The other night, while surfing around on Facebook, I found my high school Journalism teacher…who is celebrating his 40th year of teaching. OH MY! Feeling a bit nostalgic, I began surfing for classmates. I found a few, but I was having difficulty in finding a current phone number for my best friend from high school, Kathy. Because we had talked around our 30 year reunion time, I knew that I would ultimately find her number in one of my old address books, or in a past email, so I was not very concerned.
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The very next day, out of the blue, I received an email from her. Kathy was, is and always be…and athlete. She has run the Boston Marathon and has run in many charity races, so it was no surprise that her email explained that she is planning to participate in a 150 mile bike ride to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. I emailed her to wish her well and she responded that we needed to catch up with a phone call. I was not prepared for what that phone call revealed.
As we shared “pleasantries” I soon learned that she has fallen on hard times. She shared that in the past two years, aside from death, she has experienced every conceivable tragedy one woman could possibly could. It would not be appropriate for me to share the specific details, but she is now single, last year was laid off from her perfect job of 15 years…which resulted in the most extreme kind of financial devastation, and had a major medical scare. But, that is not the end of it. Like I said she is an athlete, and for several days during her daily athletic training for a marathon, she began having some symptoms that were believed to be attributed to an electrolyte inbalance. Within three days of her symptoms, she was diagnosed with MS. Upon hearing this terrible news, my heart sank. I wanted to cry…but you know what….she….all 5′2″ of her……was smiling (yes, I could tell it over the phone) and happy and looking forward to participating in the bike ride. With her debilitating disease limiting her ability to participate in all of the activities she loves, she was still as chipper as always.
So often, when people who have had as much happen in such a short period of time, attitudes are not of a giving nature. Not Kathy—she continues with her life of giving…even when so much has been taken from her. It is an honor to say I know this person. Having said all of that…..I would like to share the link to Kathy’s MS Bike Ride page so that you can read her own thoughts on the disease and the ride …HERE. Kathy’s goal is to raise $2500 for her ride. Yes, I know that money is tight for most everyone right now, but any amount you could spare to donate to the MS Society on behalf of Kathy’s brave 150 mile bicycle ride. Remember that even the smallest contribution is appreciated and helps Kathy reach her goal.
