Wednesday marked the end of sheloshim, the 30 days since we said goodbye to our beloved Abby. Over the past month you’ve all played an instrumental role in helping our family begin our healing process. Thank you!
In our healing process there are so many “what next” questions – and fortunately we have lots of time to unpack, examine and work through these. But one cause has been ringing in my ears every day since Abby’s diagnosis – We must cure cancer faster!
In these past 30 days, I’ve taken the time to look deeply into the eyes of family members and close friends currently waging their own personal battle with cancer and into the eyes of their hopeful, loving spouses and supporters. In each of these moments my heart cries out Rabbi Hillel’s eternal words – “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” It is with this resolve and clear sense of purpose that I’d like to ask for your individual support and the support of Abby’s Army.
Please ride Obliteride on August 14th and join me and Team Abby’s Army today.
We’ll raise money together to advance breakthrough cancer research through Fred Hutch, celebrate our community together, and show that even in the face of uncertainty and loss that love is much, much bigger than cancer. We will also be riding with Abby – completing her work in a way as she courageously pledged to ride Obliteride at her last birthday. If you haven’t seen her appeal yet, here it is (full speech here). Let her beautiful voice speak to you. No problem if you don’t have a bicycle, don’t ride frequently, or don’t live in Seattle. Just sign up and we’ll work out everything.
Beyond riding, you can help in a number of ways.
- Donate to the team. Just click here and find a rider on Team Abby’s Army that you want to support. Give generously. These incredible people are ambassadors for our community of supporters.
- Use your communities to share Abby’s story and help raise funds. Sadly cancer’s impact is far reaching, but this also means your friends want to do their part and support you. Now is the time to turn up the heat on your social sites. Consider adding the Abby’s Army Crest to your Facebook profile picture between now and August 14th.
- Join Abby’s Army at an upcoming fundraiser leading up to the event – more details to come.
To make this fun, build community and meet our goal of curing cancer faster, Team Abby’s Army team members will each get a 2016 Abby’s Army water bottle for themselves and to share with their top three supporting donors. Thank you to all of you who have already made contributions. I’m proud to ride with you and for you!
As we put our focus on the future, I want to recognize that the nature of these e-mails and of www.abbysarmy.org will naturally shift focus from fighting to healing. Obliteride is one example (If I am only for myself, what am I?), but there will be others, including asking for help and support for Jaren, Miri and me (If I am not for myself, who will be for me?)
We’re honored you’re part of our lives and hope you’ll stay on this journey with us. If others would like to join us in these next chapters, they can continue to register at www.abbysarmy.org
Love and healing,
Justin, Jaren and Miri
Remembering Abby 