Presenting My Honored Teammate!

In the last month there was some particularly upsetting news in my family that came as quite a shock to us. Coincidentally enough, while I was beginning my preparations to start the battle of training for a marathon my little 7 year-old cousin Sarah was fighting her own much bigger battle with Lymphoma. For some reason or another the news of this hadn't traveled to our side of the family and unbeknownest to us this had been going on for over a year. It is so crazy to me that I signed up to raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society on a whim, to help me train for a marathon and ultimately my actions have a much broader and personal effect in the end. My race is now more than ever more important to me and the cause that I am running for is more personal and intimate. I now have my own Honored Teammate that I will be running for and I will dedicate every step of my 26.2 miles to Sarah and her fight with Lymphoma. Not only her fight but the strength of her entire family throughout this ordeal because she couldn't have endured without their everlasting support and love.
Sarah and I met for the first time a few weeks back and she left a lasting impression on me and a lasting smile on my face. It is so silly that I hadn't met her before but Georgia is a lot farther than you think when people are so caught up in their own lives. My grandmother was the reason we always went back to visit and with her gone we just hadn't in too long. My cousin Holly has raised two wonderful children and they are both so strong to have made it through Sarah's illness. When we got together in July Sarah had just gotten a clean bill of health from her doctors and her treatments were for the most part finished, for now at least. Her hair was just starting to grow back and to her delight and surprise it was coming in a beautiful light blond and gorgeous just like her mother's! To think that she was going through so much at such a young age is just incredible and she is wise well beyond her 7 years. She talked about her cancer as if she had nothing to fear and it was but just a tiny blip in her childhood, easily dismissible. I know that it certainly wasn't and it was a tough road for the whole family, but the fact that she was so strong and she continues to be so optimistic makes me know she will overcome this cancer wholey and completely.

I am honored to be running for Sarah and I only hope that I can be as strong as she is and make her as proud of me as I am of her.
(pictures of Sarah to come!)