This past Saturday we had our season's Connection to the Cause event. We met at the NYU Hospital for Joint Disease, ran just shy of 9 miles, and then got served a fabulous breakfast by Dunkin Donuts before filing into a lecture hall to get things started. A couple of physical therapists talked about injury prevention, the importance of stretching, and the importance of strength training, which was nothing new, but it's always good to hear more about these things. Then one of the oncologists, Dr. Amitabha Mazumder, spoke to us about his work with multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the immune cells. He talked about targeted therapies and personalized therapies and explained how the money we raise goes directly to research to develop better treatments that will eventually lead to that cure. He also talked about why it is that bone marrow transplants work. When you get someone else's healthy marrow, your body recognizes their marrow as "home" marrow and the tumor cells as "foreign". There is a treatment where you can do self marrow donation (have some of your own marrow extracted and frozen, and then transplanted back into your body at a later date) but the risk there is that your body may not recognize the tumor as foreign. Fascinating stuff. I found myself so interested in what he was saying, and even taking notes. It felt like being back in college, which was awesome, and it also made me really want to learn more.
When Dr. Mazumder was done, my mentee, Matt, spoke about his experience with cancer. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2007, went into remission at one point, but the cancer is now back. He has the best outlook about it and such a great attitude. He was explaining to us that he has tumors in his neck, and when he sensed the air in the room getting a little serious, he said "You can actually feel the tumors in my neck - but if you want to use that as a fundraiser, I get a cut!". Freakin hilarious, such an awesome guy. It sucks that he has cancer. It really really does. We have to get him a cure, he is way too great to have this horrible disease. I left the event feeling connected to the cause and sufficiently re-motivated and inspired to stay involved with this awesome organization.
Last week I got something in the mail from Grandpa. I know it wasn't really from him, but the return address label had only his name on it, and ultimately it was a gift from him - it was a small amount of money from his estate that he wanted each of his grandchildren to have. I have no doubt how much Grandpa loved me, and seeing the check and the message from my grandmother was a reminder of that. The relationship between grandparents and their grandchildren is such a special thing; his checks to all of us were more about recognizing that special relationship than they were about giving us a monetary gift. It was hard and made me sad because I'd rather have my Grandpa than any amount of money, but it was also such a beautiful gesture that warms the heart.
Finally, tonight my cousin Lillian decided to go to a TNT info session. She's been getting into running lately and had been toying with the idea of running a big race, so she decided to check us out. I am proud to say that she is officially registered to run the March 2011 NYC half marathon with Team in Training!!! For her, getting the check from Grandpa is what motivated her to more seriously look into it, and as much as her season will be about running, it will be equally about our grandfather and honoring his memory.
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| Grandpa and Lil |
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteThis is so touching about Grandpa (Dad to me). The gift from him to his grandchildren is another way that he stays alive to us all. Paul and William were so excited to receive the checks, but more importantly, they miss their Grandpa so much. As Paul, my 11-year old says, he misses how funny Grandpa was, and how intelligent he was. So true. Out of the mouths of babes, as Grandpa would say.
Thanks for keeping his torch burning. You were, and are, very special to Grandpa and to all of us.
Liz