It’s been about two years now and while it’s gotten a little easier, I still miss my dad every day. From the time dad was diagnosed until the end, he saw the positive in everything. Despite being given only 6 months to live, he knew there was a bigger plan for him and we were lucky to have had 2 years after that initial diagnosis thanks to the medical treatment and support he was able to access in Boston.
He was always the first person I’d want to call to share exciting news or to talk through a problem. Now when I call my mom, she says “what would Dad have said?” I was living half way around the world in Hong Kong when he was diagnosed in January 2020. Thanks to Covid, I was able to work remotely from the US and got more time with him on those final two years than I had in the last 10. I will never regret a minute of that time at home, but when you have a dad as great as mine, it will never feel like enough.
I knew last year that running in his memory and sharing my grief so publicly was going to be hard. I used running to help emotionally deal with my mother’s strokes starting back in 2008 when I ran my first marathon in her honor for Tedy’s team for the American Stroke Association and it completely changed my life. Its always been more than a race. It’s been incredible from the friends I’ve made along this journey, the places I never imagined I’d travel to and the impact of the $150,000 I’ve raised for the Stroke Association ($120,000) and Dana Farber ($29,000) has blown me away! I knew that the initial pain of opening up would be worth it as I shared the grief with others and found my way back to myself, my goals and the running community.
My goal is to run Boston 2024 as my 40th marathon in my dad’s memory. I’m currently at 38 with plans to run the Tokyo marathon on March 3rd. My goal is to raise $26,200 for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to support life saving cancer research so they can help prevent other families from going through what we’ve been through and to honor my dad’s memory.
Since last year, people close to me continue to be impacted by this awful disease. My Uncle Bob was diagnosed, treated and is now cancer free, a close friend from college has early stage leukaemia, and another friend from college’s husband was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. They have two small children.
The 2023 Dana-Farber Boston marathon team raised $7.8 million last year. All of this money goes directly towards funding life saving research and has contributed to major advances in cancer treatments. This year alone, a new trial for pancreatic cancer is underway. The treatment is focused on reducing the risk of the cancer coming back after surgery removed the tumor which is what happened to my dad. My dad dealt with so much pain from all of his 54 rounds of chemo, 10 sessions of radiation and two surgeries in the hopes of a breakthrough like this that could save his life. Funding this new research matters.
Thank you for all of the love and support for me and my family these last few years. It has meant the world to me!
