Race For The Cure Tomorrow

My body is in no shape to run a race tomorrow. I'm still getting that hamstring pain about 25 minutes into a run (BTW...I have made an appointment with an Orthopedic Surgeon / Sports Doc for the week after next - we'll see how that goes...). So for tomorrow's 5K in downtown DC, I won't be going for a PR, but I will not miss this race.

I will be running Race For The Cure tomorrow in memory of my friend Barbra.

Barbra and I were very close friends during our teenage years. We became friends through a Jewish youth group we both were active in - the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization - and during our senior years in High School we were co-presidents of DC Council. The two of us would spend many hours together in the BBYO office and on the phone, and we went to a few semi-formal dances together throughout the years. During the first few years of college (she went to Duke and I went to Michigan) we spoke off and on and saw each other over the summers. Interestingly enough, I believe the last time I spoke with her may have been after the NCAA Basketball Finals in 1992...Duke creamed Michigan and I recall our conversation being a bit on the obnoxious side.

After college, I moved to Dallas, TX and I started to grow apart from many of my high school friends. When I relocated back to the DC area 5 years later, I got back in touch with a few of my old friends, but not many...I had new friends that I had made at college, work and with other activities and just didn't make keeping up with these old friendships a priority. I thought of my old friends from time to time, but I rarely picked up the phone or sent an email to reach out.

In early 2001, I received an email that Barbra has passed away. She had fought off breast cancer successfully, but then had a relapse that was not caught in time to treat. I was in shock! How could this happen?? We were so young for something like this to happen (30 years old).

It was at that point that I realized that if I really cared about my old friends, that I needed to reach out. I have been making an effort over the past few years - calling and emailing some of these friends now and then and also set up a few play dates for our kids to get together and play. I've even reconnected with some friends via Facebook.

Unfortunately, it is too late for me to ever reconnect with Barbra. However, when I started running a few years ago I decided that I could run Race For The Cure in her memory each year.