Liz Murtaugh Gillespie
Sep 11, 2016
Updated: Aug 25, 2020
832 steps up the Space Needle.
That's what I'm gonna climb on Oct. 2 in the Base2Space fundraiser for Fred Hutch.
And to think that this time last year, I was just a couple treatments in to a dozen rounds of chemo.
Whatever, cancer.
I ran eight miles yesterday, longer than I ever have in my life. Last month, I finished a triathlon (my fifth), ranking in the top 15 for my age group. In a couple months, I'll brave my first half marathon.
Every day, I wake up feeling grateful for my health. It's a such a gift, never to be taken for granted.
In the year since my cancer journey started, several people in my world have crossed their own cancer starting lines. I'll carry their names with me when I climb The Needle. And I'll climb for dozens of other cancer-fighters, past and present:
Melinda
Earl
Roy
Inez
Birney
Ethel
Stella
Lucyle
Margaret
Paul
Marty
Megan
Annawyn
Laurie
Isabella
Suzy
Christina
Sam
Alexes
Teresa
Edith
Jeanne
Molly
George
Connie
Michael
Elizabeth
Gardner
Kathy
Mary Lou
Brian
Paula
Erin
Jan
Karen
Liz
Claudia
Mitzi
Long as this list is, I know I haven't captured everyone I know who's fought cancer. I'll fill in the gaps before Oct. 2.
And I'll also add the names of anyone you'd like me to carry to the top of the Space Needle — whether you make a donation or support me in spirit. Please send me the names of loved ones who have had cancer by posting a comment below. Or email me at elizabethmgillespie@gmail.com.
Thank you as always for your support. It means everything.