Well done to the organisers of yesterday’s race from today’s Courier they have raised over $130,000.
Courier Article – Ballarat Come to Life Cycle Classic raises more than $130,000 for cancer
Team HowIsBunny.com also made the slideshow (at 1:46 mark). Well done guys!
Thanks to Dad for organising today and to all who rode and support Team HowIsBunny.com.
We totalled 47 laps (48 if you count Darcy) which is 282km around Lake Wendouree. We ended up winning the family group but as Lance says “It’s not about the bike”, here’s hoping the BCRC make progress in the near future.
I know Bun was cheering us on I could hear a “Bless Ya” as we pedalled.
Photos to follow…
Another article promoting the Ballarat Come to Life Classic in the Courier. The kids and I are looking forward to the supporting everyone on the ride.
Ballarat Courier – Lakers set example for a good cause
Just don’t ask us to lift Dad. 🙂
The Ballarat Come to Life Cycle Classic is being held on the 22nd February and the Ballarat Courier spoke to Dad about why he is entering a team.
Cycle of life brings fathers together
Thanks Dad as well all those of you participating.
The Internet is an amazing thing (to me at least it far surpasses word-of-mouth), this site (and Facebook and Twitter) has enabled me to pass on Bun’s story at a much reduced mental and emotional cost. Today, I told 3 people about Bunny, to say it was tough is an understatement. Not that writing this a walk in the park mind you. I just count my blessings (Bun left with with a few) that I am surrounded by good friends and good people.
What gives me strength is remembering how strong Bunny was. As an example I’ll explain why I keep the Geelong Vs Collingwood game in my Foxtel IQ (and it’s not because we thumped them!). We were in Thailand at the time on what we called our second honeymoon. Bun had been through 12 months of surgeries, chemo, radiation looking back that was much tougher. Her energy was returning but she was still quite tired, not the stayer/party starter we all know. Anyway I had noticed the Pies would be televised on delay at 10.30pm, Bun wasn’t a footy supporter but she was supporter of me. She kept my mobile as Matt was providing quarter-by-quarter analysis that would have made Bruce McAvaney proud via SMS. We went out for dinner and then went to a bar to wait for the game to start. As Bun could tell from Matt’s messages the Pies were on FIRE and she knew I would love it. Luckily as we sat down at 8.30pm we looked up as umpy held the ball aloft, the replay started early. I think Bun was as relieved as I was excited. Bunny stayed on for the whole match not even letting on how tired she was, she explained in the 4th quarter she couldn’t make me leave considering Matt’s final message gave the final result and declared Dale Thomas’ goal late in 4th quarter “Daicos-like”, Goal of the Year candidate. I can only imagine what strength and sacrifice it took for her that night.
Like I said in my last post I’m not sure where I’m going at the moment let alone this site. Dad has asked me if he can enter a team in the Ballarat Cycle Classic under the HowIsBunny.com banner. I said fine as long as I can support from the sidelines, I say you can forget how to ride a bike 🙂
Last year they raise $75,000 for the Ballarat Cancer Research Centre and they are targeting $100,000. I know Dad is rallying the boys at Springbank as well as anyone with a working bike so I hope they reach their target. Thanks in advance for all who are riding, I’m sure it will be a great day up at the ‘Rat.
If you want to join in you can email John via [email protected] (don’t worry I get them as well, they won’t get lost).
Thanks Dad for organising it, even though Bunny was allergic to bikes like me I’m sure she would say “Bless Ya John!”.
I will send an email to Lance to see if he’ll ride as well.
Please read this post from Hiedi at the Vera Bradley Foundation. I met Heidi via Twitter where I told her about Bunny and HowIsBunny.com.
It is a terrific post about Bun from someone who only knows her from this site.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Nope, I never met her – I’ve only seen pictures online. She had luminous red hair and an enveloping smile – perfect skin, great eyes, you know, the kind of thing we women notice first. Her smile is what got me; what made me wish I could have met her just once. But I want to talk to you today about Sean. He’s the one who made contact with me and made me think about husbands of these breast cancer warriors. They aren’t often in the pictures of us as we stand trying to weakly smile with no hair and tired bodies. They are in the background, driving us to chemo, holding the babies our arms can no longer support, trying not to cry in front of us. They have names like William, Ham, Sean, Wayne, Stuart – the names of the everyman. They are your neighbors, these men. You stand next to them in line at the market and the bank, all across the world. They can’t wear their battle as we do, they don’t have hair loss that screams out what they are going through. Their scars are on the inside, but they soldier on even if we aren’t there anymore to praise them. Thank you, Sean, for introducing me to Bunny and to yourself. We are fighting for people like your sweet wife and children, but make no mistake – we fight and pray for you as well. www.howisbunny.com
Reprinted from http://verabradleyfoundation.blogspot.com/2009/01/australian-bunny.html
People have asked me whether this site is personal or is it for a wider audience. To me this site is very personal and it is on the internet which is a very public space. Over the past 2 months I have received emails and support from people I know well, people who knew Bunny and people who I have never met. If Bunny’s story, photos or messages from everyone help other people to raise awareness or funds for cancer then it can only be good. I can only hope that women fighting breast cancer can get as much as Bunny has, their husbands too.
For me these posts help me breathe. They allow me to tell my kids I love them when I am not with them. They allow me to thank people and let them know I am OK. I am back at work (looking for new & exciting projects) and the new school year has begun. It will be good getting back to the normal routine with school, this year it won’t quite be “the normal we’re used to” without Bunny around.
Have you lately?
I can recommend all of them and I’m sure that Bun would have had ticked them all off as well (except the last one, it’s hard to surf carrying a beach shelter). I’ll keep ticking things off my lists much like Andrew O’Keefe without laughing like The Count or falling asleep drunk in Chapel St, somewhere in between. Thanks to those who continue to help me do that every day, especially Jade & Rhys.