On October 5, 2024, my best friend of over 30 years passed away from ovarian cancer. Her name was Roseann Sheehan.
Roseann was one of the kindest, funniest, smartest, most generous and wonderful humans you could ever hope to meet. And I was lucky enough to meet her my first week as a freshman at Boston College. One of our best friends, Brian, referred to Ro, me, Tricia, Helen and Colleen as the Fab Five. We weren't all that fabulous per se but when you were with us, you knew you would have a fabulous time. Especially when Ro was there. Roseann had the BEST laugh. As I often say, when I could make her laugh, it felt like winning the lottery.
Roseann was also an incredible athlete, earning First Time All Big East honors for softball at BC. Frankly, Ro could do anything she put her mind to. She was the definition of grit, grace and resiliency. And she put her mind to running the NYC Marathon in 2005 which, of course, she slayed.
After she was diagnosed earlier in 2024, she and I made a pact that we'd run a marathon together in 2025. And we all started to refer to Ro as being "Ro-silient" so we just knew we would ring that bell and cross a finish line together.
So, armed with her trademark brand of ''ro-siliency", this April, I will join the rest of the Dana-Farber team in running the 129th Boston Marathon® in her memory. The Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team runs and raises funds, with 100% of every dollar raised supporting the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
I appreciate your support, whatever you can give. Roseann leaves an incredible legacy and I plan to make her proud. I know she'll be with me on April 21, 2025.
Thank You.
