More Inspiration.

Hello all.

My parents did a great thing last week. They made copies of the Daily News article and sent it off to all of their friends with a self addressed envelope to my address. They also attached a note to their friends about this website and my raising money for MJFF. I've already received a number of donations from their friends. Thank you everyone. Some came with checks, some came with checks and nice notes attached. I am sincerely moved my all of the generosity.

Here's one especially moving letter sent to me.

"Tim:
As I hear of your running in the New York City Marathon, I am reminded of one of my hospice patients, John Kaufman. He's a 60 year old man and has a picture of himself in his nursing home room maybe 10 years ago running a marathon. He was a well-to-do business executive with a nice wife, house, children. Now, he cannot do anything for himself: talk, walk or feed himself due to his illness. He lost his executive position and his family lost their nice home, etc. As a Hospice Chaplain, I try to visit at mealtime so that I can help him get fed while it is still warm.

And then there is Charles Soergel, an 80 year old gentleman with advanced Parkinson's disease and another one of my patients in a nursing home. The pictures in his room indicted that he was a good, loved and loving husband, father and grandfather. Now he cannot do anything for himself. His wife would come to the nursing home twice a day to feed him lunch and dinner.

I spend time with each of these gentlemen, read to them...commend their lives past and present.

I support your running of the marathon for The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Disease. I support you in the name of John Kaufman and the memory of Charles Soergel

--Dick Roos"

Then he had the following quote "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize" then he hand wrote "the prize is a cure for Parkinson's".

I am going to keep pushing for the "prize"

Thanks for reading, Tim