Friday, August 12, 2016

"Jo" Button Campaign

Jo cuts a wide swath when it comes to friendships.

Brian Schiewe


500 buttons of love
Jo was given 18 months to live. She's now in double overtime and fighting for every hour.  Jo now requires around the clock support. Her friends and family have rallied behind her and wrap her in a blanket of love and warmth. Glioblastoma brain cancer has robbed Joanne of her voice and stripped her physical strength, but her dignity, her beauty, and unstoppable tenacity remain intact.

There are no survivors of Glioblastoma and Jo is in double overtime.

To date Jo has raised well over $80,000 for brain cancer research in Manitoba. She is an Ironman, a marathoner, a triathlete, a Manitoba Runners' Association Hall of Fame inductee, and a five year Board member for Ted's Run for Literacy. She is all that and so much more.

We do not love Joanne for her success, although they are plentiful and admirable. We love her goodness. We love her moxie. We love the sound of her mile-a-minute conversation.  We love her laughter. We love her larger-than-life character. We love her lightning-fast wit. We love her gift of gab. We love Jo for the way she makes us feel important and valued. We love her inspiration. We love her tenacity.

We love her countlessly,

wordlessly,

endlessly.

We love Jo because she has come to represent our own mortality and that is unsettling.

Ted's Run for Literacy has started a "Jo" button campaign.  A $5.00 (minimum) donation will buy you a button.  Proceeds will be donated to Brain Cancer Research in Manitoba, Canada. Contact teds runforliteracy@gmail.com or message any TRL Board member for information on how to get your button. Buttons are also available at the Kenaston Running Room and City Park Runners in Winnipeg.

Sometimes there are no words to express how we feel. Sometimes all we can do is hold a hand, hug a loved one, or in Jo's case, wear a button. Sometimes that's all we can do.

It's a good day to be alive... show it by wearing your button.

Mike