The ninth, and second-to-last, episode of Band of Brothers is titled “Why We Fight.” This episode covers the discovery of the concentration camps by the U.S. armed forces, as the front moved closer and closer to Germany. After the hell that the U.S. soldiers faced battling Nazi troops and the losses that they incurred, discovering the camps made it clear that there was a purpose and reason for their sacrifices.
On Wednesday night, I attended an informational session for Skippy’s Team and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The meeting was informative, the testimonials given by last year’s participants were inspiring and meeting the coaches was a real confidence booster, but something else moved me far more. I didn’t know Stephen Lubofsky well since I was fairly new to the New Rochelle community when he fell ill. I know who his children are, but they probably have no idea who I am, and on the way to the meeting, I passed by Stephen’s oldest son and, as I did, I knew the reason why I needed to complete this triathlon.
Sure, getting in shape is a good reason to train for a triathlon and so is setting a personal goal and achieving it. However, there is a far more important goal that I have my eyes and heart focused on – my children, and the children who are impacted by leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma. As some of you know, I have three little children, and I love them a ton. I don’t worry too much about myself, but I worry about my children. The mission of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is, “Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.” The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is there for the sick and for their families, and they are working towards a cure not only for those with leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, they are working for the families who are impacted. This is why we fight; this is why I tri. It is for everyone who is battling illness, it is for everyone who will have to battle illness, it is for the families fighting alongside, the families who bare the scares of the fight and for those families who have lost someone to leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease or myeloma.
I can’t claim to be the most charitable person; I am far from it. I also know that there are thousands upon thousands of worthy charities out there that deserve your support. All I can say is that after Wednesday night’s meeting I know that I am going to train for and finish this triathlon to support a most worthy cause. I have to say that training has been hard and has not been so much fun (I’ve tweaked and strained about 4 different muscle groups so far – and yes, you are all welcome to join my pity party), but I hope that my efforts will encourage you to support me and support the mission of LLS.
You can click on this link and sponsor/support my triathlon here. Please give generously. I will not let you down.
-- On another topic, does anyone have a good road bicycle or triathlon bike hanging around? Right now, I might end up cycling 25 miles on my old bright red BMX bike… I won’t be so fast or comfortable, but no other triathlete will be able to compete with my gnarly jumps!
