In honor of Jeff...

Last week was very busy… in a ‘let’s hop on a plane to Illinois on a Tuesday evening and return on Thursday night without taking a day off of work’ kind of way. It was so much fun! (though it sounds spontaneous, we had actually been planning it for months…) Every single day of last week was filled with some sort of excitement or busy-ness… not the least of which was Matt flying me up to the Windy City from Hotlanta to see (and Meet and Greet) one of my FAVORITE bands, The Airborne Toxic Event! That was incredible—and I will definitely blog in more detail about the trip and my (not so) secret crush, Mikel Jollet… (THANK YOU, MATT!!!)

Outside of Chicago, I wanted to write about random thoughts and things, including our unplanned, but well spent Saturday…however, instead of blogging on the plane, I played sodoku (I am currently addicted...), and instead of spending spare time on the weekend blogging, I was checking out kitchen cabinets, colors and appliances…but, today I have a topic that I could not put off writing about… the unfinished laundry will have to wait…

In honor of Jeff…

About two and a half years ago, I was filling up my water bottle in the office break room, when a guy I work with (SecureWorks’ General Counsel) came up to me and told me that I needed a new bottle. He was an older gentleman, probably early 40s and in great shape. Tall, good hair, good color and lots of energy. He looked like someone I should listen to. I asked why and he proceeded to tell me my bottle was not BPA free, and it is proven they cause cancer… I said ok… and we got into a water cooler conversation about how ‘everything’ gives you cancer… not your typical small talk, I’d say…

Then, ironically, about 6 months later, he was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, an extremely rare and deadly cancer of the liver. The survival rate is very low, even when caught in early stages. In fact, most patients do not live a year after they have been diagnosed…

Not long after the diagnosis, I saw him at work… hmm… if that were me, I would NOT be coming to work… but he loved his job…THAT is passion…and it is admirable…he was the same old Jeff… You would never have even known, if you didn’t ‘know’… THAT is strength…

Well. After a long hard battle, he passed away last Friday, Sept 17. Actually, he survived longer than any other patient diagnosed with the disease. This evening, was his wake. Tomorrow will be his funeral.
I went to the wake for a little while. There were lots of people passing lots of love. It was very easy to tell he was surrounded with friends and family who loved him… and who he loved in return. His life was well celebrated.

…please pray for his wonderful family…

Even in our few encounters, he impacted my life in many ways. Here is one:

Jeff was a marathon runner. I don’t know how many he ran…lots…not half marathons. FULL MARATHONS - 26.2 miles! He and I had a couple of conversations here and there about fitness, and as a result, I decided I was ready to run my first half marathon, the ING Atlanta. Since he was an inspiration to me, I wanted to get a SecureWorks team together and run for a good cause – his. SO, that’s what happened. I talked to a few people within the organization, and they all agreed it was a good idea. We began raising money for the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation. After lots of fundraising (and training), we raised $5000 for the foundation and had about 17 runners (one of which ran the full marathon). I’d say it was a success… He and his family were very grateful. They were going to wait at the finish line (since he was a regular runner for this particular race), however, the cancer had different plans and he was just a few miles away in Piedmont Hospital… Regardless, we were thinking of him and he was thinking of us…

We ran in honor of Jeff. This year, I ran the ING again. Sans the fundraising, it was still for him. Next year it will be for him… and the year after. And the year after. And…

He was a wonderful person and will be dearly missed… I kinda thought he was gonna beat this thing...