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| MOM ON A MISSION |
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| In January of 1999 I lost my 2 1/2 year old son to cancer. Johnathon was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma at the age of 17 months. The long struggle with chemotherapy, surgeries, bone marrow transfusions and many other treatments were grueling, and painful to watch. Family and friends stood by me as I stood by my son, never leaving his side. He fought and struggled, he had good days and bad, but in the end there was always the love the smiles and the courage that he shared with all those around him. He gave a valiant effort but in the end the cancer was too much for his tiny body. Johnathon died at home in my arms on January 16, 1999.
The 10 years after my sons death were very hard, most of the time it was all I could do to just breath. My heart ached with each passing day. My grief was so heavy that at times all I wanted to do was to join my son. I was very angry and did not always face the loss of my son with grace, there were many dark days that I struggled to keep sane. I was a young single mother, my son was my life. Johnathon was the angel that helped to get me here today, to lead me on to find myself and to really learn who I am.
In January of 2009, 10 years after his death, I was finally able to start healing and start really living the life that my son would have wanted for me. I found a way to heal and to work with my loss to pay tribute to my son. So I decided to run.
I started out by becoming a Rally Athlete with the help of the Rally Foundation. My son Johnathon is now a Rally Kid, I run in memory of him. I ran my first 5k in January of 2009 and have completed 5 other races since then. I ran my first 1/2 marathon on April 18th. I will continue to run in as many races as I can before the final run in Chicago. On Sunday, October 11, 2009, 45,000 runners will take to the streets of Chicago to participate in one of the world’s major marathons, the 2009 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. I will be one of those runners. I will be running to honor my son.
For me this is not only a testament to the strength and courage of my son, but also to the dedication and commitment that I have to do "something big" for my son, as well as a journey to heal and make peace with the pain, anger and resentment that I have held on to for so long, my time to heal.
Running has been cathartic for me, I run, I cry, I remember and I heal every time I am out on the run. I am by far no athlete, but running has given me an outlet to release my pain and to find peace within myself.
It's my time to do something big to honor my son. To honor those children and those families that have had to endure the challenges that childhood cancer brings. I had no control over what the cancer did to Johnathon, no control over what the outcomes were, but what I do have control over is this. This chance to run,to run and to raise money for research, to run for those moms and dads that are still at the bedsides, still sleeping in the waiting rooms outside of the ICUs, and surgery units, to run for the hopes of families that struggle to keep their hope alive. I run for the strength and courage of these kids. I run for Johnathon.
As my kids say "run mom run" |
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Total Donations Collected:$3,310.00
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| Goal: $3,200 |
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| Every day two classrooms of students, about 46 children, are diagnosed with cancer and most will spend the next three years in treatment. Pediatric cancer is different than adult cancer and is the number one disease killer of kids’ ages 0-20. Rally Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is dedicated to raising funds to support childhood cancer research which is under-funded up to $30 million a year. Please join me with your donation and be a Champion for Childhood Cancer Research! |
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