On my mom’s 73rd birthday, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She lived for 16 months. She was amazing through the whole—her whole struggle, and her whole battle, really. Of course, here she was with pancreatic cancer, and she was making sure that she made her donation to the Tour de Pier, because she knew how important it was. And my mom was always very, very active in the community.
It was actually a week after my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a hockey mom friend of mine told me that she was involved with this event that was benefitting both pancreatic cancer and brain cancer. She asked if I wanted to be involved. There was no way that I could have said no, of course I wanted to be involved! My mom was just diagnosed the week before. So my son, Max, and I rode.
I was very honored that my son was asked to participate as one of the Junior Kings riders and be on stage. Not only was it an honor for us, it was such a great way to honor my mom.
During her diagnosis, we learned a lot. We learned a lot about life. My mom taught us how to live fully, and even in the end of her life, we learned so much about how to really live. She was an awesome woman, and she really loved life, and she was really, really, really strong. It’s an honor to have her memory there and present and thinking about her during the ride.