July 30, 2024
Dear Family & Friends,
This weekend, on August 3 and 4, Walker’s Wings will hit the road again for our 13th Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC)! Along with 14 teammates, my husband, Jeff Crisan, my son, Tommy, and I will ride 162 miles across Massachusetts to raise research and treatment funds for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) in Boston. Walker’s Wings remains deeply committed to bringing us all closer to a cure for all cancers with every single mile we ride.
For me, the build up to our PMC weekend inspires reflection and the desire to share my thoughts with you.
I have always considered myself a hopeful, deeply faithful person. Until recently, I believed that my hopefulness and faithfulness came naturally to me, simply a part of my disposition. Yet, I have come to realize this isn’t the case. This past year has brought me and my family profound, unexpected challenges. Like so many of you facing challenges for yourself and your loved ones, I felt the steadiness of my footing slip and the ground fall away below me. At times, to be completely honest, I felt nearly hopeless as well as disconnected from God and my faith. These feelings felt so foreign to me, so hard to bear, and the exact opposite of what I thought came naturally to me. It felt like a fever dream that I kept waiting to wake up from.
As has fortunately happened to me so many times in my life, God (or fate or luck, if such is your belief system) placed encouragement in my path to open my eyes, to change my point of view, and to impact my heart. In the past, these spiritual signs have taken the shape of strangers' actions, friends’ advice, and yes, as many of you know, constant visits from cardinals. This year, it was a song.
I’ve confessed sheepishly to some - and exclaimed proudly to a few others! - my fondness for contemporary Christian music. One such song, which unexpectedly turned up in my Spotify feed, was Don’t You Give Up On Me, by Brandon Lake. This song offers a challenge to its listeners from God’s perspective to stay strong when “the night is at its darkest,” as “the darker the night gets, the brighter the light hits.” The song promises “so much more” than darkness, like dreams, plans, and blessings in the future. Hearing the song initially, I thought that all sounded great, but also so far away from my reality. And then a lyric turned a key for me, which made me listen to the song on repeat: “Don’t lose your hope. Don’t lose your faith. That’s where your fight is.” I had never thought about this: you’ve got to fight for faith. You’ve got to fight for hope. Hope and faith aren’t feelings or points of view that come passively - or even easily - to anybody, including me. They require effort and determination to achieve and maintain. They require an active desire to look for hope, to seek out faith, and a determination to pursue them in the world. Once I considered hope and faith as aspirations to fight for, the song became my rally cry.
To be sure, I realize that sometimes, we may each lack the ability, capacity, or strength to fight for hope or faith. I know that I did. I’ve also come to realize that when you can’t do it for yourself, you need a community of those that can fight for you - that can hold the ground steady for you - until you are rested enough to fight for yourself. Whether through prayer, encouragement, acts of love, or simple presence, a community is critical to the efforts for faith and hope. This year, my PMC ride is dedicated to all of you in my community who fiercely fought - and continue to fight - for hope and faith for me and my family.
In the face of a cancer diagnosis or cancer treatment - and even, in the brutal throes of grief and loss after a setback or death from cancer - DFCI and the PMC are your fiercest communities. As many of you know, our team, Walker’s Wings, rides to honor the courage, character, and strength of my mother, my best friend, Judy Walker, who passed away in 2011 from a very rare and aggressive type of cancer, Sarcoma. My mother received the best care imaginable from her dedicated, compassionate team at the DFCI in Boston (Kerry Belliveau, Dr. Jeffrey Morgan). My family remains in touch with them today.
The PMC is a community of caring, committed individuals, including cancer patients and survivors, their caregivers and families, and DFCI staff, all united by a single purpose: ending all cancers. Because of the PMC’s 100% pass through rate, almost unheard of in the fundraising world, every dollar donated to support our PMC rides will go directly to support the Sarcoma Center Research Fund at DFCI. Jeff and I will continue to match every donation. As cancer of so many types has touched so many people, please email me if you would like your PMC donation to be dedicated to the general fund for cancer research and treatment at DFCI instead of to Sarcoma. We will gladly make sure that happens, and we will match it as well.
Over the last 12 PMC rides, with your overwhelming and constant generosity, Walker’s Wings has astonishingly raised over $3,354,000 for research and treatment of Sarcoma and other cancers at DFCI. What an extraordinary, impactful tribute! No words can ever describe the depth of my gratitude and awe. Walker’s Wings supporters and donors are in an exceptional league of their own.
Clicking on the link below will allow you to make a contribution in whatever amount you choose to support our ride this year.
http://www2.pmc.org/profile/JW0285
If you prefer to send a check, please make it payable to PMC and forward it to me at 72 Hillside Terrace, Belmont, MA 02478. Donations may be made until September 30, 2024.
I will again ride this year’s PMC with the names of cancer warriors on my jersey. Please send me the names of any loved ones lost to cancer, or ones bravely still battling, so that I may carry them with me as I ride. I have preserved my list of names from past rides. Every single name is an added inspiration and a reminder of my commitment. I cherish the task of making the ribbons, praying over every person and their family as I do.
On behalf of my mother, my family, and all present and future DFCI patients and their families, my sincerest and deepest thank you for reading this email and for any contribution you are able to make.
As I close, for all of you living through the fever dream of a cancer diagnosis, cancer treatment, or grief or loss of any kind - and for all of you whose ability to fight now might be weak - please know: Walker’s Wings is fighting fiercely - and riding passionately - for your hope and faith. You have this community fighting for you.
Yours in hope and faith,
Jodi Walker
Email: jeffjodi@comcast.net
