Everyone has a reason. This is mine.
There have been so many of these letters of late, haven't there? In part because I live in a city and a region where doing is as natural as giving, making the idea of 'I'll ride, run, walk for something' and 'will you please contribute' seem such a natural fit. And in part because so many of us donated to the record $38M raised for our most important Boston Marathon ever a few months ago. So I realize that an email request isn't unique, nor is riding the Pan Mass Challenge to fight cancer. But my reason for sending and riding is unique to me.
Because everyone has a reason. This is mine.
On January 14, my close friend and Cisco colleague Bob Arseth lost his hard-fought battle with cancer. He was 56-years-old.
I use to sympathize with people when they lost a spouse or children lost a father. I would try to understand the void they must feel. But everything changed for me when I started a family of my own. The idea of such loss was no longer something I had to imagine. Being a husband and a dad change you in ways that you could not imagine because the privilege of both are unlike anything else. Bob understood this, he lived and he taught it in his actions and his commitments. His illness and his death are personal and palpable. But it's his life that I hope to celebrate here, to ride for and to remember.
Bob and I met through work. Like-minded in approach and intent there was immediate respect that moved quickly to friendship. He was a little older and it became apparent that he liked the role of big brother best. I fell in line with this because quite simply it made me better. He was a loving husband to Denise, an amazing and present father to and for Joseph and Marco, a cherished son, a dear brother and a wonderful example to me every single day the importance of those relationships. He found that elusive balance between working hard, playing hard and relaxing even better. He took pride in his career but his passions were a priority. I admired this. I admired his enthusiasm to not only continue to play hockey, but also to coach and teach it. Sharing little lessons was his great gift and I, like his boys, was a recipient of many. Bob was a good man and that goodness will remain in all that he touched.
It's still so hard to imagine that he is gone. It's a feeling that I know I share with so many who will ride 192 miles alongside me in the PMC, this upcoming Saturday and Sunday (August 1st and 2nd). Open enrollment to sign-up for the event was the day after I got back from Bob's funeral. This is all for him and Denise and his boys. It will provide me that sense of doing, that he loved and the need to do good, which he lived. This is the part where I ask you all to contribute. I've not done this before, so I consider it my big ask. There are links below and some details that I hope will make it easy to consider a donation (and a match from Cisco).
Thanks for reading. Please think of Bob this upcoming weekend and be grateful for the people in your life who love you for who you are and where you are headed. He would like that. He would say it's the real reason to ride.
Very respectfully,
Mike
