Thankful Thursday

Dear Weather Goddess,

I am so deeply thankful for this day of 40 degree temperatures and sunshine. As you know, you have been creating a lot of intense winter weather and on this one day, I was hoping that we'd have moderate temperatures and no storm.

Why? Well you know the answer because, well, after all, you are a goddess....

Tonight is a very special night. After months of planning, it's time for Singing Boston Strong:Karis' Karaoke for a Kause.



We will be sending out thank you's but I want to publicly thank everyone who have made tonight's event possible:

To Karis Antokal -- thank you for your strength, your passion, your commitment and your being a little nuts to making your first endurance event the Boston Marathon (that's pot calling the kettle black right?). Thank you for being you and it is an honor to co host this event with you. Thank you to your family for donating the autographed Tom Brady Jersey for the take a chance drawing tonight and thank you to your mom for bringing you into this world 29 years ago on 3/2!

To Limelight Stage and Studios manager, Henry Wong for saying yes without hesitation when I asked if we could have our event at your venue. To Chris, the house manager who said we could set up anytime after 4:30pm and said he is so happy to welcome us to Limelight for our event. And to all of you who are coming out to Sing Boston Strong tonight!

To Kevin Fitzgerald, owner of Jacob Wirth Restaurant -- thank you for your incredible generosity in making sure that everyone goes home a winner! Kevin donated a $50 gift certificate, four $25 gift certificates and as many $10 gift certificates as people who attend the event up to a total of 80 people. We'll have a drawing at the end of the evening.

To our donors for the Silent Auction Items:

Rick Penn for his donation of Celtics Tickets (face value $350.

To our donors for our Cape Getaway:
One night midweek stay at the Inn on the Square Falmouth
Island Queen for four adult round trip vouchers
A gift card to Landucci's Restaurant

To Marathon Sports Brookline for hosting me last Saturday to promote the event. For your generous donations of a $30 gift certificate and giving us a pile of gloves to sell and keep the proceeds for Spaulding.

To Rick Leskowitz for your donation of The Joy of Sox Movie DVD's which will be used for our Silent Auction and a Take a Chance Drawing.

To my dear friend Lee Woodruff who always comes through for me donating 3 books autographed by Bob Woodruff and herself.

To Julie Ingalls who is the marketing director at Stapleton Floral Design - thank you for the $75 gift certificate and the gift of your friendship through the years.

Thank you to my husband and daughter for being support crew to me as I once again took up the reins for fund raising for Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. Hey at least this time we're not in training too!

And thank you to Spaulding Rehab Hospital for being there for me since October of 2006 when I faced an uncertain future and was terrified of what was happening to my body. I would not be where I am today in my healing journey were it not for your place of healing.

Here's to a wildly successful event tonight as we raise our voices and Sing Boston Strong to raise lots of money for Spaulding Rehab!

We Run Together - We Heal Together - We Move Forward Together

When I woke up yesterday morning, on the ten month anniversary of the Boston Marathon Bombings, I opened my email and in my inbox I received Christa in New York: Curating a Creative Life Through Ancient Wisdom and Modern Tech's blog post as I do every morning. Her posts are better than a morning cup of coffee to get my energy and creative juices flowing. I wept as I read her post:


Inspired: Don't Just Remember the Boston Marathon: Honor Boston and Its Residents.

The weather forecast was calling for a winter storm warning. L Street Running Club cancelled its Sunday long run. I had done 6.2 miles on the stationery bike with intervals on Friday and I knew that I couldn't do the bike again on Sunday. I knew that even though I "should have" taken a rest day, I had to get outside and get my miles in.

My running and life partner, Tom, told me that he could do his training run at my pace and distance and then do 'cross training' by cleaning off the ice on our walkway and driveway.

We hurried to get ready and map out our route. The energy on Heartbreak Hill was electric. Ten months later, runners were getting their miles in being very mindful of patches of black ice and slush. We saw several people we knew and in truth everybody knew everybody out on the course. There were no strangers. There were charity runners' water stops and they offered water to anyone who ran by. We run together.

There were several runners who were fighting their way through the hills. I knew that look and I smiled, gave them a thumbs up and told them they were looking good. They smiled through the pain. We heal together.

After getting my run in, it was time to head to Brookline Marathon Sports store to promote Singing Boston Strong:Karis' Karaoke for a Kause.



Despite the falling snow outside, customers came into the store and I had the opportunity to talk about Spaulding and Karis' fund raiser. Several people said they would donate on line and two young ladies from the Newton South High School Girls Basketball Team said that they would spread the word and come out to lend their voices to Sing Boston Strong. I talked with the staff at Marathon Sports and we had an opportunity to debrief about that day ten months ago.

When I got home and logged into Facebook, I saw this post from Ellen Gabriel, the manager of the Brookline Marathon Sports store:

Our long-time loyal customer and friend, Mary McManus, is fundraising for Karis Antokal and Spaulding Rehab. Check out her story here: http://www.crowdrise.com/Spaulding2014BostonMarathon/fundraiser/karisantokal

Thursday I will co host the first of two fund raisers to benefit Spaulding Rehab Hospital where I took the first steps on my healing journey over 7 years ago now and continue to find my strength in the Aquatics Therapy classes; and where so many of the Boston Marathon bombing survivors found and continue to find their strength.

In two months, as my friend Christa Rose wrote, the media will turn its attention to the one year anniversary of the Boston Marathon Bombings. We move forward together.

Why Yesterday's Blog Post Wasn't Written Until Today - 10 Months Later

I had started to write a blog post yesterday. I was writing about how we are almost at ten months later since the Boston Marathon Bombings and about two months to go until the start of Boston 2014.

When the sun came out, and there was a forecast for another winter storm today, I decided to head out and flyer the town for Singing Boston Strong:Karis Karaoke for a Kause.



When I got home, the evening seemed to fly by and I never got around to finishing that blog post...with good reason...

There was no way that I could capture the sentiment of the ten month anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings as did my friend Christa of Christa in New York:Curating A Creative Life Through Ancient Wisdom and Modern Tech.

Please read her beautiful blog post:

Inspired: Don't Just Remember the Boston Marathon. Honor Boston and Its Residents.

and "like" her pages on Facebook:
Christa in New York

Compass Yoga

And follow her on Twitter @christanyc

along with her fabulous four footed companion Phineas @phineasnyc

Momentum

During the start of yesterday evening's Aquatics Therapy class at Spaulding Rehab, I felt tired and my joints were achy given the never ending winter weather. We warmed up by gently running laps in the pool. We slowly increased the intensity of the cardio workout so that by about 30 minutes into the class we were really moving. I was able to notice how I was able to gain momentum during the class and by the end of the class, felt this wonderful cardio high.

And that got me thinking about momentum...

There are many quotes about momentum such as:

Enthusiasm is the energy and force that builds literal momentum of the human soul and mind.
Bryant H. McGill

When you're that successful, things have a momentum, and at a certain point you can't really tell whether you have created the momentum or it's creating you.
Annie Lennox

And tying in with the never ending New England Winter theme:



I thought about a once blank page now a soon to be released memoir, "Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility."



I thought about declaring I was going to run the 2009 Boston Marathon and seeing a year of training loom before me. 5 minutes of running turned into 30 minutes of running and then 1 mile became 3 became a 10K became a half and then a full marathon:



I thought about a whisper of having fund raisers for two of my friends running Boston this year for Spaulding and now Singing Boston Strong:



I can feel the momentum building as I count down 7 days to Singing Boston Strong: Karis' Karaoke for a Kause.

I can feel the momentum as runners build the miles and everyone counts down to the Hyannis Half Marathon; the premier training ground for Boston.

I can feel the momentum and building strength in my own life as I move forward, having healed so much of paralytic polio and trauma. And even when I feel tired or achy, I know that I can always dig deep and find that momentum that carries me through feeling incredible gratitude for all that is so right with my life now.

Two Weeks From Today ---

Show of hands -- who knows what is happening in Boston two weeks from today?

Here is a clue:



We are going to be raising our voices and raising a whole lot of money for Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital where I took the first steps on my healing journey with post polio syndrome over 7 years ago and where so many, including the survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings have found and continue to find their strength!

Here is Karis' story from her fund raising page:

On April 21, 2014, I will be participating in an event that I never thought I could: The Boston Marathon. The tragic events of last year’s race combined with witnessing first-hand the determination that the survivors displayed, has lead me to sign on as a member of Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital’s Race for Rehab Boston Marathon Team.

Many of you know that I was volunteering at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel last year for Spaulding’s Marathon viewing reception, when the bombs went off. Words cannot describe the scene nor the emotions I felt when I saw the second bomb explode. I wanted to run to the streets and help those who had been injured, but I was quickly evacuated and began the unknown journey through the streets of Boston. I was scared, but blessed to be in the company of wonderful friends. The streets were chaotic, no one knew where to go or what to do. As I ran down Huntington Avenue, it began to sink in: Lives have been changed forever.

As a massage therapist at Spaulding, I have had the great privilege of working with individuals who despite their life altering illness and/or injury, are determined to get back to their everyday lives. Those who know me personally know I am not a runner! I have never enjoyed running, but it is the strength and determination of my patients that has inspired me to run the Boston Marathon. The mental, physical, and emotional training that it will take to run this race is only a fraction of what those who I treat experience during rehab and for the rest of their lives. Each and every day I am strengthened by their strength.

Please consider making a donation to support my fundraising efforts as I work to raise $5,000 to benefit Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. Every dollar counts and will directly benefit the facility that gave 33 bombing survivors, and many others, their lives back. I am running the Boston Marathon to honor those survivors and memorialize those who lost their lives last April.

As Boston and the world count down the days until the start of the 2014 Boston Marathon, I am honored and proud to co host Karis' phenomenal fun(d) raising event Karis' Karaoke for a Kause happening on 2/20/14 from 8:00-10:00 pm at the Limelight Stage and Studios at 204 Tremont Street Boston.

Suggested minimum donation is $20 and you receive a Take a Chance ticket to be entered to win an autographed Tom Brady Jersey. And don't worry if you're too shy to step up to the mic, we'll have plenty of people singing strong. Write "karaoke" in the comments section when you make your donation. Cash bar and appetizers. Silent Auction Items include autographed books by Bob and Lee Woodruff, A Cape Getaway Weekend, Celtics and Red Sox Tickets, Gift certificates to Stapleton Floral Design and Marathon Sports.

So join us as we raise our voices and a whole lot of money to show that we ARE Boston Strong!

80 Days to Go...Support Crew

80 days to go until so many of my friends take their place at the starting line of the 118th Boston Marathon. Countless days are behind us since 4/15/2013 when lives were forever changed. I am reading about stories of remarkable strength and recovery.

Celeste Corcoran took her first running steps with two prosthetic legs:



Jeffrey Bauman is getting ready to release his book, "Stronger"



At the top of the book cover it reads, "I saw the bomber. He took my legs. He didn't break me. He only made me."

I know how incredibly fortunate Tom and I were to have escaped to safety after leaving the Mandarin Oriental Hotel where we were preparing to regale the runners on the Spaulding Race for Rehab Team in the suite above Boylston Street across from the Forum where the second bomb went off. Yet like everyone, we were shaken to the core. It's ironic that on the morning of 4/15/13 as we were heading to the Mandarin, Tom and I talked about whether or not he would run in '14 for Spaulding. We had begun to strategize about fund raisers.

We have no choice about what happens in our lives but we always have a choice of how we respond. While a part of me wanted to run Boston again, I knew that was not a path that would make sense for me. Tom decided this was not the year for him to run Boston again. But we knew we had to do something as we moved forward to get ready for this year's Boston Marathon.

I took the first steps on my healing journey at Spaulding Rehab Hospital where I was diagnosed with post polio syndrome in December of 2006 and I know the difference that the new Spaulding has made in the lives of the bombing survivors and their families who were devastated not only emotionally but physically by the bombings. I continue to find my strength in the Aquatics Therapy program. While I may not be running 26.2 miles for Spaulding, I am going the distance with two phenomenal fund raisers that I have put together in support of Karis Antokal and Greg Gordon who are running on the Race for Rehab Team with the theme of Singing Boston Strong:



Karis' Karaoke for a Kause happening on 2/20/14 from 8:00-10:00 pm at the Limelight Stage and Studios at 204 Tremont Street Boston. Suggested minimum donation is $20 and you receive a Take a Chance ticket to be entered to win an autographed Tom Brady Jersey. And don't worry if you're too shy to step up to the mic, we'll have plenty of people singing strong. Cash bar and appetizers. If you are unable to join us, with a minimum donation of $35, we'll enter you in the drawing to be held on 2/20/14. Read Karis' story on her fund raising page and make your donation today. Silent Auction Items include autographed books by Bob and Lee Woodruff, A Cape Getaway Weekend, Celtics and Red Sox Tickets, Gift certificates to Stapleton Floral Design and Marathon Sports.

An Evening of A Cappella to Benefit Spaulding Rehab happening on 4/4/14 at Boston University. Terpsichore, Boston University's premier all female a cappella group will be your host from 7:00-9:00 pm at Sleeper Auditorium located at 871 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA. The evening features performances by Terpsichore, the BU Dear Abbeys, BU's In Achord and Bostonality, a post collegiate a cappella group. Minimum suggested donation is $10. Make your donation to Greg Gordon's fund raising page and in the comments section note that it is for the benefit concert.

This Sunday, and on March 9th, Tom and I will be hosting a water stop for L Street Running Club offering moral support as the runners put in their miles on their road to the Boston Marathon.

With 80 days to go...we are all healing and moving forward and finding ways to be a part of the day. As for me? I am honored and proud to be a part of the support crew.

Sing Strong: Karis' Karaoke for a Kause

THE STORY:

On April 21, 2014, I will be participating in an event that I never thought I could: The Boston Marathon. The tragic events of last year’s race combined with witnessing first-hand the determination that the survivors displayed, has lead me to sign on as a member of Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital’s Race for Rehab Boston Marathon Team.

Many of you know that I was volunteering at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel last year for Spaulding’s Marathon viewing reception, when the bombs went off. Words cannot describe the scene nor the emotions I felt when I saw the second bomb explode. I wanted to run to the streets and help those who had been injured, but I was quickly evacuated and began the unknown journey through the streets of Boston. I was scared, but blessed to be in the company of wonderful friends. The streets were chaotic, no one knew where to go or what to do. As I ran down Huntington Avenue, it began to sink in: Lives have been changed forever.

As a massage therapist at Spaulding, I have had the great privilege of working with individuals who despite their life altering illness and/or injury, are determined to get back to their everyday lives. Those who know me personally know I am not a runner! I have never enjoyed running, but it is the strength and determination of my patients that has inspired me to run the Boston Marathon. The mental, physical, and emotional training that it will take to run this race is only a fraction of what those who I treat experience during rehab and for the rest of their lives. Each and every day I am strengthened by their strength.

Please consider making a donation to support my fundraising efforts as I work to raise $5,000 to benefit Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. Every dollar counts and will directly benefit the facility that gave 33 bombing survivors, and many others, their lives back. I am running the Boston Marathon to honor those survivors and memorialize those who lost their lives last April.

Here is a photo of Karis at work at Spaulding:



I am honored and delighted to be the organizer of Sing Strong: Karis' Karaoke for a Kause

When: Thursday evening
February 20, 2014
8:00pm-10:00Pm

Where: The Limelight Stage and Studio Boston

Why: Because we ARE Boston Strong - We run long and we sing strong

Who: YOU!

What? What you ask?

We have an exciting line up of Silent Auction items including Celtics Tickets, a Cape Getaway Package, autographed books by Lee & Bob Woodruff

AND GET THIS

Included in your donation to attend this phenomenal event, you will be entered to win an autographed Tom Brady Jersey - woo hoo!

So make your donation today by visiting Karis' Fund raising Page and reserve your spot for Sing Strong: Karis' Karaoke for a Kause...Minimum suggested donation is $20 ... put in the comments it's for Karaoke for a Kause and we'll have your name on the guest list!

Warm up those vocal chords ... here is one of my all time favorite karaoke songs: