Team Elizabeth Event 2011

Hello Readers,

I am reaching out to you to once again announce the upcoming Team Elizabeth Walk/Run!  The event (our 2nd) will take place on Saturday, October 22, 2011 at 9am in Hull, Massachusetts and benefit The Marrow Donor Registry. 

Following the Walk/Run we will be hosting an after party at Daddy's Beach Club in Hull.  There you can enjoy free pizza and even have the opportunity to sign up to be on the National Marrow Donor Registry.

This email is to let you know the many ways that you can be involved and support this cause. 

1. Register at http://www.racemenu.com/teamelizabeth

for either the 2 mile walk or 4 mile run ($25 for either)

2. Register at http://www.racemenu.com/teamelizabeth

to be a virtual walker or runner ($25)

3. Make a donation directly to Be The Match at http://www.bethematch.org/goto/teamelizabeth

4. Make a purchase from Avon and a portion of the sale will go to support the Team Elizabeth Race and Be The Match  http://www.youravon.com/amandajoyce

When checking out use the promotional code: TEAME11

As you can see we have made it possible for everyone, near and far, to be a part of this great event!  If you have questions please feel free to contact me at ehnaylor@gmail.com





Thank you for your ongoing support.

Elizabeth

We have lost a dear friend suddenly and unexpectedly.  I want to be able to write the perfect post but I think re-posting this previous post is best. Chris and Ed I hope you have met, wherever it is that you are now.  You would have been great friends here on Earth. I love you both.

Dear Friend,

I miss you.  There are gaps in my heart as a result of your passing.  Pieces that went with you to wherever it is that you have ended up.  Heaven, reincarnation, dirt, whatever it is that is good and right for you and your soul and being.  I imagine you as a star in the sky, feeling no pain, no worry, and no fear.  Feeling all love and goodness and contentment.  I imagine that you are enjoying yourself as you watch those of us still here and smile.  I imagine you being welcomed by others.  Maybe people that you did not know in this life but who you would have liked.  You all are good to one another, as you were good to me in the time we spent together.  You teach one another as you taught me.  About love, friendship, courage, humor, and grace.  Dear friend I miss you.

With Love,
Elizabeth

Hope is the thing with feathers...

Hope is a word that we use all the time.  "I hope I get a good parking space", "I hope it doesn't rain", "I hope these cookies are tasty".  It wasn't until I really needed to live with hope that understood that true meaning of hope.  Hope is believing in something that may seem unbelievable. Hope is crying uncontrollably because you don't know what else to do, but at some point smiling again.  Hope is living with the fear but not allowing the fear to take over you.  Hope is knowing that things will change, eventually.  

 

Hope by Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

This poem by Emily Dickinson speaks to me.  Amazingly, I only recently read the entire poem.  I had only ever heard the first couple of lines, and although I find meaning in those, the whole poem means so much more.  Take some time with it.  Read it. Read it again.  What does it mean to you and your world?

Faith

I am sitting outside the NIH Chapel doors trying to organize my thoughts on faith into words and complete sentences.  A fitting place to be seated but I must confess it wasn't until after I selected a comfortable looking chair that I fully realized my proximity to the chapel.

At some point during my battle with cancer I turned to my husband (the son of a minister) and said, "I'm finished with God.  There can not possibly be a God that would allow this much pain and fear to go on in the world".  Adam, very simply, nodded and said quietly, "ok".

It was during this time of giving up my religious faith that I discovered my need for faith in something.  Something greater than the faith that chocolate would always taste good.  I found my faith in my strength, my love, my power, my humor, and my ability to take what was being thrown at me (even when horribly difficult).

It took about two weeks of "not believing in God" and instead believing inand having faith in myself, to find God and my religious faith.  Don't misunderstand me, I was still (and continue to be) mad at God because he clearly can't fix all that I deem fixable.  But, regardless, I have complete faith in His love for me, just as I have complete faith in my own love for myself.  And in that I have found healing.

Faith & Hope

There is a great deal that I want to say on the topics of faith and hope but, to be honest, I'm having trouble organizing all of my thoughts.  So, instead of rambling along and scaring away readers I thought I'd start by posting some of my favorite quotations.   A longer post with more of my own words will follow soon.

Faith is taking the first step even when you can't see the staircase.
-Martin Luther King Jr.

I would rather err on the side of faith than on the side of doubt.
 -Robert Schuller

Miracles happen everyday.
 -Unknown

Where hope grows, miracles blossom.
-Elna Rae

There are only two ways to live...one is as though nothing is a miracle...the other is as though everything is. - Albert Einstein

"Mommy, Did you win the race?"

Happy 4th of July!  Once again, I say, what a difference a year makes.  Last year on the 4th I "ran" about 20 yards while holding my daughter's hand in a little kids fun run.  At the time I weighed a little over 100 pounds and was on a fairly strict diet that wasn't particularly conducive to flavor, or second helpings.  I was suffering from steroid induced insomnia and had not slept for more than a 3 hour stretch in days.  And I was fairly anxious about getting to +100 days and getting to go home to Massachusetts.

This morning I got up and ran in the Hingham Road Race with my friend Bryan (he was incredibly patient with my pace...and quite enjoyable to run with).  So....last year 20 yards and this year 4.47 miles!

At the end of the race my daughter and husband were there to give huge hugs and smiles.  I picked up my little girl as she asked me "Mommy, did you win the race?"  I was just about to explain to her that, in fact, lots of people had finished before more and a few people finished after me, when I stopped and really thought about the question...."Yes Grace, Mommy did win the race".  She kissed me and I swear in all of her 4 year old wisdom she understood exactly what I meant.

In the spirit of this story, I want to announce to all of you that I will be running in the Maine 1/2 marathon on October 2 with Team in Training.  My sister, Susannah, is the Boston City Team Coach and in addition to being the "Honored Hero" for the team I decided to give it a go.  In doing this race in October I am committing to raising money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  I am including the link to my fundraising site here as well as at the top of my blog.  Please remember that every little bit helps and every dollar I raise is another dollar that just might help some one like me to win the race.  http://pages.teamintraining.org/ma/maine11/enaylorek4

Today is the first day of the rest of my life

How many times in our lives do we think of "today" as the first day of the rest of our lives?  I know I thought that when I graduated from high school, and again at college graduation.  I certainly thought that my wedding day was the first day of the rest of my life and the day my daughter was born (exactly 4 years ago) was without a doubt the first day of the rest of my life.  At each of these occasions I was sure that this was it, the real beginning, the time I had been waiting for to get my life going. 

On April 6, 2010 I actually experienced the first day of what will hopefully be the very long and healthy rest of my life.  Doctors in more than one hospital were fairly certain that I had less than three months to live.  Fortunately, a team of doctors in Maryland said lets transplant her anyway.  I was young and they wanted to give me a chance.  It turns out it was just what I needed, a chance with a new immune system.

Today, every day is the first day.  Everyday is a day to wake up and make choices about my life.  Everyday is the beginning of something amazing.

Is today the first day of your life or are you waiting for the that day to come along?  It is already here, my friend, embrace it.