Lion in the House

Today was another 6 mile Saturday - this week we met at the Boathouse downtown and ran up to Eden Park and back. "Hill" is my new 4-letter word. Ugh. I paced with another girl who has been training with the fall group (I'm a "winter") for her marathon that is next month. We did 4:1 intervals up to the park and then ran the whole way back. The view was awesome at the top - that was a gift after those hills. I had a discouraging week for a variety of reasons but today brought it all back around for me. Peace.

Below is a post that was sent to all of us in Team In Training regarding a documentary that was filmed at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Lion in the House. It follows the lives of kids and their families who are battling blood cancers. I watched the first last night and it brought a whole new meaning to what we are doing. Please watch it and know that your donations are making a difference in the lives of these kids. These are some brave kids and strong families. Running a few miles a week is nothing compared to what they have endured. I know some of you will say "I don't like to watch stuff like that" but looking the other way doesn't change the reality all around us. It doesn't change the circumstances and challenges that parents every day are encountering as they hear "your child has cancer". And, it's not just children, there are adults everywhere. A man at our church with 2 small children just recently found out he has stage 4 leukemia. It's real. We don't have to look the other way.

Lion In The House
To learn more about the documentary and get updates on the families, go to: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/lioninthehouse/02_index.htm

CET/PBS will re-broadcast the documentary "Lion In The House" at 10pm every Friday night in Sept.-- starting Sept. 7. The re-broadcast will divide the original 4-hour, full-length show into 1 hour segments with one each week. For those of you that are not familiar with Lion this was a documentary that was filmed at our own Children's starting back in 1997. It covers the lives of several children afflicted with blood cancers. One of the children, Justin Ashcraft was our first Hero. This documentary went to Sundance and is now up for an exceptional merit at the Emmy's. Get your Kleenex out.

A LION IN THE HOUSE follows the stories of five exceptional children and their families as they battle pediatric cancer. From the trauma of diagnosis to the physical toll of treatment, this series documents the stresses that can tear a family apart as well as the courage of children facing the possibility of death with honesty, dignity and humor. As the film compresses six years into one narrative, it puts viewers in the shoes of parents, physicians, nurses, siblings, grandparents and social workers who struggle to defeat an indiscriminate and predatory disease.