Thank you Terry

AC and I arrived home from our trip late last night, so we slept in this morning and then puttered away working on this and that until lunch time. After a light lunch, we set off on our bikes for a ride out to the lake. It was a bright sunny day, but too cold and windy to picnic by the water, so we settled for a ride along the trail and a hot coffee at Tim’s at the half-way point.

Usually when we pedal into the wind we will make comments back and forth to each other about how tough the ride is and how strong the wind is. This afternoon we were both unusually quite. I pedalled along in my own little world and AC was in his.

After about 15 minutes of tough slogging into the cold north wind we stopped at a street crossing to catch our breath and wait for a few cars to pass. AC turned to me and said “It might be cold and windy today, but if Terry Fox could run 42k in cold wet weather on this day 25 years ago, I can pedal into the wind and not complain today. “ (Read AC's thoughts about Terry here.)

I had forgotten that this was the 25th anniversary of the first day of Terry’s run, and AC’s comment sent my mind back to that very special time in our lives when this young runner captured all of our hearts. We soared with him and hoped with him as he ran, and our hearts broke for him when he had to abandon his run in Thunder Bay because the cancer had once again attacked his body.

The traffic soon cleared, and AC and I set off on our ride again. My thoughts during the next portion of our ride were filled with memories of Terry.

My mind went back to a car trip we took a few year ago along the Trans-Canada highway north of Superior. I remembered how moved I was when we drove through that rugged terrain and saw pictures of Terry all along the section of the highway they had renamed “The Terry Fox Highway of Courage”. As we drove up and down those hills I looked out the car window and tears streamed down my face as I realized that the young one-legged runner had jog-hopped every inch of this path. I was tired just driving that long distance and he had jog-hopped every inch of it. Amazing! Truly amazing and inspiring!

We drove into Thunder Bay and stood at the monument placed there to honour him, and we wept for the loss of his life and the sorrow cancer brings into so many lives. He truly touched all of our hearts in a deep and profound way.

Thank you Terry. We won’t forget you and we will continue to hope that cancer can be beaten.