The Reason I am Doing It.

It was my brother's idea at first, he told me he had looked into doing a sponsored bike ride in England. The idea was to raise money for leukemia research because our mother had been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in 2005. Since I enjoy cycling, raising money for leukemia research while bike riding sounded perfect. An evening of "Googling" later, I had found Team In Training, a group that fund-raise with endurance sports for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I initially registered for the 2007 Lake Tahoe event, but had to drop out when it became aparent that Mum was losing her battle with leukemia. This year I am back and intent on raising $5000 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The event I am training for is a 100-mile bike ride around Lake Tahoe on June 1st 2008. Because of the altitude (6,225ft.) and the distance, training is important. So, every Saturday for 5 months I will be getting up at 6:00 a.m. to join my team for training rides. There will be a lot of hills to climb!


So when the training gets tough, I look down at the top tube of my bike where I carry 2 names that inspire me to push on. The names are, my Mum – Ruth Davies, and my Aunt Meg, both of whom lost their lives to blood diseases. My Mum, as many of you already know, passed away last year from Leukemia (AML). I thank God for the 14 months of remission she had and the last vacation we spent together in February 2006. At the end of 2006, the leukemia returned and this time there was no stopping it. After wasting away, my mother died in April of 2007. Similarly, my Aunt Meg passed away in February of 1993 after an 11-year battle against Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. What these two women endured is infinitely more than any discomfort I feel during my training.


To make a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, go to: TNT Donate



Monday, April 28, 2008

Back from England!

My time in England went so fast. I was able to spend some good quality time with Dad, which was the whole purpose of the trip. We also were able to visit the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Museum together at Browns Lane in Coventry.



I was also able to visit Nana (my Mum's mother) at her home twice. She is 93 and living on her own. She is doing amazingly well. On the Sunday we had lunch at the Summerhouse Restuarant along with Uncle Geoff and Dad.

It was also great to spend time with my brother, Russ. I drove up to Shrewsbury to visit old friends, Jon & Karen (I can just hear Karen protesting that she is not old now), with him during the week.

It was particularly good to drop in at the garage I used to work at many years ago. We had a good long chat. It is now called Preston Gubbals Motor Services, and Roger is still selling cars next door. Many thanks to Pete, Mike, and Paul for the donation.



However, the best part of being away is coming back home. Megan (with Judy's supervision) baked a really delicious cake to welcome me back. Then to top it all off, I recieved constant hugs from Megan for the next couple of days!

Ah, good to be home!







To make a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, or to learn more go to >TNT Donate
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