I am going to write this blog in two parts tonight. The first part will be short, but important, as I write from the perspective of a staff member at Eastern Iowa JDRF. The second part will be written from the perspective that I've been in since the beginning of this blog; a type 1 diabetic and the father of a type 1 diabetic.
Tonight's blog is about this past weekend and my reactions to what I witnessed and experienced.
As most of you know, this weekend our family was in LaCrosse, Wisconsin for the JDRF Ride to Cure event. Heather made the commitment months ago to participate in this century ride and as a family, we wanted to be there to support her. Little did I know, that I would be a week into my job as Development Coordinator at Eastern Iowa JDRF, so I had to wear a couple hats this weekend.
As a JDRF staff member, I spent most of the weekend soaking it all in. Listening in to conversations had between riders on "why" they were riding this weekend. I watched both the riders and the support crew. I watched the youth ambassadors and the friends and family of the riders. I was not even close to prepared for what I was a part of this weekend. I would like to share a few of those observations, but know that I can never recapture these moments through words.
I stood with my two girls at the finish line. Throughout the day, I gt text messages from Heather, letting me know where she was at in her journey. So as I anxiously waited for her to come across that finish line, I watched others complete their journey. The first encounter that struck me was when a gentleman crossed the finish line around 2pm. I have no idea who this guy was, but I knew he was riding with a pretty heavy heart. He crossed the finished line, was handed his medal and was quickly greeted by his son (who was around 14 or 15) and his wife. Not far behind them, a little girl came running towards him with a sign that read "My Dad Is My Hero". The gentleman quickly turned his focus to her and embraced her with a huge hug and kiss. It was an emotional embrace that lasted a good three minutes. The gentleman, wearing sunglasses, I could tell was holding back tears. He then got off his bike, noticed her sign, and again embraced her for a few minutes. Then, as a family, they walked away from the finish line.
"My Dad Is My Hero". What an incredible statement.
Shortly after this moment, I noticed another wave of cyclists coming towards the finish line. I noticed that one of the cyclists had pulled over about 50 yards away from the finish line. I thought to myself, "What happened?" That's when I noticed that the cyclists had spotted his youth ambassador and had waved for him to come over to him. The youth ambassador was a five year old little boy. The boy ran to the cyclists with a lot of excitement. The cyclists then lifted the boy on to his bike seat and pushed him the remaining 50 yards across the finish line. A sort of symbolism that states that "we are in this together". He also put his medal around the boys head for a keep sake.
Finally, around the corner, came Heather. Riding with her Super Taylor cape on, pictures of our family plastered all over her bike, our names written on her legs and arms with fancy hot pink tape on her helmet. She did it! She crossed the finish line. A victory for her, a victory for Taylor, a victory for Micheala, a victory for Dylanne and a victory for me. She was met by Micheala first, who gave her a giant hug. Then Dylanne met her with a little gift we had purchased for her earlier in the day. Then it was my turn.
I hugged her like I had never hugged her before.
What this meant for me was that my wife was 100% behind my purpose and vision in life. Matter of fact, it was no longer my purpose and vision...it was now our purpose and vision. She embraced the pain fr the purpose to make our lives better...to fund a cure for juvenile diabetes.
This weekend was the biggest JDRF Ride To Cure to date with over 420 registered riders. Before the start of the ride on Saturday morning, over a million dollars had already been raised. It was awesome to be a witness to so much support. It was awesome to walk through the parking lot and see all kinds of ride to cure stickers on the cars of the riders. It was neat to learn that riders from as far as New York had come to ride. The entire weekend was a complete victory.
Sunday morning, at breakfast, I heard a heartbreaking conversation from a young type 1 diabetic rider and a few strangers he was sitting with at his table. He was being counseled by those strangers because he was upset with himself. Upset that he was unable to finish the 100 ride. he had to cut his ride short because his diabetes was acting up on him. His blood sugars got to high during the ride and he was spilling keytones, preventing him from going on. The strangers were full of encouragement, telling him that he will finish next year.
It was that type of atmosphere all weekend.
I explained to our girls on Saturday morning, after their mom left the starting line, that this was our summer vacation and it was focused around helping others and giving back. They didn't seem to mind much, as I think they understand what we are trying to do as a family.
This was the best weekend of my summer. I was inspired, moved, humbled and very emotional. I watched a group of strangers come together for a cause. I watched my wife claim victory over her goal and I sensed a giant step towards a cure for type 1 diabetes.
Thank you to everyone who followed us this weekend on facebook. Your encouragement meant the world to us. Thank you to all of the riders that took their time away from their everyday lives to help us fund a cure for type 1 diabetes. Thanks to everyone who volunteered this weekend.
Lives were changed this weekend.....
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