My Story
I'm running a marathon in memory of my mum, Julia, who passed away in 2010. Julia was gracious, beautiful, and an incredibly loving person. However when she got sick, I realised that the most notable and admirable part of her character was her courage. When Julia got cancer, she didn't complain. My brother and I didn't even know she had it until the serious effects kicked in. Julia spent 2 years going back and forth from hospital, on life saving but distressing medication, being told she'd make it one month and being told she wouldn't the next. Yet she persevered throughout to stay strong even at her weakest. I am so grateful to have had a mother like her to aspire to and reflect these qualities in my own life. The day before she passed away, Julia took me to a horse riding lesson. She knew she was too ill to take me, but she did it anyway, and I remember it now as her last act of love to me. She wanted me to remember her this way. In an act of love to her, I want to do something courageous. Not only by running a marathon, but by sharing Julia's story, which is also my story - one some of my closest friends still do not know. I'm aspiring to be like Julia through being brave as an act of love - love to her, and to every family battling cancer today.
