Why I PMC guest blog - "A Thank You Note To The Pan-Mass Challenge; The Event That Changed My Life" by Gigi Eliopoulos
Original blog and photos can be found at The Odyssey Online
This is a thank you note to all those involved in the Pan-Mass Challenge: from the Starr family to the riders, to the volunteers and to the cheerleaders. You are changing lives. You changed mine.
For the past 15 summers, my family has counted down to one weekend: the first weekend of August. The best weekend of the year. The Pan-Mass Challenge. For those who do not know about the Pan-Mass Challenge, it is a bike ride across Massachusetts that raises money through the Jimmy Fund for Dana-Farber.
In 2001, my dad was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma and he was treated through Dana-Farber. This diagnosis changed his life, He beat cancer and he believed that it was his turn to give back. After all, what is the point of life if not to make it better for someone else?
One of his friends had been riding in the PMC, so my dad and three of his buddies began to train for the ride. The next year more of his friends wanted to join in and ride.
To say that the Pan-Mass Challenge is simply a bike ride that raises money to help cure cancer would be false. It is so much more. It brings people together and truly teaches you how beautiful life is and what the true meaning of life is. To help others. The Pan-Mass Challenge taught me that there is no point of living unless you are making this world a better place for someone else.
So hop on a bike, grab a volunteer t-shirt or a couple pom poms and I'll see you the first weekend of August.
In remembrance of a true inspiration and hero: Andy Eliopoulos