Pocketful of Purpose

The email began with, "I'm so sorry..."   The email arrived yesterday afternoon.  The email broke my heart.

Heaven gained another budding artist, while Earth lost incredible beauty.  

It happened 10 years ago.  It happened yesterday.  

Reitza Rosado Salgado, may you paint the heavens with love and happiness.  You were a fixture at the Ronald McDonald House; a hero to us all, and a warrior to your family.  We love and miss you.

Carrying my angels with me!  You will always be my heroes.

I didn't need another reason to run today's race.  As the ribbons display, I've gained enough this year.  Being a volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House is the greatest honor I have ever received.  I waited almost a year for a spot to open up on a weekly team, and when I was assigned to the Thursday night team, I was given a gift.  You see, volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House can be gut wrenching, heart breaking, and wonderful all at the same time.  There are periods of intense joy, as we watch families pack up their room and head home with a clean bill of health.  As you may have guessed, there are also periods of intense sadness, as we receive news of yet another child who has passed away from the beast that is cancer.  Without my Thursday night team, I would be lost.  Simply put, they are my family.

As I opened the email yesterday afternoon, I felt my heart break - a sinking feeling in my stomach combined with true soreness in my chest.  Reitza was a young woman who was truly an inspiration to all who knew her.  She was an incredible friend to the other kids at the House.  She was an amazingly talented artist; creating pieces of beauty though her world was full of pain.  She was her mother's warrior; her hope above all hopes.  She was a true fighter.  She is our angel, our hero.

I posted on Facebook, that when G-d takes away yet another budding artist, he robs the world of incredible beauty.  I asked Katie to take care of Reitza, and help her paint the heavens.  The two of them will create unparallelled beauty - a heaven that shines with hope and love.  A safe place for the angels already there, and those yet to come.

So why do I run?  I think you know why.

With LOVE, GRATITUDE, & HOPE,
Shelby

48 Hours and Counting

If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or fight like hell. - Lance Armstrong

They are my children.   

They are my hope.   

They are my inspiration.   

They are my heart.  

They are my purpose.   

They are the reason.

For five years I have watched my kids fight.  I have watched them as they have returned from the hospital with new battle wounds; railroad tracks of stitches across their heads, tummies, and chests.  I have watched them feed themselves, and then watched as they were fed through TPN, or IV nutrition.  I have watched as they made friends with the new faces arriving daily at the House, and then watched as they learned that life is not fair, and friends die.

And so, when you ask me why I run, this is my answer:  I run because my kids deserve a chance.  They deserve the chance to JUST BE KIDS.  They deserve the chance to grow up with their siblings, not apart from them.  They deserve the chance to rise through school with their classmates, not with tutors in the hospital.  They deserve the chance to visit Disney World without a mask, or an oxygen tank, or an IV nutrition backpack.  They deserve the chance to run around outside carefree, and not just observe it from a window  

They deserve CHILDHOOD.

In less than 48 hours I will begin a race that will cover 13.1 miles of New York City.  It makes me angry to know that I will cover more territory of this incredible city on foot, than many of my kids will ever see - be it in an ambulance, the Hope Mobile, a taxi cab, etc.; not because they don't want to, but because they can't be exposed to germs, or they are too weak to leave their beds.  

But this anger is not a bad thing.  This anger is really just another name for hope.  And it is hope that will propel me forward.  Hope that my kids will all one day be able to feel sunshine on their skin.  Hope that my kids will grow up to live EXTRAORDINARY lives.  Hope that my kids will know a world without pain.  Hope that my kids will live.

So it is because of this that I ask you to donate by clicking here.   
My KIDS deserve HOPE.

What's in a Name?

Katie (Wikipedia definition) - Pure

Katie (Urban Dictionary definition) - A happy person who is a good listener and reliable friend. Likes to party and is always there when you need her.

It's been just over 10 years since we lost KT.  October 11, 2001. 

Throughout all of my years fundraising for various races, I've maintained that the driving purpose behind the running and fundraising is so that NO ONE ever has to go through what we went through.  Watching your best friend lose her hair.  Watching your best friend grow weaker and weaker.  And ultimately watching your best friend lose her battle.  

It's been just over 5 years since I started volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House.  In that time I have met hundreds of parents and children from around the world.   From Puerto Rico to Greece, Tajikistan to Iowa.  I have met Connors, Henleys, Jessicas, Ryans, Ashleys, Jacks, and Neemas.  

Last night I met my first Katie.  

She wore a hot pink wig.  

She had glittery shoes.  

She is 6.  

She has battled cancer for more than half of her short life.

In the half hour that I spent with Katie I learned that she is a first grader from Indiana who loves Disney princesses, dancing, coloring, all things sparkly and glittery, and recess.  She likes to do arts and crafts, and doesn't really like to read even though her mom says she should.  She likes cool glasses, like mine, and pink nail polish.  She LOVES her friends... a lot.

In the time that I spent with her mom, I learned that Katie has been battling Stage IV Neuroblastoma since the age of 3.  The doctors told her mom that they could make Katie comfortable for the next 6-9 months, but that ultimately she would pass away.  That was 3 years ago.  Before they came to Memorial Sloan Kettering, before the Ronald McDonald House.  I learned that due to all of her treatments, Katie is small enough to fit in the stroller that her mom uses to traverse the streets of New York City.  I learned that they use the stroller because Katie is just too weak to walk most places. 

On my walk home from the House last night I felt my heart break into a million tiny pieces because of one simple realization; Katie with the hot pink wig was in New York City because she had an incredibly aggressive and rare form of cancer, and back home in Indiana there was a little girl wondering why HER BEST FRIEND, Katie, was so very sick and so very far away.

So I will continue to run.  

Because 10 years ago I made a promise. 

Because there is another Katie, and her best friend needs her.

I love you!

Two Weeks and Counting... A Challenge

In less than two weeks I will toe the start line (otherwise known as patiently wait in my corral, as only the elite runners actually toe the start line) at the New York City Half Marathon.  I know that there are some of you who would rather watch the Teletubbies or Barney on repeat than run 13.1 miles... so to you I offer this challenge: 

• Donate $50 at some point during the next two weeks, and I will write your name on my pants to be worn during the race.  I'll take a photo of your name and send it to you as proof. 
• Donate $100 at some point during the next two weeks, and I will write your name on my shirt (as shown above) to be worn during the race.  I'll take a photo of your name and send it to you as proof.
• Donate $200 at some point during the next two weeks, and I will write your name across the seat of my pants in a very loud color - obviously to be worn during the race.  Photos to be supplied as proof.  (Should there be two donors at the $200 level I will share the space - trust me, there is plenty to go around).
• Donate $500 at some point during the next two weeks, and I will write your name across my forehead.  Yes, I am completely serious, much to my mother's chagrin.

Remember, this is a great way to participate in 13.1 miles without the following: Body Glide, chafing, sweating, blisters, hills, and my favorite, SPANDEX!