Team Amy
Hello Team Amy! It’s time, once again, to bring together our friends and family to honor our sweet Amy’s memory, while supporting the work of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. We created this team 16 (!) years ago in 2009, a few short months after we lost Amy. When that spring arrived, I was already nervous about Amy’s birthday on May 30. There are so many firsts when you lose someone you love and I knew that the first birthday would be rough. But then something happened that made me realize that the universe will right itself and take care of you when you have forgotten how to find your own way. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation was sponsoring one of their Great Strides walks - in Placentia – at Tri-City Park (a few blocks from our home) where Amy had spent countless afternoons playing as a child – on May 30, Amy’s birthday. We had never walked in one of the Great Strides walks before. We had thought about it many times but illness, treatments and life itself had just kept us from ever organizing a team. Here was an opportunity to support one of the CFF’s grand fundraising efforts while we gathered Amy’s friends and family together to honor her memory while walking and being together on her birthday. We had a means to use our grief for something truly positive! When the location moved from Placentia, we moved our team to the Huntington Beach Walk and that’s where we’ve been since 2011!
Ever since that first walk, we have looked forward to reuniting our team so that we might take a moment and reflect on the inspirational life that Amy lived. We have proudly worn our Team Amy t-shirts that have Amy’s rules written on the back. Those rules came from her writing that we found in one of Amy’s journals when we were planning her service. One night, not long after we had returned from my mother-in-law’s memorial service in 2007, I leaned my head into the door of her bedroom to say good-night and she held up a small journal and said, “Here it is. This is what I want so that there’s no question.” When we read her words inside that tiny journal, we heard her familiar voice in the words she had written. We heard her acceptance of her disease and her philosophy about how we should all live our lives. She wrote: “Lately I’ve been forced to think about what happens after we leave this earth because the death of my beloved grandmother has shocked us all. I just want to put it in writing, as painful as it may be, what I want for me, just so there is no question. I do not want anyone to be sad the whole time. When my friend passed away, I really liked how they made it a celebration of her life. I strive to live each day embracing life, so that’s what I want everyone to take from me. Live life how you want to and don’t be afraid to take risks. Life is not worth living, in my opinion, if you don’t take risks and merge out of your comfort zone every now and then. I try to let those close to my heart know just how much they mean to me on a regular basis. And I want everyone to smile at least once.” And with that, we had Amy’s rules. She left these important instructions for us, but they were always her personal guidelines for living that she exemplified time and time again. We wear them on our t-shirts to remind us of the lessons she taught us about living while she was still here.
A few months ago, I saw an announcement online that the average life expectancy for CF patients born today was 61 years old!! When Amy was diagnosed, the life expectancy was around 27 years old and not long before that fateful day, CF was considered a children’s disease because very few patients lived into adulthood. Just as Amy was able to receive better treatments and medications, including a double lung transplant (!), there are life-changing treatments for current CF patients that allow them to live much, much longer – long enough to even have families and careers. We are a part of this, my Team Amy. By showing up year after year, even with our modest fundraising efforts, we have helped support research that has changed the lives of CF patients today, just as previous fundraising warriors changed and prolonged the life of our dear Amy.
We would love for you to be part of Team Amy 2025. Every May, we look forward to gathering at Huntington Beach near the pier to raise money for the CF Foundation, while honoring Amy’s beautiful memory during her birthday month. If you would like to be a part of Team Amy’s 17th Great Strides walk, please use the link below to join our team and walk with us and/or make a donation to support this cause that is so near and dear to our hearts. Each year, we are touched beyond words at the diverse group that assembles for the Great Strides walk which includes friends, family, and even those who never knew Amy, but are touched by her inspiring story. We can’t wait for another incredible morning on SUNDAY, May 18, and welcome all those who would like to walk, support, or join us in spirit as part of Team Amy 2025!
Ever since that first walk, we have looked forward to reuniting our team so that we might take a moment and reflect on the inspirational life that Amy lived. We have proudly worn our Team Amy t-shirts that have Amy’s rules written on the back. Those rules came from her writing that we found in one of Amy’s journals when we were planning her service. One night, not long after we had returned from my mother-in-law’s memorial service in 2007, I leaned my head into the door of her bedroom to say good-night and she held up a small journal and said, “Here it is. This is what I want so that there’s no question.” When we read her words inside that tiny journal, we heard her familiar voice in the words she had written. We heard her acceptance of her disease and her philosophy about how we should all live our lives. She wrote: “Lately I’ve been forced to think about what happens after we leave this earth because the death of my beloved grandmother has shocked us all. I just want to put it in writing, as painful as it may be, what I want for me, just so there is no question. I do not want anyone to be sad the whole time. When my friend passed away, I really liked how they made it a celebration of her life. I strive to live each day embracing life, so that’s what I want everyone to take from me. Live life how you want to and don’t be afraid to take risks. Life is not worth living, in my opinion, if you don’t take risks and merge out of your comfort zone every now and then. I try to let those close to my heart know just how much they mean to me on a regular basis. And I want everyone to smile at least once.” And with that, we had Amy’s rules. She left these important instructions for us, but they were always her personal guidelines for living that she exemplified time and time again. We wear them on our t-shirts to remind us of the lessons she taught us about living while she was still here.
A few months ago, I saw an announcement online that the average life expectancy for CF patients born today was 61 years old!! When Amy was diagnosed, the life expectancy was around 27 years old and not long before that fateful day, CF was considered a children’s disease because very few patients lived into adulthood. Just as Amy was able to receive better treatments and medications, including a double lung transplant (!), there are life-changing treatments for current CF patients that allow them to live much, much longer – long enough to even have families and careers. We are a part of this, my Team Amy. By showing up year after year, even with our modest fundraising efforts, we have helped support research that has changed the lives of CF patients today, just as previous fundraising warriors changed and prolonged the life of our dear Amy.
We would love for you to be part of Team Amy 2025. Every May, we look forward to gathering at Huntington Beach near the pier to raise money for the CF Foundation, while honoring Amy’s beautiful memory during her birthday month. If you would like to be a part of Team Amy’s 17th Great Strides walk, please use the link below to join our team and walk with us and/or make a donation to support this cause that is so near and dear to our hearts. Each year, we are touched beyond words at the diverse group that assembles for the Great Strides walk which includes friends, family, and even those who never knew Amy, but are touched by her inspiring story. We can’t wait for another incredible morning on SUNDAY, May 18, and welcome all those who would like to walk, support, or join us in spirit as part of Team Amy 2025!
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