The Team- How love gave me purpose

How love gave me purpose......

In 2014 I got a call from some dear friends informing me that there was a "walk for Lupus" and they had organized a group of friends to walk in my honor. These friends were Mike & Tracy Kiefer and to this day they are the foundation of our team. Tracy is the one who came up with the catchy team name "Are We There Yetz?"

Back in 2016, right around Christmas, I happened to post a comment about the Gulf Coast Lupus Foundation being a partner charity for the Houston Chevron Marathon. Not long after, I got a message from Laura Russell — a wonderful young woman who I was lucky to get to know and mentor while working at IBM.

For those who don’t know, Laura is the daughter of Donna Vazquez, my IBM best friend. It’s no surprise Laura turned out to be such an extraordinary person — her mom is one of those once-in-a-lifetime people, full of generosity and a true passion for helping others.

Laura’s message said, “I want to run. And Blair wants to run too.” Blair is one of Laura’s best friends, and I had the pleasure of meeting her years ago. Over time, I’ve followed Blair’s journey on Facebook and watched her grow into a confident, kind, and truly beautiful person inside and out.

I told Laura she could run, and I’d handle the fundraising. But in classic Laura fashion, she wasn’t having it — she was all in. Not only did she want to run, she was determined to make a difference and be competitive about it. Donna was right there beside her, helping with the fundraising efforts. It quickly became a true team effort — one filled with heart.

That same evening, I got a call from my nephew, Bradley Simpson. “I want in,” he said. I asked, “Have you ever run a marathon?” He replied, “No, but I know I can.” And of course he could — Brad can do anything. He’s one of those quiet, big-hearted people who steps up, makes things happen, and never asks for recognition.

Brad dove into training, took on the driving for race weekend, and even made homemade pasta from scratch for the carb-loading dinner. Just having him there made me so happy — I love that guy more than words can say.

And then came race day. Some amazing highlights from that first year: the team completed the half marathon together in 2 hours and 18 minutes, through freezing temperatures in the 30s. I was tracking them on the app, and Laura kept sending photos throughout the race — it was absolutely heartwarming to witness.

This continued for 9 years and together we have raised over $250,000 for Lupus! Winning awards year after year and setting records with the Houston Chevron Marathon Foundation

The fight for stem cells brings in some new team members good friends Dr. Joke and Ade Coker. Joke was by my side as we drafted the details of the study for 15 Lupus warriors and started the fundraising which will be foundation of that study. Joke and Donna were the two who convinced me it was time to put my oxygen mask on first and get own stem cells to fortify myself for the battle ahead. Joke went with me to see Dr. Stanley Jones and negotiated the "deal" for my stem cell therapy.