I will be riding in the Pan Mass Challenge this year to support the wonderful folks at Dana Farber in the discovery and approval of new cancer treatments. Dana Farber has had a massive, positive impact on my fiancée’s family (my future in-laws <3) over the past decade. Most recently, DF helped my (future) mother-in-law, Amy, overcome one of her biggest hurdles yet in her 10+ year battle with Multiple Myeloma. In August of this past year, Amy's doctor at Dana recommended her for one of the more cutting edge cancer treatments available today, CAR T cell therapy. She was put on the waiting list and scheduled to receive the treatment in January of this year. Fast forward to Thanksgiving of this past year, and we got the terrible news that the cancer had spread to Amy's central nervous system and there were no known treatments that could help her. Chemo and radiation would not help. January could not come fast enough to find out if the brand new CAR T cell therapy could be her life-saving treatment. The weeks leading up to her CAR T treatment, the cancer was debilitating Amy's ability to walk, which was very difficult for Amy as she is such an active person who loves her daily walks. Well January finally came, and what we witnessed was nothing short of miraculous and inspirational. Thanks to the incredible doctors at Dana Farber, and Amy's ceaseless strength and positivity, in a matter of weeks Amy went from a needing wheelchair, to standing unassisted and eventually getting back to her daily walks!

Amy is always such a positive, bright ray of sunshine in all of our lives. She has welcomed me into her family with open arms and an open heart and I can't explain in words how grateful I am for that, and how grateful I am to have her be a part of my life. I have so much love and respect for her, she truly inspires me to be a more positive and happy person. Her smile and attitude are infectious, and I am honored that one day very soon, I will officially be able to call her my mother-in-law <3

I also ride in honor of my (future) sister-in-law Heather, who beat advanced-stage melanoma 10 years ago. Heather is an incredibly kind and affectionate person, and a wonderful force in my life. I'm happy to say she will be riding alongside Gretchen and I in the Pan Mass this upcoming August!

I also ride in memory of Grammy (Mary) Bristol, Gretchen and Heather's grandmother, and Amy's mother, who passed away this May. Mary battled Lymphoma during her life, but thanks to the help of Dana Farber, lived a very long life and went into remission three times. She will most certainly be looking down on us all while we ride, cheering us on (:

100% of the funds we are raising will go to Dana Farber, with most of the funds being specifically directed to Dana Farber's Clinical Director of Hematologic Malignancies (i.e., Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Multiple Myeloma) to assist in their team's continued research. The same team of doctors and researchers that helped CAR T to be approved are on the verge of coming out with similar breakthrough treatments. These treatments, including CAR T, have proved to be incredibly successful across various types of cancer, beyond just blood cancers, including breast cancer and melanoma. Our hope is that these very breakthroughs bring us a giant step closer to a world without terminal cancer.

May all those bearing the badge of cancer continue to walk on, and on, and on.