What a night.
Last night, Team MR8 and the Richard Family hosted Team MR8’s
kick-off party at Fenway Park. I met some great new teammates & awesome people,
we had incredible guest speakers ranging from the Richard family’s orthodontist
to Henry Richard (Martin’s brother), to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker,
we learned about some of the new partnerships Team MR8’s dollars will support, and
most importantly, came together in support of an amazing cause.
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| A slightly blurry shot of the jumbotron the Red Sox set up for us |
Most of the work for the presentation of MR8’s mission,
values, and future/current projects was done by Martin’s father, the incomparable Bill Richard. His voice never wavered as he called person after person who shared their
most personal memories of Martin, what running for the team meant to them, or even, for Charlie Baker, just what being a parent means to him, and how he relates to the Richard family in that way.
Even having never met Martin, I can barely talk about him without my voice
cracking here or there, or getting a bit choked up. I have no idea how this
family does it, but I got a quick glimpse into how they keep moving forward
last night.
To paraphrase Bill, we cannot choose the challenges that
life throws at us. We can choose how we face those challenges, and how we
respond to them. Powerful words from a man and a family that has been through so
much, yet still has such an amazing, positive view on the world.
I choose to run for Martin. I choose to run for Bill, Denise, Henry, and Jane. I choose to run with my teammates and spread Martin's message of Peace to everyone I can. I choose to hang out with them, sweaty and smelly, post-run to get brunch and talk about our newest fundraising ideas. And I choose to get as many other people (YOU!) involved in this as I can.
I met some first-time Boston Marathoners last night who were nervous to come out to group runs, thinking they may not have anything in common with the rest of the group because they were too young. When I thought about it, it's true: most of us have so little in common. There are 65 year-old banking lawyers with their own practices. 50-year old mothers of 3. 40-year old fathers of autistic children. Full time students. Teachers. Doctors. Even former Patriots. Then there's me - the ultimate black sheep - a New Hampshire native living in Boston with all the wrong sports loyalties, Yankees, Knicks, Giants, random Baltimore Ravens and Colts, you name it, I don't fit in with the rest of the people I run with. Not in that sense. But we do have one extremely important thing in common: we all run for things like MR8. For what's important to us. That's more than enough for us all to consider each other 2nd families at this point.
And I love answering those first-time questions every time, because by the end of the night, everyone left with new ideas and re-assurance for sure, but also with a renewed sense of 'this is why I'm here', and a huge smile on their faces. I love that stuff. It's so easy to run for this team. And with the rest of my CharityTeams family. I hope to eventually talk to as many people as I can from both CharityTeams as well as my donors and supporters to infect them with the same enthusiasm I have.
Shouldn't take long. I'll get around to you soon.
So please join me in supporting the Richard family, and give to this amazing cause today! Either a straight donation works, or I have SEVERAL fundraisers going on right now (Super bowl squares here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1187h_TPtUWChuciOWW7HUTIu3cc4ny4OktqOJ90rIJg/edit#gid=0) as well as a planned Trivia Night (February 18th, 7:30, Phoenix Landing in Cambridge), and a Bertucci's dining voucher for Wednesday, February 25th at the Children's Hospital location. Look for all those facebook events and reminders this weekend.
http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/EdHarms/bostonmarathon2015
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