I have been participating in the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk since 2012, and I’ve been Team Captain of the Maurine and Patrick’s Troopers team since 2014.
The main reason I walk is for my late sister-in-law Maurine Turcotte. Maurine lost her almost 6 year battle with breast cancer on April 22, 2013 at age 51. Even though Maurine lived with the disease all that time, it was hard to imagine that it would eventually take her life. She was one of the most positive and optimistic people you would ever meet. She left behind so many people who loved her, including the three most important, her husband Jim (my younger brother) and her sons Dylan and Tyler who were 15 and 13 when she passed. Those three guys will always and forever miss her, as will everyone whose life she touched. I spent a lot of time with Maurine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for doctor appointments, chemotherapy and radiation treatment and various blood tests and scans. So I got to see firsthand the incredible treatment she received.
My Aunt and namesake Lynda Bushey also passed away from breast cancer over 20 years ago and my Mother was a 14 year breast cancer survivor until her passing on December 14, 2014. Sadly on March 31, 2015 I lost a friend of 30 years, Kathy Garnett to lung cancer. It’s all around us and everyone has been touched by someone who has survived or succumbed to this horrific disease. So I walk in memory of the loved ones we lost and to raise money and awareness in order to help anyone diagnosed in the future. I would love nothing more but to see a cure in my lifetime. Once again, all of the funds raised by our team for this year’s Walk will go directly to support the research of Dr. Harold Burstein of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Burstein was the oncologist who treated Maurine and I have much admiration for him.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support.
