Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Hi hi hi.
Yes – this newsletter is late.
Yes, I am fine.
Yes, I had a full weekend and that is why this is late.
I just got back from an amazingly inspirational weekend in Austin, Texas, courtesy of Livestrong, the group started by Lance Armstrong to give support of cancer survivors around the world. They have certainly helped me enormously and so it was a fine thing to get to go there to thank them back – if only a little bit.
Actually I got to go because I ended up being the top fundraiser for their Endurance Events. And I got there with you, since you so generously supported me as I was raising funds for my Ride Across Iowa. And even though I didn’t get to ride (this year), I did get to learn more about Livestrong, primarily by having their support as I dealt with the news that I needed more treatment.
If you’ve been reading the newspapers you will know that this is a challenging time for Lance and for Livestrong. But I was joined by hordes of people who deeply appreciate him and are deeply grateful for his inspiration and for all he has done for cancer survivors. We were not there to judge him. If anything, the outpouring of support was very moving, for us and for him.
It was very special to ride my new bike next to my hero. We chatted about Asheville and about this and that. And when my moments with Lance were done, I rode next to other top fundraisers and some other bike guys. Turns out, those bike guys were some very famous Tour de France fellows, namely Axel Merckx and Jens Voight. For you non-bike riders, this is like sharing jokes with Ellen DeGeneres or playing karaoke with Liza Minnelli. Big stuff!
Lance himself gave me a trophy for my fundraising success and I got to speak to the 250 gathered friends, telling them about what Livestrong means to me. I was speaking to major fundraisers, long-term friends of Livestrong, and supporters of Lance. The night was full of emotion and sincerity and humor too. And it makes me even more devoted to Lance and to Livestrong. His example as a cancer survivor is immeasurable. And the services given to cancers survivors by Livestrong are without compare. (I’ll be riding the Iowa ride next summer and hope you’ll consider being on my fundraising team again.)
I had my first experience of walking a fancy carpet. In this case the carpet was yellow, not red, but the affect was similar. There was a bank of photographers and, once they realized I had no hair (ok, I took off my hat briefly) the flashes went kind of crazy and I was asked for comments and a couple of interviews. My picture turned up on the AP feed and my story was on the local Fox and NBC affiliates. And the BBC called and interviewed me – from London. Of course all of this was trying to bait me into saying disparaging words about Lance, but they were asking the wrong person if that’s what they wanted. From me they got gratitude and thanks for my hero.
So all in all, it was an enormous boost for me as I continue to check off treatments. I now have 3 to go (well, after this current one is done.) And I now have an even larger group of supporters who, along with me, believe I will get through this challenge and will emerge, fuller than ever of pep and vigor, ready to carry on with my life.
Thanks for sticking with me. I’ll be in touch this Saturday – but wanted to get this to you as immediately as possible.
Cheers,
Laurey
