TNT Update: Some Good News

My fellow Americans, and Citizens of the World:

I have three items of good news for you! No, I didn’t save a bunch of money on car insurance. First, this is my last update for 2008! I will give you a little holiday break from my Team in Training emails until early in the New Year. Now to be clear, you get the holiday break, not me. I’ll still be working hard at TNT. Second, unlike the previous notes for my Cancer Kickin’ Campaign, this note will take a serious bent, rather than my whacky attempts at humor.

Third, if you have been meaning to donate and are looking for a great cause for a final charitable tax donation for 2008 (or an early one for 2009), then a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society provides fits the bill! My TNT web page, where you can make a donation or check on progress with links to my blog, can be reached at:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/cmc09/aritter

Contact me if you would like to donate by check instead of on-line.

I want to again thank the 50 people who have already donated to LLS through my Team in Training efforts. Through their generosity, I have raised just over $2,600 to date. Even though I will not be sending out another note for about five weeks, I will be actively training, fund-raising, and blogging during that time period. The battle against cancer takes no holidays! So if you want to check in and see what’s going on, either go to my TNT web page or to my blog, Racing for a Cure:

http://racn4acure.blogspot.com/

During my training and fund raising efforts, I hear about a lot of people who have battled cancers of many different kinds: “My daughter died of leukemia when she was 30.” My husband died from cancer after we had only been married for four years.” “My father died after fighting lymphoma for several years.” “My sister-in-law discovered that she had lymphoma shortly after giving birth to her first child.” “I was in remission for a year but now I have metastatic cancer.” I could go on and on, but I won’t.

When I am out training, often very early in the morning in the dark and cold, I think about the people I have heard about, and why I am doing this again, and I came up with these thoughts:

I awake with a start, what on earth is that sound?
I spring from the bed, and my feet hit the ground
And I dash ‘cross the room to shut off the alarm
Just a little more sleep surely wouldn’t cause harm

I throw on my clothes before I lose all willpower
For I’d rather be sleeping at this ungodly hour
I pull on my fleece and lace my running shoes tight
And step out, so quiet, in a world that’s still night

Cold air hits my face; from the streets, not a peep
“This is crazy,” think I, “All the world’s still asleep”.
It would be so easy to stay in a warm bed,
But the reasons I do this creep into my head

There’s the man saying goodbye to his dear grieving wife
As cancer is robbing what’s left of his life.
There’s the mother who’s weeping, her daughter’s so ill
In leukemia’s grip, she is going downhill

And somewhere, right now, a son’s losing his mother;
A father, his daughter; a sister, her brother.
And someone in this world, as I ….

So as to not clog your email, here is the link to the entire poem, in case you are interested in reading the rest of it.

I wish each of you a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, or happy winter holiday of your choice. I am about to hit six years remission from lymphoma in about another week, which is about as great a gift as I could receive. I hope to use my good fortune to make a difference in the lives of others who are not so fortunate, and I thank you kindly for your generous assistance.

Best wishes,
Art

“Art Ritter in 2009 – He Will Go the Distance for You!”