Well, the first reason is my friend Angela. We grew up together as kids, and I stayed with her family for two months at the beginning of 7th grade while my family's house was being built (my family's previous house was an hour away). It was a new school, I was a dork, I didn't fit in, I was homesick, and it was a really miserable time in my life.
Angela made it bearable. We played with Pound Puppies and made up stupid stories together, and hanging out in her room was pretty much the only time I was happy that whole time.
She was 20 and in the middle of her studies at UCLA when she got cancer. When I talked to her, it was like old times, we joked around and she talked about what she was planning to do when she got better. She had a lot ahead of her. She was 21 when she died.
It didn't make any sense to me and it still doesn't. People have things to do. People to love. Places to explore. Cancer just cuts that all off, for no reason. And if it wasn't unfair enough that a 20 year-old girl should get cancer, it's just crazy when a 3 year-old gets it.
This is Elijah. He's the son of a friend who's really been a big help to me in my career and helped me get the job I have now. Elijah was diagnosed with leukemia in December 2010, at age 3. The prognosis is hopeful, but he has years of chemotherapy and other treatments ahead of him.
That's crazy, isn't it? You know what chemo's like. Why would a three year old kid have to go through that? He shouldn't have to.
I know riding a bike and raising some money won't cure him or save him from going through chemo, but it's hard to just see things like that happen to people and feel like there's nothing you can do. Raising money for research so that we can get rid of these stupid cancers seems like it's the best thing we ordinary people can do in the face of this.
Better than sitting on my ass and going, "Oh, that's too bad," right?
Oh, and if you want to do anything to help Elijah personally, his family has set up a fund to help pay for his ongoing medical expenses. Click here to check it out.
If anyone else has any stories about why you have a personal grudge against cancer, or who's inspired you to do something about it, feel free to talk about it in the comments. I'd like to hear about it.
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