Christian

...and that’s OK. How can life be the same after something like loosing your Mom, especially when you’re young. It often seems like this country is obsessed with “moving on” and “getting back to normal” and terrified of grief but I think that’s fundamentally flawed. Grief is incredibly important and it’s OK if lasts for years.

My Mom died of brain cancer and my little sister died of an auto-immune disease. 5 years later I developed both cancer and an autom-immune disease and the way my mom and sister dealt with their hardships, with grace and courage, is what gave me strength to stay alive and I’m sure when the time comes die with dignity. They may not be around now but their effect on me and who i am and how i experience life has been long lasting.

I’ve wanted to do this since I moved to Seattle in 2001. I used to be a bike messenger in New York City and have also done some coaching of triathaletes to help them improve their cycling.

However, since moving here I’ve had cancer twice which has always sidelined me. I wanted to do it this year but have recently been diagnosed with cancer for a 3rd time.

Two weeks ago I figured “screw it!” Who cares if I have cancer, had to have surgery again, and am going through chemo…I’m going to do the STP anyway! Yahoooo!

I even started a blog about it at:

http://www.asphaltdream.org

Portland here I come!

I’m married and me and my wife are financially indendent, and it sure is liberating. It’s also given my wife Jenn the chance to go back to school and explore other career options in different healing modalities.

All the hard work in school being a nerd sure did pay off! :)