February 17, 2005 was
not only the first day of the rest of my life, it was the first day of my
second life. On that day I received a stem cell transplant from my older
brother, Gordon, which saved my life. The past has ten years have been
magnificent, I have enjoyed personal and professional successes, I have watched
my children grow into great young adults and spent wonderful years with my
family and friends, and I have tried, as best as I could, to help others
afflicted with blood cancers (see www.portraitshope.ca) and to live every day to the fullest.
Five
years ago, to celebrate 5 years of survival, I cycled from the coast of France
to the village in Hungary where my grand-parents were born, and it was a
spectacular trip. You can visit this blog for that trip. I hope those of
you who joined me on that trip have wonderful memories.
In
order to celebrate 10 years of survival (doesn’t time fly!) I am embarking on
another cycling trip, once again to raise funds for the Fund for Education and
Research into Blood Cancers, which I helped to form upon my recovery. I
am hopeful you will join me for part or all of my trip.
I am
planning to cycle in Europe from June 1, 2015 to the end of June or
the first week of July 2015. While I am still working on my itinerary, a
route which looks spectacular is EuroVelo 1 (http://www.eurovelo.com/en/eurovelos/eurovelo-1), which runs down the coast to France (I would start in
Nantes, near where I started my first trip 5 years ago), then south through the
Pilgrims Route in Spain, then through the beautiful Algarve region of Portugal
and to Sagres on the Atlantic Ocean. It promises to be an incredible
journey.
Please
let me know (at will@portraitsofhope.ca) if you are interested in joining me for all or part of my trip, you
can come for a week, or two or even more. We will have a support van (so
you can cycle as much or little as you want) and as the trip grows nearer, I
will send you more details.
Save
the date, I look forward to seeing you, and celebrating with you.