One Year Old

Baby girl is officially not a baby anymore! I think she was a little weirded out by all the attention and she had a very suspicious look on her face when everybody started singing "happy birthday" to her. She got over it of course when she tasted cake for the first time in her life.

Race Day

Race day came and went, and it was an incredible experience. The Minnesota chapter of the Team in Training (part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) raised approx. $280,000 for blood cancer research. Being part of this group and sharing stories of triumph and tragedy has been more humbling then I expected. The challenges that everyone involved have gone through, or are currently going through, makes one appreciate life and loved ones in a whole new way. Visit here to find information on your local chapter.


Everyone competed hard and had a good time. Jeanine and her dad placed 1st and 2nd in their respective age groups and her brother endured an incredible amount pain, due to a degenerative disc he inherited from his mom, and still finished the race with a triumphant "GO TEAM!". Cheering for all remaining TEAM-mates as they finished their races was awesome. The determination to fight for something bigger than the fleeting pain of race day could be seen on the face of every TNT member I came across.


In addition to great-grandma and couple of family visitors from Australia, we had Julie the baby-wisperer on hand so baby girl could concentrate on taking naps. Of course Cheerios and inspecting mom's bike can be very distracting.

4th of July

We had a wonderful time up at the cabin over the 4th of July. Most of Barb's family was in town, which was bitter-sweet as she is greatly missed. But of course, in her honor the party went on. The kids swam all day, every day and everybody had a good time breaking in Bob's new cabin.



And of course, who could forget the fireworks?

Team In Training

Friends & Family,

It's hard to believe it has been six months since my mom lost her fight against Leukemia. In some respects, it feels like yesterday I was cheering her on as she boldly prepared for each grueling round of chemo. When you live your life hanging on each passing minute, hour, and day you lose track of the passing seasons. During the past year, time was not dictated by a clock or a calendar; it was marked by quality time spent with my mom. We experienced minutes that grudgingly lingered on like hours and hours that soared past like minutes. It was your love and support that enabled me to be by her side throughout her journey.

Your commitment to support my family continued even after my mom passed away. In the past six months, we have collected donations totaling nearly $13,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by participating in the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon as members of the Team in Training. By making a contribution and helping my family meet our fundraising goal, you have chosen to continue my mom’s fight against this horrible disease. For this, I am truly grateful and overwhelmed by your generosity. Thank you!

If you haven’t gotten a chance to make a contribution, it is not too late. The Lifetime Fitness Triathlon is July 10th and we will continue to accept donations right up to race day. Mike and I received our race day suits and are pretty pumped to break them in! It was initially very difficult to begin preparing for the race following the tragedy we experienced. Knowing I was training not just for a race but to assist in the search for a cure has instilled a new sense of purpose and vigor to my workouts and my life.

Throughout my life I never paid much attention to the concept of time. As a child, it seemed to move very slowly, as it was an obstacle to be overcome in anticipation of future events. When I began competing, it became a metric of achievement. Today, I have an entirely new appreciation for time, because I have faith in its ability to heal.

Go Team!

Jeanine

Donations accepted online at
http://pages.teamintraining.org/mn/lifetri10/OssyPosse

Cabin time

I can't believe it is almost halfway through the summer and this is the first set of pictures for the blog. Here are some good ones from up north. The dude's little sister is only 11 months old and already a better dancer. I guess she did inherit something from her mom after all.

Photo Shoot

Another random post....

Not much to report, but baby girl is as smiley as ever.

I am sure the little girls were having a good time during a recent visit, but not as much as their moms.

And can you believe this suit is what dad wore in college? Those new fancy suits have changed the sport through drag reduction, but I think they might also do away with a swimmers most defining characteristic, the complete lack of modesty. What a shame.

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a happy 2010.

Continue Barb's Fight Against Leukemia

Continue Barb's Fight Against Leukemia at http://pages.teamintraining.org/mn/lifetri10/OssyPosse

The Ossy Posse "Team In Training" site is here. Donations to this site will be the same as those sent to the address listed in the previous post.

Barb's fight with cancer ended on December 20th. Her strength and courage during her 8 month battle was amazing. Unfortunately, medical science has not yet found a reliable cure for her type of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). It was her tremendous desire to live, which enabled her to surpass the average life expectancy of someone with this devastating disease.

Barb's treatment included an experimental round of chemotherapy. She volunteered to participate in the study not only because it could have been the cure that she so desperately sought, but also because she wanted to help continue the fight against AML.

She has been contributing to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for 12 years, since her sister-in-law died of Leukemia. Now, we have the opportunity to continue the fight.

We are raising money for Leukemia research as members of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training program at The Lifetime Fitness Triathlon race July 10th. We will be racing in honor of Barb's life, as a wife, mother, grandma, sister, and friend.

Please join us in our tribute to Barb by helping us meet our fundraising goal.

Thank you for your support!

Darrell, David, Jeanine

Barbara Jean Wilk, July 29, 1945 - December 20, 2009

From Jeanine:

Dearest Friends,
My mom passed away this morning. It's hard to believe over eight months has passed since my mom's diagnosis. This year has consisted of the most life changing events of my life. The year began with so much promise and excitement. I was expecting the birth of our baby girl in July, completing my graduate degree in May, starting my new career in the fall, and planned to escape the dreadful Minnesota winter by spending time with my parents in Arizona. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to enjoy one last trip to AZ with my mom last March. I will forever cherish the memories from that trip. I am also so thankful my mom survived long enough to celebrate the milestones that came to pass this year even if it was not in the way we had intended. Her spirit will live on through her friends and family. I am so blessed to have had such a spectacular mother and friend. I will forever strive to be as wonderful to my children as she was to hers.

I realize I've been difficult to contact during the past month and want you all to know how much your notes, cards, calls, and text messages helped me through this heartbreaking struggle. I have been overwhelmed by your generosity. It has been difficult to see the good in this experience and you have all shown me true love and compassion. You have given me a gift, which I will always treasure.

Thank You,
Love to you all this holiday season,

Jeanine

From Darrell:
Barb asked me to let you know that memorial donations are preferred to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) in lieu of flowers.

So, Dave, Jeanine and I are going to participate in a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society program called "Team in Training" where we race in a LLS sponsored Triathlon event to raise money for Leukemia research. If you are interested, please make checks payable to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at:

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
8441 Wayzata Blvd, Suite 340
Golden Valley, MN 55426

Please include Barb's name on the check.

Barb has been donating to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society since our sister-in-law, Marge, died of Leukemia 12 years ago. There has been tremendous progress in curing and controlling certain types of Leukemia during this time. Hopefully, some day, others will be spared what Barb has gone through with AML Leukemia.

Happy Halloween!

Another Halloween has passed. It was difficult this year as the dude could not decide on a costume. He wanted to be both batman and darth vader. In the end, a nice compromise was reached. Batman for halloween and darth vader for christmas.

In other news, mommy finally finished knitting a dress she has been working on:

Also, prior to the big day, there was some experimentation with other super heroes. Here is his attempt at his own spider man costume: