Today I spent the day in New York City. I always love visiting, but today had added significance. Today's trip was a fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. With two buses filled with friends both new and old, we raised $1850 toward the fight against blood cancer.
When we arrived in New York, I couldn't wait to see the new musical ROCKY (How could I resist, given my own name?!). In the musical as well as the movie, Rocky's main goal isn't to destroy Apollo Creed. Instead, he wants to GO THE DISTANCE. He wants to make it to the end of the fight knowing that he stuck with it all the way.
I know another guy like Rocky. When I was in high school I took martial arts classes. One of my instructors and role models was a black belt named David Burns. At the time, he was already a two-time cancer survivor. This afternoon I found out that he lost his life just last month to Leukemia after a 23-year battle. 23 YEARS. And throughout that time, he never stopped educating and inspiring those around him.
For me, it puts things in perspective. Like Apollo Creed, like leukemia, and like so many of the challenges that we face, life can hit hard. But we have a Rocky Balboa inside of all of us. And whether our fight is 15 rounds (like Rocky) or 23 years (like Burns), there is much to be said for having the heart to keep standing in that ring.
I offer my sincere THANKS to those that spent their day with me today in New York City because today YOU were in that ring with me. Gloves on, mouth guards in, and full of HEART to continue the fight against cancer. Let's go the distance.
Great blog post, Adrienne! Your perpetual spunkiness and the constant smile you have on your face is always an inspiration to me! Giving to this cause both last year and this year is near and dear to my heart because back in 1970 at the young age of 36 my mother lost her 9 month battle to an acute form of Leukemia. She left behind my brother who was age 10 at that time and me, a 12 year old (who was one month shy of turning 13). Without a doubt It was hard going from being a kid to surrogate mother, chief, cook and bottle washer overnight. However, if there was a silver lining in any of it, I would have to say three things........I was fortunate enough to be assigned a permanent guardian angel all these years, that life holds no guarantees and most important, I gained strength through adversity! Keep up the blog, I totally enjoyed reading this first of what hopefully will be many more to come! :-)
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