Help Heather raise money

Many years ago, I was trying to get into shape, newly engaged I wanted to slim down for my wedding. 

Running felt like the lowest barrier to entry, I signed myself and my future husband up for a fun run, a work friend and his family was also partaking, safety in numbers seemed like a fun idea and we were welcomed into the fold, mostly. 

Life is funny, the person I ended up running with, the one who did not want me there. 

But her annoyance quickly turned to our husbands, they were slow, very slow. Last people on the course; helping clean up the race slow. 

Somewhere during the run, she decided to confront the boys on why they were so slow, she knew they could move faster. 

Her husband Ty had met a woman walking with her two adult children. She was a cancer survivor, using aides to walk, she’d beaten cancer and she wanted to prove to herself she could keep doing hard things, but she’d told Ty she was terrified of being last. Being the person he is, he decided he and Chris would be last, and they eventually made sure we were as well. 

Since then our foursome has often been inseparable, we’ve worked together, lived together, travelled together, built cribs, cried, laughed, been bridesmaids, groomsmen, emergency contacts, we’ve seen rough times. 

Nothing prepared me for this past year, life changes, but I always imagined, in 25 years hanging out on the front porch, as we’ve often done, Danielle and I with wine, the boys potentially playing NHL 56 on their PlayStation 12. 

Finding out that Ty, one of the best people I know, had terminal cancer, nothing prepares you for that. 

When Danielle brought up running a marathon and fundraising for BC Cancer, I knew there was only one answer. 

They’re dealing with so much, the future loss of a husband, the loss of a father, the loss of a best friend, the least I can do is throw it back to the beginning, I’ll run with that memory, 

I’ll run in hopes of a future where someone else doesn’t need to say goodbye to their loved one, where they can have that front porch future.