Kathleen's Adventures

I do not think I can even begin to do this story justice, but I have to share it.  As I sit here trying to describe it, all I find are tears - no words.  Tears for a family I have never met.  A pain in my heart for a family I will most likely never know.  I'm finding it unbelievable that Sarah is gone.  Less than a week ago she was video blogging, happy to be home from the hospital.  I'm not sure if anyone knew how soon she would be going to her eternal home.  I can say, without doubt, that I have never known someone so full of grace, faith, and courage as Sarah.  Even in the darkest moments, she always had her eyes and heart on the bigger picture, on God's plan for her.  She led thousands of blog followers through her battle over the last several months.  She showed sheer humility in the presence of the Lord and taught us all far more than we ever expected. Below is the blog post Sarah's husband, Eric, posted early Monday mornin...

Cancer still sucks . Please keep Greg and his family in your prayers, especially on Friday.  He's having surgery to remove a tumor in his back.  Please pray the surgery goes well and that they are able to rid him of cancer once and for all.  Cancer already took his wife two years ago - it doesn't get to take him too. I came across Sarah's blog on a friend's facebook page yesterday and spent nearly two hours reading and listening to/watching.  Sarah is a young, beautiful newlywed currently in the fight of her life.  Please pray for her and her family - she still has a LOT of joy to spread and needs a full lifetime to do so.

Enough about me, now for my friends.  I have obviously been somewhat MIA on my blog, but recently I've also been MIA on all my friends' blogs.  Wow - they have done a lot - and I want to share! Liz had a smokin' PR at the Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon. Jeremy just took care of some "unfinished business" at IMCDA.  Jeremy was hit by a car training for his first half ironman in 2007.  It was bad.  But, in true ironheart fashion, he not only came back, but came back at twice the distance of that race he was training for.  He had not yet done a half ironman by the time CDA came along - he wanted to "finish what he started" three years ago in a GRAND way.  And that, he did. His hometown newspaper also wrote a nice article about his journey the week before his race.  I'm sure that was no pressure or anything! Greg .  This one really needs a post of its own, and hopefully it will get one soon.  Greg was married to Stephanie Johnson....

My Aunt Linda died five years ago today. I had completely forgotten about it until Augie posted this . I am in disbelief the day almost came and went without me even acknowledging it. I was on a high because I broke 12 min/miles tonight on my run, completely self-consumed, oblivious about what day it was. I always get it mixed up though and think it was the 23rd, but that was the day she was buried; she died on the 22. December 22, 2003. I will never forget that phone call, or the long, dark, silent car ride with my dad that night to Waco. Aunt Linda was my mom's only sister and her life-long best friend. My mom said for the longest time after she died she would walk in the house and pick up the phone to call her to tell her some good news or just to talk, and would then remember that Linda wouldn't be at the other end of that phone line. I hate cancer. It sucks. I do love my family and friends dearly and than God each night for all the wonderful things I have in my lif...

Just over 2 months ago, Greg Johnson stood before a few hundred of his closest friends and family and proclaimed that he was the luckiest man on the face of the earth. Why? some may ask - especially considering his wife Stephanie had just died a few days earlier? He proclaimed he was the luckiest man for being married to Stephanie and for being able to live the life he had with her and their 3 wonderful children. I am still in awe of Greg's courage throughout Stephanie's entire battle, and it shone brighter than ever as he stood up in front of the church, proudly dressed in his best pink shirt, to address the mourning audience and ensure them that he would not only be ok , but that he considers himself the luckiest man. Wow. The courage he has shown would not have been out there without the love that they shared for each other. It was that love that was able to let Greg stand up there and say he was the luckiest man in the world. It is that love that will keep his head up throu...

Wow - what a day. I will start off by saying I should have volunteered for the adult race, but didn't because I didn't want to go up there by myself early this morning and there was no reason for my sister's family to head up there that early. I was waiting to see if someone would go with me and that was dumb - I should have just gone anyway. I missed the opening ceremony and wished I had been there for that. All that aside, we left my apartment around 7:15 and made the mandatory trip to Kolache Factory before heading up to Spring for Kate and Molly's race. It was supposed to start at 9, but things were running pretty late and they didn't end up starting until after 10. The weather was nice though, so that was ok. Kate approached her first triathlon like a champ. She was so brave beforehand and soooo excited to be there. Molly was a little more reserved, since she is a pro at all of this now. Molly was ahead of Kate in line, so she swam first. She looked strong ...

I'm losing track of how many times I've had to post that cancer sucks. Another person on my cancer prayer list lost her battle Monday night. I grew up going to camp with the Chandler kids, from Beaumont, and their mom passed away Monday night. My mom had seen her and their family at the ICU on Thursday, but they all thought she was just there temporarily, to treat an infection. She found out on Mother's Day of 2007 that she was sick, and yesterday would have been her 57th birthday. Her younger daughter is supposed to get married this Saturday. Hearing all of this news just tugs at my heart. Please keep their family in your prayers.

Cancer Sucks, Part I Cancer Sucks, Part II It has been a pretty rough week. Last weekend I found out my sister's mother-in-law has been diagnosed with lymphoma. Her father-in-law almost died of cancer 10 years ago, it is a miracle he lived, but today you'd have no idea he ever had cancer. Hopefully Marilyn's story turns out the same way. I also found out yesterday a childhood friend's mom has uterine cancer. It is stage 2, so maybe she will be ok as well. Yesterday I also went to Stephanie's "celebration of life." It was awesome - if that can possibly be said about a funeral. Yet again I am amazed at the courage she showed through the very end and the courage her husband Greg has shown and continues to show. He spoke yesterday at the service and he was amazing. He started by saying he never understood how Lou Gehrig stood up and said he was the luckiest man alive when he was leaving the MLB . Then he spoke of Stephanie and what she was doing in heaven, an...

I just found out that Stephanie passed away at 11:05 this morning. Greg says he feels she sent him to work today so he wouldn't have been there at the very end. Please continue to keep their family in your prayers. They have a very tough road ahead, but Stephanie's daughter mentioned that mom was in a better place now so everyone should be happy. Please pray for that thought to remain with the family, always.

My heart and stomach are both turning upside right now, wrung tight in knots. I have been receiving pretty frequent updates on Stephanie Johnson's battle and it appears it is coming to an end very soon. She is in hospice right now and they are now having trouble finding her pulse and her blood pressure is steadily dropping. She hasn't eaten since July 3rd. All of these things bring back way too vivid memories of when my Aunt Linda died 3 days before Christmas in 2003. After she stopped eating, her health rapidly declined, and in her last day or two, they had a hard time waking her up or finding a pulse. It is like I know how people die from cancer. I know what their last few hours are like. Ugh. I want to puke right now. The worst part is Greg Johnson is starting his first day of work at his new job today. Today - knowing it may be his wife's last day of life. Why is he going? Because she wanted him to. Because he wants her to know they will be ok, because they both want th...

11 days until IMAZ , round 2. I'm still wanting to eat everything in sight and still not happy with my recent weight gain. Sigh... Now to business. Some of you may have read my Cancer Sucks post back in February. Well, it still sucks. Not too long ago I had the pleasure of enjoying dinner at Greg and Stephanie Johnson's house to help plan out the 2 nd Annual Stephanie Johnson Tri . I couldn't stop looking at Stephanie and their whole family thinking how healthy and normal she looked and how normal their household was. They don't really know how much more time she has, but if anyone were to see her, they would guess 30, 40, 50 years. I am in total awe of their ability to live life to the fullest, while still continuing to be a normal, every day family. I've said it before, but I do not think there is any way I would ever be strong enough to continue on the way that they have. It is just amazing and inspiring. I pray for them each night, along with several others. I ...

Last night HRTC had its annual race directors meeting. Greg Johnson was there to promote the Stephanie Johnson Tri, a race I did last year and vow to be a part of from here on out. I asked how Stephanie was doing and he said not great, but he somehow manages to still have this incredible attitude about it. Instead of sitting around and feeling sorry for himself and his family, he has gotten out there and done something about it. Last year they raised over $40,000 for cancer research and for families affected by cancer. I hope they can raise even more this year. What would I do in his shoes? Would I have the courage and drive to even get out of bed every morning and face the day? I do not know. He again thanked me for raising money for the American Cancer Society through my IM fundraising , but even that feels so insignificant. I told him Ironman is one of the most selfish things a person can do, and that I'm not sure I could do one without it having a bigger purpose. He said my pa...

This race report is unlike any other I have written before. My contribution to the race was swimming a whopping 200 meters, but I feel like my participation in the race was more important than almost any other race I have ever done. It is up there with my Ironman - my Ironman being up there only because I raised $4200 for the American Cancer Society. However, this race yesterday taught me far more about cancer and the people it affects.My niece, Molly (9) completed her first triathlon yesterday, and my sister, her husband, and I competed in the adult relay. The adult race was a 200m swim/6 mile bike/2 mile run. The kids race was a 100m swim/3 mile bike/1 mile run. The swim was a pool swim, so it was seeded by race number, fastest swimmers first, slowest last. I volunteered for packet-pickup the day before where I met Stephanie and Greg Johnson for the first time. They truly are amazing people. I had noticed on the registration list that Stephanie was racer #1. I thought that was so a...