Running in Andrew's memory

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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In this thread, AbbySthrnAccent told us about her little son Andrew, who was lost to Leukemia when he was almost two years old. She described him as, “a charming, smart, independent, stubborn, bossy, mischievous little boy. He adored his older brother, loved being outside, being barefoot, he was a messy eater, and lived life with all the gusto typical of a healthy, happy toddler. He loved to swing and could pack more sand into his pockets than any other kid…” Abby sent me pictures of Andrew, and Man, you want to Squeeze that little man. He must have been a delight and I can’t imagine what it was like to lose him.

I am training to run the San Diego marathon (26.2 miles) in June with Team in Training for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Abby has given me permission to run and raise funds for this organization in memory of Andrew. I’m also running in honor of my friend Terrence, who recently had a stem cell transplant that we are hoping will help him with a cure. I’ll wear pictures of Andrew and Terrence on my shirt to inspire me while I run! If you would like me to wear the name of a person you’d like to honor on my tee shirt during the race, I’d be happy to do that, so let me know.

If anyone here on the SDMB would like to contribute to this fund in memory of Abby’s son Andrew and in honor of a friend/loved one of yours who has or had cancer, I have set up a website for this:

http://www.active.com/donations/fundraise_public.cfm?key=JillGat

Unfortunately, I haven’t figured out how to customize this site to add more text or pictures. So I copied below the letter I wrote to family and friends, asking for support for research, support and advocacy for patients with blood cancers. I deleted my personal info. here, but if you’d like a copy of this letter, please email me (email address in SDMB Profile).

Thanks for your good wishes, support and contributions. Please come cheer me on if you live in Southern California! - Jill

Dear Family, Friends and Colleagues,

My mind boggles to think that I turned 50 years old this year! You can’t believe it either, I bet. To mark/celebrate/honor this half-century milestone, I’ve set a goal to run the San Diego Marathon (26.2 miles) on June 5th. AND while I train, I have pledged to raise $3500 for leukemia and lymphoma research and patient services. I will be training and running with a team of runners, including some who have survived cancer and others who are running in memory of loved ones who did not survive. Folks who are battling leukemia or lymphoma will usually be there to cheer us on while we train, reminding us that heading out on foot at 5:00am into a cold head wind is still never as bad as enduring a day of chemotherapy. Or worse, watching a child go through it.

I am running in memory of my friend Abby’s little son, Andrew (pictured above) who died from Leukemia just before he turned two years old. I will also be running in honor of my friend Terrence (pictured above with his daughter, Aisha). Andrew’s and Terrence’s pictures will be pinned to my shirt while I run. Please let me know if you’d like me to wear the name of someone you’d like to honor on my shirt to help inspire me to finish the 26.2 mile race.

There are a million worthy causes and I suspect you already support some of them. I promise that your contribution – of any size – will make a difference in the effort to cure blood-related cancers. Leukemia is still the #1 disease killer of children in the US. Steady advances in research and treatment are bringing us closer to cures. Many people with other cancers and HIV/AIDS have also already benefited from the widespread application of chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants, potentially life-saving therapies that were originally developed for the treatment of leukemia.

If you do the strenuous work of writing a generous, 100% tax deductible check without pulling a muscle, getting a blister or humiliating yourself in those flimsy little shorts, I will run 26 miles and 385 yards. And I guarantee that I won’t spend the whole time at the seal show at Sea World.
See next page for donation instructions, and please notice that you can win exciting prizes in return for your support for a cure for blood-related cancers. Thanks for your good wishes and support!

RETURN THIS PAGE IN THE ENCLOSED SELF-ADDRESSED, STAMPED ENVELOPE TO:
JILLGAT (my address…)

___ Yes, I would like to contribute to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and support Jill’s mid-life foolishness. (REMEMBER – ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE. KEEP YOUR RETURNED CHECK AS A RECEIPT.)

PICK A SPONSORSHIP CATEGORY
(U.S. Dollars)

___$26 (one dollar/per mile I run) Your name will be included in a victory toast and you get my personal promise that I won’t wear embarrassing, short shorts in the race.

___$50 You will receive a post card from San Diego (and the shorts promise thing).

___$100 Good for a small, surprise mystery gift from New Mexico or San Diego to remind you and others of your support for a cure for blood cancers. I promise it will be odd. You’ll also receive a personal thank you letter from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

___$262 ($10/per mile run) You’ll be my invited guest for a memorable, home-cooked Caribbean meal (or a coupon good for this next time we meet if you don’t live nearby) and a thank you letter from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

___$500 and up
A framed, original ink drawing by me! And, of course, the Trinidadian dinner, the satisfaction that you generously supported a good cause and a thank you letter from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

___Other: ________ Any amount is appreciated and you will have my undying gratitude!

___Please wear the name of a special person I would like to honor or remember (hand-written on T-shirt) during the race. Name of honored person: _________________________________

Please complete the information in the box below. Sends check (payable to “The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society”) or credit card info. as soon as possible in the enclosed envelope. Thanks again.

Name: ________________________________
Address: ______________________________
City, State, Zip: _________________________
Email Address (if you would like regular updates and amusing stories of my progress: ____________________________
For credit donations only: MC ___ Visa ___ # ___________________________________________________ Expiration Date: //___ Signature: ______________________________

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SDMB administrator CkDextHavn gave me permission to post this message.
Cheers,
Jill

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A. I can’t get the website to work. :frowning:

B. Do you take paypal? I have some money sitting in an account I don’t use.

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Hm, you might have tried while I was updating it. Try it again:

http://www.active.com/donations/fun...cfm?key=JillGat

I don’t know how to retrieve funds from paypal. I’ll look into it though, and thanks!

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I’ve always wanted to do a Team in Training run. How could you not want to run for “TIT” as happy acronym makes it? I confess that I never have, and for a really stupid reason. The “TIT” running shirt looks like it would soak up a lot of sweat and be really bulky and uncomfortable to run in for 26.2 miles.

Isn’t that a terrible reason?

Is this your first marathon Jill, or have you done others?

If you need any training advice, feel free to email me or post on the board. I am a voluminous bore on this subject.

Great job. I’m proud to make a donation for a great cause.

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I’m guessing that’s why they refer to themselves as TNT then, huh? :smiley:

Just because I’m feeling nitpicky, I want to clarify that the marathon Jill is running is the Rock & Roll marathon in San Diego. The San Diego marathon is held in January, and is in Carlsbad. In fact, they just renamed it the Carlsbad marathon, IIRC. Just so there’s no confusion. Because I know all of you are intimately familiar with all the marathons in my town and actually give a shit. :stuck_out_tongue:

It’s kind of cool to now have a more personalized face for this talk of your training.

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Scylla and Scout, yes, I did run a marathon before and it was in San Diego, too. Always nice to run at sea level after training at altitude. I ran the Phidippides marathon along Mission Bay (and beat four hours) many years ago. I don’t expect to run that “fast” this time. I run a couple of half marathons a year now. The race I’m doing this year in SD is the Rock & Roll marathon, as Scout said. There are live bands all along the course, along with 2000 high school cheerleaders, I hear.

Scylla, the TnT race shirt is a tank top that looks pretty cool. The tee shirt I got for signing up is a very light synthetic that is more breathable than a cotton tee. It’s a very nice shirt to run in - feels like I have nothing on (but my Team in Trainings are well covered by my sport bra, so get that visual out of your head.) Maybe they’ve improved the shirt since last you saw it?

Hope to see some of you there.

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JillGat Thank you for thinking of our little guy along with your friend Terrence.

As the race date nears so does the anniversary date of his death and a few weeks later his birthday anniversary. Each year we try to do something to honor his memory and celebrate his life. About a year after Andrew died his older brother ran in a one mile youth fun(d) run. [/begin proud mom] He was the highest fund raiser at that event, which was also for Leukemia research. [/end proud mom] In other years we’ve planted trees at his favorite park, provided the funds and supplies for a family size swing in a different location at the same park, donated toys to the childrens hospital play room, and to a number of other toy drives, donated childrens books to the public library and to a couple of church libraries so this is a good fit. However, we’re in a rather difficult financial bind at this time. We like so many others have recently been asked to contribute to several fund raisers for those whose lives are so much more difficult than ours, so I am going to have to wait to closer to the race date to contribute.

I wish you all the best and a healthy, successful race.

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You donated lovely pictures of your son, Abby, and that’s a lot of support right there. I’m still working on getting Andrew’s picture on the website, but haven’t been able to do it so far. His picture (playing on the beach) and Terrence’s are on the letter I sent out to people, though.

Thanks for the donation, Scylla

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I want to make a donation, but need to wait a little bit to do it. Is there a certain date you have to have your fundraising finished?

(I want to see if the Taxman Cometh for me in a big way, to be honest.)

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The second link didn’t work for me but the original one in the OP went through just fine and it’s already sent two receipts.

My deepest condolences, Abby, to you and your family and Jill, thanks for making it possible to help.

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I have to be at least close by March 15th. Thanks for your support… I hope the tax man comes (in a good way) for you and me both! (That didn’t sound right.)

Remember, all donations are tax deductible, too.

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Sent my donation letters out to everybody in my address book, so hope to get some responses. The letter includes pictures of Andrew playing on the beach and of Terrence with his little daughter, Aisha. So far I have four people to include in my post-victory toast, and one of them is in the sponsorship category ($100) that receives a mystery gift. She’s an artist who sometimes incorporates religious icons into her art, so I sent her a catfish bone from Trinidad and Tobago that looks exactly like Jesus on the cross. (I prolly should have tried to sell that on ebay). Donate $100 and see what weirdness I will send You!

TRAINING UPDATE
Sunday (6 miles) - we went for our first training run with the group. There were about 45 people at the start, but they split up into walkers and bicyclists who are training
for other events, beginning runners, and our more experienced group of 10 that
planned to run farther.

We ran on a bike path west of town, and just before crossing a bridge over the Rio Grande, we saw a flock of sandhill cranes in a fallow alfalfa field. They are fantastic and huge. Blur your eyes a little and they look like sheep. Some of the few endangered Whooping Cranes that visit New Mexico can occasionally be seen traveling with the Sandhills, because the W.Crane eggs are placed in S. Crane nests for them to raise (to help improve their survival odds).

The path followed the river for awhile, up on a bank above adobe houses with tin roofs. There were many horses and goats, emus in one yard, llamas in
another, and three dromedary camels in another! Where do you get camels?

Sunny and cool with a panoramic view of the mountains. A couple of guys came running by and said hi, and I said to the woman running next to me, “He had kind of a Pierce Brosnan-thing going on.” She said, “Oh, Pierce Brosnan… I had such a crush on him when I was a little girl!” Huh. When Pierce Brosnan was a little boy, I was probably old enough to be his babysitter. Then I didn’t feel so bad for being one of the slower runners in my group.

Tuesday (5 miles) - Started out in winter darkness this morning with my running partner and our dogs - her friendly, smart but disturbed blue heeler (who snaps at buses and trucks) and my three-legged dog from Trinidad. We did five miles over to and around the golf course, where, as the sun came up, we spotted a jack rabbit and a roadrunner. What do roadrunners eat in the wintertime when all the lizards and such are hibernating?

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Thanks for your donation, Lieu! It looks like it only went through once, so don’t worry about the double receipt.

Here is a picture of Terrence, my local patient teammate: http://www.teamintraining.org/graphics/new_mexico/Terrence_Nelsonweb.doc

I’ll try to get the picture of Andrew up on my website. Still fiddling with it…

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Thanks for your donation, Phelan, on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If anyone would like to pledge now and pay later - say, counting on the TaxMan - that’ll work, too. I’m hoping to raise $3500 and I’m 10% there!

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That’s great! Please keep us posted about your training and ongoing fundraising efforts.

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There have been some cold, dark mornings, some intestinal problems (and lucky for you, I’m not one of those “TMI” people, though I’d love to discuss this issue at length and in detail with any of you who are runners and like to talk about this kind of thing), and - on the brighter side - views of the sunrise over the snow covered Sandia mountains, roadrunners (the other kind), good conversation, and a joyful dog along who is only getting warmed up at the ten mile mark. And Garcia’s Mexican Kitchen for huevos rancheros after the Sunday runs.

Thank you to those who have offered support and donations online and in the mail. Check out my website: I’ve raised 45% of my goal amount so far. It’s easy and fun to donate online and watch the thermometer go up… Try it! A number of people have also given me names of people they would like me to honor by wearing them on my tee shirt during the marathon.

I’m sorry about the screwed-up structure of that last sentence. I struggled with it for a few minutes, but now it’s time to go make chicken curry.

Thanks again for your support.

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Thanks to my generous friends here and elsewhere, I’ve raised more than $4000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in memory of Andrew and in honor of Terrence. Many people who donated asked me to honor or remember their friends, family or loved ones who were lost to - or continue to fight - one of these blood cancers. I will wear their names on my race shirt. We ran 11 miles this Sunday and I feel like somebody beat me up. I’m lucky to be healthy, though, and to have a view of the snow-frosted Sandia mountains while I run! - Jill

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Looks like you’re currently at $4,143. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Actually now $4,673. !