Monday, July 28, 2008

LIVESTRONG!



I just returned home from the Lance Armstrong Foundation's LIVESTRONG Summit in Columbus, Ohio. It was awesome!! I actually went for work, but I got so much out of it on a personal level. It was so inspirational to meet survivors and see grassroots efforts in action. I made some great friends, learned a lot about political processes and I have taken upon myself to make cancer a national priority this year. With the upcoming presidential election, it is so important to make cancer an issue that cannot be ignored. Cancer affects everyone. It does not discriminate and it does not have a political party.  

One of the most poignant parts of the Summit was watching this video from Jack. Be sure to have your kleenex handy. Later I met Jack's mom, Jennifer, who has done fundraising and advocacy work in Iowa. He's an amazing kid!  



No, I didn't get to meet Lance, but I did get a couple of pictures of him.





This is the exact same picture as the one above, except it was taken by Lance's paparazzi from the other side of the room. You can only see my blonde head on the other side of the room. You can see all the paparazzi pictures on the LIVESTRONG blog



Here are some the great people I met!















We even saw Vanilla Ice at a bar on Saturday night! Notice the LIVESTRONG bracelet he has on. Life doesn't get any better!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree, it was incredible when the entire audience was chanting I KNOW JACK!

The Vanilla Ice show was a great time. :)

Jessica said...

Thanks for the comment Brian! You do a great job with the LAF blog.

Jessica said...

I couldn't bear to watch the Jack video after watching it on Facebook. Very motivating. Well, ot motivation enough for me to wear the padded biker shorts I tried on tonight, unless they are UNDER something. But still motivational.

And I want my pic with bad ass Vanilla Ice!

Anonymous said...

My sis Meg has cancer. She starts chemo next week. She gave me my yellow bracelet 1½ ago when she was diagnosed. I wear it all the time. It is kind-of funny. We will be going somewhere really nice and I will forget I have it on and then notice how great it matches my dress! Lance Armstrong has been an inspiration to me also. He is one of the reasons why I made my goal to do a triathlon! Through all adversity and pain he conquered and achieved marvels. Well, so can I! And I did! Through a year of HELL with health issues I persevered and finished my race! My Lance Armstrong bracelet is an ongoing reminder to me that we are all human! We can do anything! We just have to DO! Love you!