Just Do It: Cure Edition

So I'm always going on and on around here about my awesome family, and sometimes I wonder if you all get sick of it. I mean, be honest, here. Are you tired of coming onto my blog all geared up to here (yet another) story about the life and times of a slightly crazy transplant patient and her very high-strung puppy, only to find yourself somewhat disappointed by the fact that all I ever seem to talk about anymore is my fabulously helpful mother, my fun-loving father, or my pretty much ridiculously talented sister? Yeah, I kind of figured as much. But fear not, lovely people, because I 100% promise to you all that this particular post that you are about to read will not be in any way shape or form about my fabulous family. No, really, I mean it this time.

It's gonna be about my equally fabulous friends.

Shocker. Bet y'all didn't see that one coming from a mile away, did you?

But, although I'm not kidding when I say that all of my friends definitely deserve to have a blog dedicated to their wonderfulness, this post is about one friend in particular. Remember this guy?

(Psst...he's the one on the right.)

Yep, that's Ben, who at around this time last year ran the 2009 NYC Marathon, and in the process raised about $4,000 for Team Boomer and the fight to cure cystic fibrosis. Um, yeah, did I mention that I have pretty fabulous friends? I wasn't kidding...

So this year, of course, Ben is at it again. Believe me, beautiful readers, I have tried (and tried, and tried, and tried again) to get this guy to slow down and stand still more often. And frankly, it just flat-out doesn't work. He pretty much makes me look lazy (actually, he would probably make the Tazmanian Devil look like a couch potato if the two ever went up head-to-head, though it's possible that our own "super fibros" Ronnie and/or Jerry Cahill could outrun him, not to mention Rock CF's incredible Emily. Just sayin', Ben.) Given that simple fact, though, I've decided instead to focus my energy on something a lot more doable than forcing Ben to stop moving. Something relatively easy like, say, finding a cure and saving the lives of over 70,000 children and adults around the world. Right. Because we all know that together we can totally do that.

Which is why, on 10/10/10, Ben is going to be running the Chicago Marathon in support of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. And, as we all know, the CFF is an amazing charity, with over 90 cents of every single dollar raised going directly towards life-saving research and drug development. In the immortal words of Dr. Bob Beall: money equals research and research equals science and science equals LIFE.

But, of course, none of you need me to tell you that, right?

PLEASE show your support for this amazing guy and this amazing cause. There are so many ways to do it, and they're all super easy.

1) Obviously, this is a fundraiser, the primary goal of which is to, well, raise funds. If you feel like helping out Ben's marathon awesomeness, please do so here.

2) If you live near the Chicago area, please go out and support Ben and all the runners on Sunday, October 10th. I'm not allowed to travel for a while post-tx, or I would totally be there. And, of course, cheer especially loud for all the wonderful people running for the CFF.

3) Feel free to leave Ben a message in the comments of this blog to let him know who he's fighting for and how much we all appreciate it. Believe me, this sort of encouragement will probably come in handy around mile 25 or so!

Honestly, I know I joke around quite a bit on the blog, but on a serious note: I'm so beyond proud and grateful to have amazing people in my life. And to everyone who continues to -- or has in the past, or ever will in the future -- put so much time, effort, and energy into the race to cure this crazy disease, please know that all the blogs in the world could never even begin to touch on how awesome you are. To you it might mean 26 miles (and 385 yards) of sweat and effort, but to 70,000 people around the world, it means everything.