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10/18/2007 09:01:15 PM · #1 |
To everyone who supported me (financially and/or with prayers and good wishes) for the 2007 MS Challenge Walk:
On behalf of myself, my walk team, all the people living with multiple sclerosis for whom (and, in many cases, with whom) I was walking, and the family and friends who care about them, I offer you my sincerest thanks for your support of my efforts for this very worthy cause. Your generosity helped me to contribute $2,113 to the MS Society - a new personal best. My team Pam's Posse, was the largest team (20 members) and the top fundraising team ($46,493.35) at the walk. In total, the Challenge Walk raised well over $600,000 - money that will not only fund research into the root cause of MS, new treatments, and, ultimately, a cure, but also money that will fund services which immediately benefit people living with MS today. You are the heroes of this walk, because at the end of the day, it is not my act of walking, but your generosity, that makes all the research and services possible.
As to the walk itself, I probably came out of it hurting physically more than I ever have before -- due in part to the fact that I didn't get a massage Saturday night after walking (I usually do), and also that they changed the Sunday route, which ended up being a bit more strenuous than I expected. By the time I had gotten home from the walk and through most of Monday, I couldn't get up and down steps or in and out of bed without holding onto something (and leaning most of my weight on whatever I was holding on to). Today was the first day I was able to wear dress shoes instead of sneakers. It's all a matter of perspective, though -- for a lot of people living with MS, the way I felt Monday would be a pretty good day. I'm fortunate enough to have been able to count on the fact that I would feel a little better on Tuesday, and a little better than that yesterday, and so on. On the other hand, MS means not knowing what to expect from one day to the next.
If you've never been involved with an event list this, I highly encourage you to try it once. It's a very different experience than your usual 4-mile walk or 5K/10K run. While those types of events are often dominated by corporate teams (which is great as that does a lot to raise awareness), the corporate teams are almost nonexistent at something like this. The Challenge Walk is almost entirely close friends and family of people with MS, or even people who have MS themselves. The personal connections are very real -- and the sense of camaraderie that comes from that common background, combined with the common experience of the walk itself, is something that can't be described. Each year, I usually have at least a few "aha" moments -- which is my name for moments that make you really understand what the walk is all about. Feel free to ask me about them if you're interested.
It will probably surprise no one that I'm already signed up for the 2008 Challenge Walk. This thread is about saying thanks, though, and not about soliciting donations, so enough about that -- I mention it only to provide the context when I say thank you for inspiring me to keep going. Together, we will find a cure.
Thanks,
~Terry |
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10/18/2007 09:04:17 PM · #2 |
Congratulations Terry. It is people like you that make the bad apples in this world seem so insignificant.
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10/18/2007 09:08:53 PM · #3 |
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10/18/2007 09:10:18 PM · #4 |
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10/18/2007 09:14:50 PM · #5 |
| Terry, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are my personal hero. |
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10/18/2007 09:15:29 PM · #6 |
Thanks Terry - being one of those who doesn't know what each day brings - I really appreciate your efforts.
Thankfully, today was a good day...
Peter |
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10/19/2007 07:42:32 AM · #7 |
*bump to thank the daytime folks, too*
Message edited by author 2007-10-19 07:42:49. |
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10/19/2007 05:11:27 PM · #8 |
bump to thank the evening folks, too
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