34 years ago this August, my family was rocked with terrible news: my nephew, one of twins, just two years old, had cancer. Wilms tumor, to be exact. In both kidneys. In the midst of this terrible news, however, there was some hope: the research done at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute helped doctors chart a way through chemotherapy and surgery for our little boy. By his third birthday the prognosis was good. He is now a young father of two, robust and healthy.

For those who have known me for many years, you will remember the Jimmy Fund Walk along the route of the Boston Marathon, which my family (and some students who came with me!) did for about a dozen years to raise money for cancer research. Life then intervened and cancer again struck my family, this time my father in 2001. We lost him in 2009. Not surprisingly for those who knew him, not a day doesn’t go by that I don’t miss him. I know many of you have also lost family members to cancer; I have lost friends and colleagues too. It does feel ubiquitous.

Last year my son Grayson joined my brother Hal’s efforts to raise money for childhood cancer research by riding in the Pan-Mass challenge, a two day near 200 mile ride from Sturbridge to Provincetown (some routes start, now, in Wellesley). Hal has ridden for over 25 years, part of the work he has done in gratitude for his son’s recovery, and he has been joined by my niece and both of my nephews. Last year, standing on the finish line waiting for Gray and Hal’s family, I wondered if I might contribute too, more than just in funding them.

It’s been a journey. Gray, hearing that the thought had crossed my mind, forged ahead and organized his siblings to buy me a bike for Christmas. People, it’s been over 40 years since I have regularly ridden a bike. I’m not too proud to admit that I was terrified to begin again, at 63. On the cusp of another change in my life, as I rotate out of the Associate Dean of the College role back to fulltime teaching, this challenge seemed as wise as it has been terrifying. I registered to ride the first leg of the Challenge, from Wellesley to Bourne.

I will be riding in honor of my nephew and out of grief in losing my father and my friends. But not just for them. I will also be riding for other people’s nephews and fathers, their children and friends. The numbers of families who have been marked by this disease is only growing. But the stories of recoveries, and of quality of life extended, have grown as well, fueled in part by the research at Dana-Farber.

So yes, I am writing to ask if you can support me in this work to fund childhood cancer research (research that helps with addressing all kinds of adult cancers as well). Notably, every cent of the money raised goes directly to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. And given the federal cutbacks in research funding, the work that riders and their supporters do is more important than ever.