This past weekend I attended my normal Saturday morning training with the TEAM. After training we gathered in a high school cafeteria with the marathon teams for our Honored Teammate Picnic. Every team, every season has their own honored teammate picnic and it serves a great purpose, it reminds us why we tri (or run) (or ride). We do all of these things in the hopes that our physical exertion and fundraising will help heal ourselves and our honored teammates. The picnic consists of a short program where we learn the story of our team honored teammates followed by an open mic portion of the morning where individual participants can open up and share their stories.
It is an amazing morning shared with like-minded people but I couldn't help but feel a bit selfish as I stood and listened to my friends. I came to TEAM with a specific mission - to honor my mother and to heal my heart after loss. While that mission has expanded over the past year to helping patients and families of survivors and victims, at its root it was about me. I joined to make myself feel better. I pondered this as I spoke to person after person who "just wanted to help". These amazing individuals had no connection to blood cancer but they decided this would be a good way to help the community. They were there for me and I hope that now coming back to mentor a group of athletes, I can be there for them. That is the magic of this organization.
The picnic leads one to think of all kinds of things like this. I also couldn't help but keep tally of how many happy outcomes we have in the room. At these events there are always tears but more often than not we come back to a smile, a hug, a thank you and then eventually a run, a swim and a ride. Why do I tri? I tri for MommaSaltz and I try for a future when there are only smiles and hugs and the tears are a distant memory.
It is an amazing morning shared with like-minded people but I couldn't help but feel a bit selfish as I stood and listened to my friends. I came to TEAM with a specific mission - to honor my mother and to heal my heart after loss. While that mission has expanded over the past year to helping patients and families of survivors and victims, at its root it was about me. I joined to make myself feel better. I pondered this as I spoke to person after person who "just wanted to help". These amazing individuals had no connection to blood cancer but they decided this would be a good way to help the community. They were there for me and I hope that now coming back to mentor a group of athletes, I can be there for them. That is the magic of this organization.
The picnic leads one to think of all kinds of things like this. I also couldn't help but keep tally of how many happy outcomes we have in the room. At these events there are always tears but more often than not we come back to a smile, a hug, a thank you and then eventually a run, a swim and a ride. Why do I tri? I tri for MommaSaltz and I try for a future when there are only smiles and hugs and the tears are a distant memory.