It is with a heavy heart that I start this post.......I was informed that a dear friend had passed away. I felt like the tears would never end, and they probably won't. As I went to bed last night I lay there scared and sad and just feeling like I did not have enough time. I felt like I never got to explain to her what an inspiration she was to me. She like me had arthritis, except her form was quite a bit different she had tried numerous medications and she recently had started a new one that seemed to work well and was doing really good.
I had the pleasure of finally meeting her this past year at the Blue Bird Gala for the Arthritis Society. She was the speaker at the gala and she completely blow everyone away. She spoke the words that I am afraid to speak, she spoke with such compassion, positivity and truly inspired me. I remember completely falling to pieces while she spoke because for the first time I did not feel fully completely alone. She changed my views that night. She made me stop in my tracts and re-evaluate my thinking on arthritis. She made me appreciate that what I was given was a tool, or gift to use to help others. There are no words to explain the way I feel this morning. The only thing I feel is I did not get enough time to tell her how much she inspired me, or how she made me feel like I was not alone or how she had this tremendous impact on my life. I can never know what she went through everyday...I can not imagoine the strength it took to be in her shoes, but I can tell you that behind that little body was a powerful punch... a powerful woman who touched many hearts and inspired many people. I spent a good portion of last night looking at her pictures on Facebook, and trying to find all the little messages she sent to me. What I can tell you is I have completely under estimated the power of Arthritis. I never thought it would take someone away from me. I just never looked at it as a disease that would do this. I understand the risk we take everyday , every dose but it never crossed my mind for one second that maybe just maybe all that we are doing is too much. I don't know....... I just know once again she has stopped me in my tracks and made me remember why I do my runs, why I work so hard to spread the word on arthritis. I hope she knew how many lives she has touched, I hope she knew what a beautiful person she was. I hope all the thing I learned from her will be things I can pass on to others down the road. In her honor I have decided to dedicate my Scotiabank Half Marathon to her. I want her to know that all of her support to me will never be forgotten. I will never forget her and only wished I was able to tell her how much she meant to me.......
I will miss you Trish always and forever.
If you would like to help me raise money to FIGHT ARTHRITIS please please donate to my page for the run!! In the words of Trish "EVEN YOUR PENNIES"!! Copy and past e this into you web browser and start sharing with your friends and family. lets raise money to FIGHT this!
http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=1353816&langPref=en-CA&Referrer=http%3a%2f%2fwww.canadarunningseries.com%2fsvhm%2fcharity%2farthritis.htm
Love Erin
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