New Blogger

It's been awhile since I blogged. Hello again.

On several fronts, things are improving. My work is great. Kathryn is doing great in school, and so is Will. Kathryn is playing volleyball now, while Will is into lacrosse. He scored two goals last night. I still run, seven miles last Sunday and four yesterday morning.

Dori's absence hits me in waves. Most of the time, I am fine, my normal laughing engaged self. Church has been wonderful. Our priest's homilies are home runs every weekend. Last week, he talked about death and grieving, which obviously resonated with most folks and certainly me. Death is not the end, but the beginning. That doesn't make coping with loss easy. But I do feel her presence, and often, her guiding smile. I miss her so much, more than ever.

My friend Jim Asker has started a campaign to raise $100,000 with his friend Ted. They're going to run the New York Marathon in November. Jim's blog is now permanently linked to the left, but here's an excerpted take on Dori's influence on who he is and what he's doing about cancer. Jim says some very nice things about us, but really this post is all about what an amazing man he is.

... Bumping into those runners has had me thinking a lot about my friend Dori Brown. Dori was training with 'Gilda's Gang' at about this same time last year--when she was hit with a [2nd] relapse of leukemia. Dori was a fighter like no other. She passed away on June 7th, 2011, after a heroic and gallant battle. She was [43].

Dori and I were 'Honored Teammates' at the same time for TNT. She loved Gilda's [Club] but she also loved TNT--we both had that in common too.

When I saw Dori's husband Jim, also a very good friend, and a TNT Alumni, at the services, I felt consumed with 'survivor's guilt.' What happened to Dori was not fair-she fought not once but 3 times. And she went through hell not once but 3 times. It makes me sad but also angry.

This year before one of our Saturday Group Training Sessions, my TNT Wilco Team got to hear Jim give an amazing 'mission moment.' Mainly it was about Dori, but also about continuing the fight. So one day no one else will suffer from this horrible sickness. Jim is also a very amazing human being.

Dori was a fighter but she was also a giver--and right to the end. Her last email to me, just a few days before she passed, ended with a simple plea, "please keep raising money so people don't continue to suffer."

I took that email very seriously-and not only will I continue raising money- but also keep talking about Dori and Jim- as they defined the spirit of wearing Purple and running for TNT. I think about them every time I slip into one of those Purple jerseys. And I feel like I have been tasked with keeping Dori’s spirit alive, at least within the ranks of TNT. They need to know. ...