Yesterday I was left speechless. Quite frankly… that does happen to me much. I was invited by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to come tour the facility and over lunch, discuss the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk.

Living in Rhode Island… I’ve always known about the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber. The Red Sox have always been HUGE proponents of doing what they can in spreading the word about the importance of Dana-Farber and encouraging people to become involved in helping raise money for the Jimmy Fund. It’s an amazing thing to see. I actually remember throughout my childhood, whenever we would go to the movies at our local Showcase Cinema, the staff would pass around canisters for people to donate money to the Jimmy Fund.

Touring Dana-Farber yesterday was utterly amazing. We had access to the 10th floor, which specializes in Breast and Gynecological Cancer. My cousin died of Breast Cancer… so being on that floor was very emotional. What got me the most was seeing the beautiful friendships and positive attitudes from the women we saw. My heart leaped out of my chest when I heard one woman who was getting treatment say to another woman across from her (also getting treatment), “Just say NO! I’m going to fight this!” She said this with a smile and 100% gusto! It was absolutely one of the most incredible things I’ve ever witnessed.

When we left the 10th floor, we headed down to the Pediatric Unit. I knew this would be the toughest floor for me. My mother on the tour with me and I just wanted to hold her hand, but as soon as I saw the strength from the patients… the smiles from the parents with their children as we passed by… and the incredible nature of the staff and people there, it made everything OK. The most amazing experience of the day was speaking with Kim, her son Jake suffers from Leukemia. Jake was diagnosed when he was 6 years old… she said it was labeled as a “text book” case. With Leukemia you have to undergo 2 years of treatment. Jake did… he was in remission and was doing great. Then 7 months later he started having headaches and then found out that he relapsed. This woman… this amazing woman… spoke to us for over an hour and shared her story candidly and openly. Her incredible attitude and stamina and love for her son was beyond powerful. When she left to go back and see how Jake was doing… I turned to our guide Molly and said, “What can we do?” As a mom of 4 little boys… I sat there just wanting to do something – anything.

The Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk is largely known around here (its been going on for 21 years!)… I was even talking to my oldest brother about it last night and he said, “Oh, yeah… one of our neighbor’s has been doing it for the last 8 years.” On Sunday, September 12, 2010, about 8,000 people will participate in the Walk. The goal is to raise 6.3 million for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. If the 26.2 mile walk seems a bit daunting… there are 3 other routes to choose from: 13.1 miles, 5 miles and 3 miles.

The money raised directly benefits Dana-Farber.

For these families… the Walk means so, so much. I’ll be there on the 12th, with my family… walking for the amazing patients.

To register for the 22nd annual Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk, visit www.jimmyfundwalk.org or call (866) JF-1-WALK.