OK, I’m a day late and a dollar short again – but please check out this little news video above that appeared on ABC in Michigan a few weeks ago…
On Saturday, June 12, three brothers and a Mom and Dad and several friends and supporters, rallied over a hundred others to run for a brother and a son they lost just over seven years ago – a brother and son who is missed dearly, and one who saved seven lives after he passed away… I have a few friends who ran with them – both of them have new livers – and I’m reasonably sure that Chase’s heart was there…
I kinda got my butt chewed by my princess because we should have been at that race. We attended our annual Printer’s Row Lit Fair in our neighborhood, which Laura looks forward to every year – so I didn’t bring up the “Race for Chase”… Then I was not-so-subtly advised that she would have been happy to skip the fair. So, we will plan on being there next year…
Since losing Chase seven years ago, the Coleman family has become dedicated to raising awareness about organ donation. Lon, Trevor and Brandon generate excitement about donation through their plans to run triathlons in all 50 states in memory of their brother.
I have the opportunity to think of Chase and his family quite often. In the winter, it’s still dark outside when I wake up – I check my email & surf the web for a minute, and this is what I see when I look out of our window…
By the time I take my shower and start doing all of my medical checks, it’s light outside – and the picture in my window almost magically turns into this…
Though breathing with her beautiful lungs is enough – I surround myself with reminders of Kari and her family and friends – and this little work of art is just one more of them… But seeing it come to life in the light reminds me of more than Kari. It was crafted by Chase’s Dad, Buck, and these photos do not do his work justice… When I look at it I also see Chase and his Dad and his family… And I realize what Chase and Kari have done for me and for so many others.
We all met at a Chicago Triathlon a few years ago. A few days after spending the better part of a day with Chase’s Mom & Dad, Nancy & Buck, Buck asked me for a digital copy of my favorite picture of Kari – I didn’t know what he was going to do, but I obliged. With two actually – because I have two favorite pictures. Not too many weeks later – my lithopanes of Kari showed up in the mail.
I’d exchanged a number of emails with Buck – and then we met at the triathlon – I guess he knew me well enough that if anything as beautiful as the lithopanes he’d made of Kari came into my hands, I would immediately send them to Kari’s Mom & Dad. So, instead of receiving two lithopanes in the mail, I received four – he made a duplicate set for me to send to them. That’s Chase’s Dad. That’s the kind of people they are…
I’ve posted about Chase and his brothers, Lon, Trevor and Brandon in the past in posts titled, “Swim, Bike, Run, Chase…” and “Buck & Nancy’s boys… Chase’s brothers.” And “Trying for Life.” And you can read a little more about them at their Tri-for-Life Triathlon Team website.
If you would like Buck to make you a lithopane from a picture of someone you love, he makes them for a very reasonable price – you can get in touch with him through his website www.familytraditionwwp.com, or link to his lithopanes page…
And if you get a chance next June, and you feel like heading up to Mid-Michigan for a wonderful cause – Join us at the Race for Chase…
