Today was the most beautiful hike we have had so far as we got to experience a variety of scenery changes all along the way. We hiked through a canyon that was recovering from fire damage from a fire that occurred a few years ago. It was now a very green area with creek bridges leading to an area with pitted sandstone cliffs carved to look like we were standing on Mars. We then hiked out of the canyon to a very high ridge that overlooked the entire valley we had just hiked through. It almost made us forget that the hike began in a McDonald’s parking lot.
That parking lot was actually the most special part of today’s hike as it was my turn to give a “mission moment” to the team. A mission moment is a weekly story about someone who has been affected by leukemia or cancer told by any given member of our team which is meant to give the team motivation, inspiration, and a reminder of why we are working so hard physically and on our fundraising. As readers of this blog are well aware, Stacy and I are hiking in memory of our friend Danny. I told a story about how we always use to randomly run into Danny at Pearl Jam and Bad Religion concerts.
The first time I ever ran into Danny at a concert was when my friend Steve (who lived in Vegas) and I were at a Pearl Jam show. Steve had the great idea to sneak down into the pit area when security wasn’t looking. I followed his lead and I was home free, but Steve was not so lucky. He was taken away by security and I was alone in the pit, in Vegas, with no ride or knowledge of how to get to Steve’s house where I was staying that night. I decided to enjoy the show and worry about my situation later. While in the pit, who do I run into? Danny! Coincidentally, he knew how to get to Steve’s house. The story had a happy ending when Steve was let go by security and snuck into the pit a second time, this time successfully, to catch up with us and enjoy the rest of the show.
The point of my story (aside from Danny saving my life that night in Vegas) was that there was a certain predictability about when and where you might run into Danny. The flip side of that coin was that it was completely unpredictable when he was diagnosed with leukemia. Ironically, Danny was diagnosed with leukemia the day after I went to another Pearl Jam show with him years later. My mission statement to the team was that the disease is completely indiscriminate and unpredictable and that we are participating in Team In Training so that we can raise funds to be put toward research to find a cure to make remission a predictable outcome for future leukemia patients.
If you would like to help make this possible, please donate at our purple “Team Lost Dogs” widget located in the top right-hand corner of this blog. We thank you for any and all support you give us!
Phil
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