Last week, I got lucky and had my story featured. Here it is:
Katrina's Story...
I wanted to do something different this year. For the past few years, I've done different things to raise money for a cure for cancer - held fundraisers, shaved my head, donated my hair, 10K runs....this year was different.
I decided to join Team in Training in 2007 focused on running a full marathon in 2008, my first ever, and the longest distance I've ever run. I decided to focus my efforts this year on helping find a cure for blood cancers, including leukemia, which my mother fought bravely for 10 months before she passed away.
My mother was in and out of the hospital from what I remember, and at the time, I wasn't old enough to know that this wasn't normal. I had thought my classmates would be going to the hospital to visit their moms after school too and if they were lucky, their moms would get to come home for the weekend. I didn't know. We spent a lot of time in the hospital, my dad, my four older sisters, my baby brother and our countless aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. We were all there for her. When it got to a point where she was no longer coming home for periods of time and instead, stayed at the hospital, it occurred to me that she was getting more sick, but I had no idea that meant I wouldn't get to see her. All I knew about her sickness at the time was that it was called leukemia, it was a type of cancer, and it meant that something was wrong with her blood.
Just a week short of her birthday, my mother lost her battle with leukemia. When we lost her, it was hard for all of us. We went through many changes, big and small, happy and sad, good and bad, but after it all, we became stronger and an even bigger happier family. Through my mother's loss came a much stronger bond among all of us and we always remember the importance of keeping intact all the things she taught us, her values, her lessons and and all wanted for us. She has become our inspiration.
This year marks her 20th anniversary. It's hard to believe that I haven't seen my mother in 20 years, but that doesn't mean that she isn't here. All the big milestones in my life that I've experienced so far, I've never seen her sitting in the crowd, but instead, she stands beside me at each one. She's a silent cheerleader in everything I do.
In September, when I run the marathon with TNT, I will take every step in memory of her, Tini Limgenco, and the honourees I've met since I began this journey with TNT- Bill Stacey, Carolyn Tam, and our honoured teammate, Nicholas Gorys. I'm grateful that in the midst of the fight our loved ones who have blood cancers face, in the sadness of our losses, and in the pain in our strong knees, there stands invincible hope that we will find the cure.
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