As some of you know by now, Catherine and I have joined with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (http://www.lls.org/) to raise funds for their mission. It is probably self-evident to you why we chose this particular program, but we both continue to be rather astounded by the blessings we have in our lives and felt it was time we did more to give back to a worthy cause. If you are not familiar with the program, we're participating in the Team in Training program (TNT). Basically, we each raise a certain amount, and all the while we train for an endurance event we will complete in honor and/or memory of those touched by blood cancers and to promote awareness.

You probably already know that neither Catherine and I are particularly suited for distance running. Are we nuts? Perhaps. We have goals of $4,000 each. That's right, $8,000, and not much time to raise it, so we're asking for any help you can give. Our participation in the Marathon is contingent upon reaching our goals, so whether you contribute out of kindness and care for the cause, or out of spite to force into running 26.2 miles, you really can't go wrong! Now, anticipating that this blog is read most likely by my four sisters regularly and perhaps Schuyler or Dad on rare occasion, I'm not really asking for donations here so much as I am circulation. The links to Catherine and my donation sites, respectively, are to the right, and at the end of this post. Anything you are comfortable giving would be greatly appreciated. And even more appreciated would be your help in circulating the links to our pages and directing anyone who you think might be interested in donating to the links.

We've just begun, but are optimistic we can reach our goals. Be sure and check our progress through these links regularly, and we'll even post about how are training progress is going. We each ran 5 solid miles this weekend, more than either of us has run in a long time. I did mine early Saturday in the rain while Catherine somehow kept going on a treadmill with her iPod pushing her along. 26.2 seems pretty darn near impossible, so kudos to you who have already done it. This week we will up the ante to 6 miles, probably me on the treadmill this time with Catherine pounding the pavement. It should be excrutiatingly fun.

Thank you in advance for helping get these links out, and on a serious note, thank you for being what you always have to me. I still often marvel at how charmed a life I feel like I've had despite losing my Mom at such a young age. There is no doubt that you (my family) and your support and fierce loyalty has made all the difference in the world. I miss Mom every day, but could not be more greatful for her having brought me into this world and laying the foundation for a family like ours. We know we won't be able to do this without you, so again, thank you!

Catherine's fundraising link:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntctx/tntctxCFitzwa

Brady's fundraising link:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntctx/tntctxBFitzwa