The PMC

Community: I suppose nothing is bigger in this particular community on this weekend than the PMC. For those not in the know, this is the Pan Mass Challenge, a two day bike-athon of 180 miles or so. This is a monster fundraising event - thousands of bike riders, hundreds of volunteers, millions of dollars raised. This is my 6th year riding. The PMC raises and donates its money for the Jimmy Fund, the fundraising arm of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Amazingly, the PMC provides half of the Jimmy Funds annual total and is the single largest contributor to the DFCI.

I started this ride in memory of my mother. She died of breast cancer in 1999. She did get to see Trish and I get married, but she died before Liam was born. It was wonderful to have her at the wedding - we were married on August 1 and this was before she got really sick. It was an awful fall - she died in January. While she was never officially a grandmother, she did know that the next generation was on the way, as my nephew Ian (my brother's first born) was born just six months after she passed. She would have loved holding court with her grandkids...

Every year, I ride with ribbons. On each ribbon is the name of someone affected by cancer. My mom, my dad, my grandmother, both my blood uncles, my ceramic mentors... Some are survivors, some are battlers, and some have succumbed. My ribbon bouquet gets larger every year. This year, it is extremely sad that I have added Sally Naser to my list. Sally is a young, elfin, energetic girl who is in my son's class. She is only 10 years old and is battling an extremely aggressive form of bone cancer. She has been getting radiation and chemotherapy all summer long and is due for an operation next week to amputate one of her legs in hopes of keeping the disease from spreading. Whenever I ride my bike, I always bring my mom along. This year, I'm bringing Sally as well.

For those wishing to donate, you can click here.

Studio: It ain't about the studio this week.