Roswell Park Cancer Institute: A Break From Golf

If you Click Here … nah, better wait to tell you where you’ll go.

About ten years ago, one of our daughters went overnight to a local hospital, for some unrecognizeable ailment. I was there, awake, without the aid of coffee, for the whole ordeal. When my wife joined me the next day, her only request was that I go to the Greek restaurant on the corner to get a bite to eat (for her … aversion to hospital food and all.) In the doorway was a flyer for the inaugural Ride For Roswell, a cycling day to raise money for Roswell Park Cancer Institute, an incredible facility here in Buffalo. I looked heavenward (man of faith that I am) and said, “You don’t have to tell me twice.” The illness turned out to be an infection of some sort, but the worry for those few hours was overwhelming, in the most literal sense of the word.

I’ve ridden in every one of the rides, going as far as 63 miles–Lance never had to worry about me as a threat. This year marks number eleven. In the last few years, the older two kids have joined me, getting a sense of what giving back means. The one who got the whole thing started with her illness will begin to ride in 2007, God willing. Her presence will be just as special as that of the other two. In 20o8, with luck, the fourth child will join us.

Now you know what click here means. Click here is an opportunity to learn more about Roswell Park, to learn more about the ride, and an opportunity (if you have a spare buck or two laying around) to donate some money to the fight against Cancer. There is no way for me to express how grateful we are for your support. In the intervening years, I’ve lost a colleague to the disease, as well as a friend. Whenever we would talk, before they passed on, they would ask about the ride. Needless to say, you’ll have to steal my bike to keep me from riding.