Freedom and Abandon

It is a gorgeous day in Philadelphia, and all I want to do is go for a long run along the Skuykill. With my blood count diving by the hour, I don’t think I’d get very far. Otis and I just went for a few laps around the block, and that was about all I could handle. But by early next week I’ll be back in the gym, falling asleep on the stationary bike.

Last night Jacqui and I attended the inaugural meeting of the Lymphoma Research Foundation’s brand-spanking-new Delaware Valley/Philadelphia Chapter. It felt liberating getting out of the house, and even better doing it for a great cause.

As I’ve mentioned a few times in the blog, I have taken on the leadership of the new chapter, and am very much looking forward to raising money for lymphoma research, providing a haven of support for lymphoma patients and their families, and educating the public about the disease.

Around fifteen people attended the meeting, which for everyone in the room was filled with emotion. Not all of us there were now or have been lymphoma patients, but around that table we were all lymphoma survivors, having survived the physical and psychological rigors of the disease, or shared in those rigors with a loved one, a friend, a colleague. No matter how much all of us wished, in some unreal way, that we could be there simply as casual observers, or even wished we were home with the freedom and abandon to have our minds on other matters, I believe that together we shall do extraordinary things in the coming months, years, and decades. To do any less would be failure.

So I put all of you on alert: come to a meeting in Philly to show your support or attend an LRF meeting in your city (and if there is none, consider starting a chapter), plan on volunteering at an event in the coming years, or donate to this important cause. In a few days I will have a direct link from baldmike.com to the LRF website. But for now, you can find out how to do all of these things at:

http://www.lymphoma.org/site/pp.asp?c=bfIKIVMIG&b=36832