Sweet 17

Have you ever missed a child's birthday party? Or even when present, how many of us understand how truly fortunate we are just to be there, and savour every moment?

Last Saturday night, my daughter's friends threw a surprise party for her 17th birthday, another milestone and joy which I am so fortunate to have experienced. Cancer teaches us many things, the fragility of life and the loneliness of suffering, and more positively the value of hope and strength. More than anything however, cancer teaches us that life is a gift, that every moment and joy must be savoured.

That is why I am embarking on my trip, Survival and life, and everything the last five years has given me and my family, is too great not to be celebrated.

I am now firming up the exact dates for my trip and this week I am sending a second letter out to all of those who I hope will cycle with me. I plan to leave Montreal on April 19, 2010, dip my foot in the Atlantic Ocean at St-Nazaire, France on April 21, 2010, clip my feet into my pedals and start cycling. I am going to do the first nine stages of the Velo-6 bike route, which is found at the following link: http://www.eurovelo6.org/bicycle-ride, consisting of the following:

Weeks 1 and 2 - April 19 to May 2 - stages 1, 2 and 3
Le Val de Loire, Loire Natures et Rives de Bourgogne - France
950 kms

Weeks 3 and 4 - May 3 to 17 - stages 4, 5, 6 and 7

Vallée du Doubs et Haute Alsace, Vallée du Rhin, Lac De Constance et Haut-Danube, and Danube Bavarois
France, Switzerland and Germany
980 kms

Week 5 - May 17 to 23 - 8th stage
Passau-Vienne
Germany and Austria
350 kms

Week 6 - May 24 to 31 - 9th stage
Vienne-Budapest
Austria and Hungary

310 kms

Total Kilometres - 2590

It's all part of surviving leukemia.