This was originally going to be a sad piece about not having the right words at the right time. You see, a young woman I went to high school with died last night from leukemia. It sucks. She was a sweet person, and even though I hadn’t seen her in 20 years, she was good people growing up and her older sister (who I was much better friends with because we were in the same grade) is still good people. She left behind a loving family including three young kids, all under ten.
So I had a post written (twice) about how sad it all is that she’s gone and that her kids don’t have their mom anymore, and I scrapped it. Twice. Because of course I’m sad. A very nice person is gone way too soon and her family has to live with that loss. But that’s not the point. The point is I’m pissed off about it. If I were just a little more religious I’d be pissed off at God, but I’m not quite there. I’m pissed off that we as a society have not made this enough of a priority to fix it. We can put men on the moon, land a space shuttle (most of the time) and drop a bomb down a chimney easier than beating Legend of Zelda, but mothers are still dying of cancer before they see their 40th birthday.
It’s bullshit. And I’m going to try to do something about it. For the last several years I’ve ridden in the 24 Hours of Booty charity bike ride to raise money for cancer research and treatment. This is a great cause, one that’s touched me personally more times than I care to think about – from my friends that are survivors (Yay Roz & Lou & Lydia!) to my friends, relatives and acquaintances that are gone (Blair, Caroline, Breana, Joe, Ed, Debbie, Mr. C, Laura and more than I care to name). 24 Hours of Booty is a national and local-level organization – half the money raised goes to NC cancer treatment and research organizations, and half goes to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which regardless of whether or not you think he doped to win the Tour de France, is a great national organization dedicated to keeping more people alive.
So do me a favor – help me raise money for a cure. There are a lot of people I’ll be riding for this summer at the 24 Hours of Booty ride to fight cancer, and unfortunately now there’s another name to add to the list. But rather than whine about not having anything comforting to say, I’m going to let myself be pissed off, and we’ll test the load rating on my old road bike one more time. Screw cancer.
I’ll even throw in a few incentives for people who donate –
For a $25 donation I’ll email you a copy of any book you want in either Kindle, Nook or iPad format.
For a $50 donation I’ll mail you an autographed paperback copy (continental US only).
For a $100 donation I’ll name a character in an upcoming novel after you (or someone else of your choosing), and I’ll mail you an autographed book.
For a $500 donation I’ll send you autographed copies of all of my books, name a character after you or someone of your choosing, and buy you a nice dinner (scheduling might take a while unless you live in the Carolinas or the Atlanta area).
So go to my 24 Hours of Booty page and donate something. Cancer touches all of us, and I’m tired of it touching me. I’ve decided to smack it back. You can help.
