In 1988ish, just a year or so after my grandfather's death, my grandma was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. At 5 years old, I had no idea what the meant. I remember her telling us about her blood counts. I remember her having to take chemo, which usually were in pill form. She was energetic, she was active and you never would've known she was living with cancer.

By the time I was reaching the end of high school, it had reached a point where she had to go in for the really intense chemotherapy. At this point, she lost her hair, and I have to say that my grandma was about the cutest bald little old lady you have ever seen. She got a wig, even though I tried to convince her not to wear it. My mom and I offered to shave our heads, but she didn't want us to.

The last bout of chemo really brought her immune system down. To spare everyone the details, she got very sick, very quickly and was in and out of the hospital from November-February of my senior year. She died in February... before I'd graduated high school, before I'd gotten accepted into college. She never got to see me study abroad. She never got to see me graduate college with a history major. She never got to see me become a history teacher.

She would be so happy and proud if she could see me now. She has shaped so much of who I am and who I want to be.

This training and this half-marathon is for her.

I don't want anyone else to lose their grandmas. Or their grandpas. Or moms, dads, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.

Help me raise this money so that we can find a cure.