Friday, July 17, 2009

Wings of Hope

My friend Kate Ersevim is running her first marathon this fall - the Hartford Marathon on October 10, 2009. Kate is running in honor of her hero (and son!) Thomas Ersevim who is one of the coolest 4th graders I've ever met. Thomas spent all of third grade fighting cancer. He recently completed treatments and is currently cancer-free.

I wrote several months ago about how a passing encounter with Kate and Thomas brought me to my knees and caused me to rethink some priorities. It was nothing either of them said or did, and frankly in the grand scheme of all the Ersevim family encountered last year, they're probably completely unaware of their impact on me. But their influence has caused me to be more patient, more forgiving, less aware of MYself and more able to see others' perspectives. More prayerful, too. So if you're reading, Michael, Kate, Christopher, Thomas, thank you.

Kate's marathon effort is in honor of the Great Mr. Thomas Ersevim, and also as part of team Wings of Hope. Wings of Hope is a very special effort to run and raise funds for a new, state-of-the-art Clinical Care Center for Cancer and Other Blood Disorders at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. If you are able, please join me in making a donation to Kate's fundraising goal. Here is a link to her webpage: http://www.wingsofhope.kintera.org/kersevim

Note the wonderful picture of Kate, Thomas and Christopher. Such a lovely photo of LIFE, LOVE and PEACE. Totally brought tears to my eyes this morning. Thanks for sharing it Kate!