In 1999 I started as a volunteer for the PMC, and for the next 6 years I served food, directed riders to their dorms, hauled trash and did what so many do behind the scenes to make the PMC a success. In 2005, as I turned 50, I decided to follow the example of my husband Ken who rode and fundraised for 7 years, and I transitioned from volunteer to rider. Each year I am blown away by the optimism, the joy and the sorrow that links the riders, the volunteers, the donors and those who cheer us on in this shared goal. Like most, cancer has a played a role in my involvement, most prominently the loss of my friends Felice Shapiro, Robin Glass, Marge Blank, and in April 2010 my father-in-law James Conway. I had my own brush with the disease. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2000 and my thyroid was successfully removed by Dr. Norriss at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The level of attention and care I received was extraordinary. I hope that my efforts will in some small way insure the same experience for those who need cancer care in the future.