As most of you know, this past June I signed up for the Walt Disney World Half Marathon as a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America’s Team Challenge (team challenge national team - Walt Disney). Last Wednesday night, I found out that I only had until November 19th to raise the full amount for the half marathon that I am training for. It couldn’t have come at a worse time –missing Linny more than ever during the holidays, I was having a hard enough time with understanding life and what it’s all about. Now I was starting to lose hope on the one thing that made me feel like I had a purpose (besides my family). Having only raised half of the required amount, fundraising was harder than I had thought – and clearly I had underestimated the impact Linny had on our success. Also, I became aware that not only might there be hesitation to donate since people didn’t associate Crohn’s and Colitis with me, but that it might be assumed that your donations are paying for my trip (which it isn’t). Therefore, I’d like to explain. In June, I was talking to a friend who had been hospitalized twice in only a few months for Crohn’s and when I asked how he was feeling, he told me that not only was he good, but he was training for a half marathon. Up until that night, I hadn’t been doing great. I had been really sad and down, I had stopped working out, I was having difficulty understanding Life, and I felt lost. I didn’t know where to focus my passion that I had put towards Thyroid Hope and I so greatly wanted to support a non-cancer cause. When I heard about this Challenge, a light went off. This half marathon was doing so much more for me than I ever could have imagined: 1) it was a cause that supported friends while not being emotionally difficult; 2) it gave me a motivation to get back to the gym; and 3) it was in DISNEY! What more did I need? Over the course of the past few months, I have heard of SO MANY people with these issues and the struggles they have daily. On my first call with the CCFA Team, one individual started out saying “today was a good day.” I got choked up. I remember those times like they were yesterday – when Lindsey’s life wasn’t life but just living for those “good days.” And if people wonder why I am doing this, it goes back to my #1 reason – I want to support people and help them not only live longer lives, but live FULLER lives. The last 2 years of my sister’s life was just waiting around for the rare times she felt well enough to go out or do anything fun. Those that suffer with Crohn’s live so similarly… in fact, I spoke to a friend this weekend who has become so familiar with problem signs that going to the doctor and finding out she needs surgery is routine… SURGERY!!!! This isn’t minor… mothers and fathers having to be away from their kids for weeks, sometimes months at a time so that their doctors can figure out what is causing their pain isn’t normal… or shouldn’t be normal. This disease might not have the death rate of other diseases but not only can it be deadly, but what is living a life if you really don’t get to LIVE? Bottom line is I am so grateful to those that have supported me and regardless of my raising the minimum, I will still continue my commitment to raise money and support this cause. I WILL run in Florida in January – it might not be Orlando and might not be in Disney, but I will have my daughters dress up as princesses and my husband as Mickey and I will run 13.1 miles in support of this Foundation. I know there are a lot of places where you could donate, and I understand that you can’t support them all, but I am asking for your support – if you can’t donate, maybe just Share or Like this post or forward my link to others (active/donate/CCFADisney/WDWJBritch) as you’d probably be surprised by who suffers from these diseases and who else might benefit from my request. Thank you. xoxo
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 23:28:57 +0000
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