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You are here: Home / Archives for Pan Mass Challenge

July 11, 2014 by admin

Which “Stand by Me” character were you?

“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”

That’s the last line from the movie,Stand By Me, which starred the late River Phoenix and pre-Star Trek/Big Bang Theory’s Will Wheaton. A copywriter friend and I were discussing that last line and how friendships can take a turn after you become teenagers and start hanging out with people with whom you have more in common than what class you are in or where you live.

We both agreed we were more like the Will Wheaton character. He played the writer who, following the death of one of his boyhood friends, reminisces about an adventure he and his crew had in retrieving a dead body on the outskirts of town. While none of my friends resembled the River Phoenix’ character, Chris, my friend said one of his buddies did.

The friend was still very much alive, though he’d recently been dealt a setback—cancer. Yet as my copywriter friend talked about his boyhood friend, the similarities were astounding. His friend was a protector of the weak. He’d stand up to bullies who picked on friends. Neighborhood legend has it he once got in the middle of a shouting match between an inebriated husband and his wife. Again, protecting those who could protect themselves.

In Stand by Me, the River Phoenix character, as an adult, was stabbed breaking up a fight. My friend said he remembered his buddy being involved in a fight against somebody with a knife—actually two people. He fared a little better than the River Phoenix character, knocking the knife to the ground and delivering a pretty healthy beating.

“What about the other characters from the movie? Did you guys have anybody like that in your crew?” I asked.

My friend said he and his buddy used to hang out with his younger cousins.  They didn’t have their cousin’s courage, but made up for it in loyalty—just like the characters in the movie.

“So what other types of adventures did you guys have? Any dead bodies?”

My friend responded no. Mostly just fun hanging out and doing the things kids did when you were that age: street hockey, skating on frozen ponds, sledding, pick-up wiffle ball games, playing catch with the Frisbee in the front yard.

“Sounds nice,” I say.

“It was,” he said.

As the conversation started to lag, I asked how his friend was doing now.

“Don’t really know. Haven’t seen him in a while. Like I said, we kind of stopped hanging out after a while during school and we lost track over the years. But I’ll tell you one thing. Cancer picked the wrong guy.”

The look in my friend’s eyes when he said that sent a bit of a chill down my spine. But I could see the devotion not of a middle-aged man, but of a 12-year-old boy whose buddy had been delivered a pretty significant blow. It was the look of somebody a little scared but confident that the boy he viewed as a hero would whip cancer the way he stood up to neighborhood bullies.

It made me think of my own friends from childhood and how true that line from Stand By Me was. And it’s yet another reason why on August 2, I’ll be riding a bicycle from Wellesley to Bourne to raise $3200 or more for the Jimmy Fund/Dana Farber as part of the Pan Mass Challenge.

If you like to remember a friend you lost to cancer, there are few better ways than donation to a Pan Mass Challenge rider. One hundred percent of your donation will go to the Jimmy Fund/Dana Farber. That’s right, 100 percent. Make your donation today.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Pan Mass Challenge, Team Kinetic Karma

June 20, 2014 by admin

The card lady

Barbara Schmitz, the Card Lady

My mother recently made a donation to my Pan Mass Challenge ride. Since she and Dad had already made a very generous donation, I asked why.  She said it was in honor of her recently deceased classmate, Barbara Schmitz of Jefferson City, Missouri.

Barbara passed away on May 8, 2014, another beautiful soul claimed by cancer.

Her obituary was a touching tribute to her life, her devotion to God, family and friends. Yet one thing jumped out at me. Barbara was affectionately known as The Card Lady.

Without knowing her or having it explained, I knew exactly what that meant. She was the type of person who never missed the opportunity to send a card to cheer a friend or family up. I’m guessing the Card Lady never missed sending a birthday card either.

I think every family has or should have a card person. We have one in our family. Aunt Peggy. At our house, your birthday celebration can’t begin until you receive your card from Aunt Peggy. There’s no money, gift card or anything of monetary value in the card. Just love. It’s always on time and it’s priceless.

Aunt Peggy lost both her husband and son to cancer.

Card ladies (gentlemen) are some of the sweetest, most beautiful people the Creator put on this earth.

Cancer doesn’t care.

If there’s somebody you lost to this insidious disease, there are few better ways to honor them than a donation to Pan Mass Challenge. One hundred percent of donations generated by riders go to Dana Farber/Jimmy Fund. That’s right, 100 percent!

Card ladies cannot be replaced. Yet their spirit inspires others to carry on that tradition.

We’re lucky in my family. My nephew is engaged to a girl who has that spirit, that caring. Though not officially in the family, she never misses a birthday. No one will ever replace my mother’s friend Barbara or Aunt Peggy (and we pray that’s a long time down the road). But life is so much nicer with a Card Lady in it.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Pan Mass Challenge

May 31, 2014 by admin

Teammates

Robert Hagearty

My father had a habit of saying, “I ran into a teammate of yours” and made me guess who. I never quite understood why he didn’t just say who he ran into. Was it a Mr. Miyagi thing where he was teaching me something? I didn’t think so at the time. Now, I’m not so sure.

I was recently on Facebook when I read a post about the brother of a former teammate of mine. He had died of cancer. I didn’t really know him all that well. He was a quiet guy, who was about three or four years older than me. His brother Dan was my teammate and the news of his brother’s passing hit me like a ton of bricks.

Was it the shock of somebody being cut down in their relative prime by the insidious disease of cancer? Maybe. Was it because I knew how close Dan was to his brother based nothing on nothing more than my observations in high school and Dan’s Facebook posts. Perhaps.

Yet what I kept coming back to was one simple thought: Dan was my teammate and my teammate was now hurting.

That might sound a bit strange considering I really haven’t seen Dan that much since high school, with the exception of a reunion basketball game a few years ago. Yet what that game taught me was that the people who I called teammates have a special place in my heart. Always have and always will, no matter what the frequency of contact over the years.

Maybe that’s what Dad was trying to teach me. That that the people who I played sports with have a special place in my life. You didn’t necessarily have to be best of friends. But sharing a common goal gave us a bond that would last forever.  As I have found with so many things, Dad was right.

So, I’m hurting for my teammate. And I have added his brother Robert as one more person who will join me on the Pan Mass Challenge in August.

I don’t know when the evil of cancer will stop claiming the lives of those we love. But I do know that only together, as teammates, can we beat it. And that happens one dollar at a time.

If you would like to be part of that team, please go to my Pan Mass Challenge page. Every cent is appreciated and a smile is guaranteed with your donation.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Pan Mass Challenge

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