I am riding for my son Bennett (check out the gallery tab for pictures of this beautiful boy). I like writing his name, for a moment it makes him present, here with me. I should be saying his name every day, calling for him to sit down and eat his mac and cheese, begging him to stop pulling on the dog’s ears, asking him questions like, ‘how old are you Bennett?’ and ‘what do you want to be when your grow up?’ But Bennett is not here.

Bennett was diagnosed with an optic brain tumor at 14 months, he battled the disease intensely until he passed away, just shy of his second birthday. Often in pediatric cancer, you see pictures of these young warriors, smiling, because children are so positive and also because you can’t help but focus on any moment of happiness, in the pursuit of optimism. But it’s the moments that aren't broadcast that define what it really means to battle these diseases: hours in the OR, midnight MRIs, fevers, exhaustion, nausea, and moments of intense physical pain. Before he really fell ill, Bennett smiled and crawled and yelled in glee as he discovered his voice (and his incredible laugh). He stood and surfed along the edges of our sofa. As his disease developed, he suffered strokes and seizures, he became bed ridden and lost his vision and all movement along his left side. As parents of a sick kid, you are spectator to regression instead of growth, trauma instead of milestones.

The Jimmy Fund and Dana Farber are true bastions of hope for families like ours. The hope they provided allowed us to face each day, each hurdle, with positivity. Dana Farber is the epicenter for cutting edge research and treatment, when there, you know you are truly in the best hands possible. The doctors and nurses spend every day on the front lines with those impacted by these diseases, working tirelessly to fix us, and holding our hand when nothing else can be done. I am truly grateful for the care they provided Bennett and will do everything I can to make sure they are equipped to continue this fight even though our individual battle is lost and over. On August 8th, I will ride 100 miles with Bennett as my tailwind, his hand on my back pushing me along.