Monday was my first practice climb for the Sears Tower climb in November. I have a Kari’s Klimbers team of about 20 doing the Sears climb. The practice climbs are a neat little feature – the fitness club at the Sears Tower sponsors several of them. They allow 40 people on each of the practice climb and we get to climb 69 floors. We get a feel for the actual stairwells we’ll be climbing. The full climb will be 103 floors.
While we waited to start, I met a beautiful lady and chatted about the difference between the residential flights where we practice, and the commercial flights of the practice climb… Gradually, I told her why – or maybe more precisely how I do these climbs…
I told her about hospitalizations, and struggling for breath… But, before I told her about my gift – I pulled out my little running wallet and showed her the pictures of Kari that I always have with me. She asked if the girl in the pictures was my daughter – I told her no… I told her that she was my hero. I went on to explain that Kari was 17 when she passed away. But, in the month before she passed she told her family twice how strongly she felt about organ donation. I told her that seven years ago I was dying, but now I’m climbing with both of Kari’s lungs.
Her eyes were welling up a bit – she let me know that our story made her day… Then she told me that she needed to give me a hug. (In case you ever wonder why I do this – it’s for the hugs.)
Thursday, November 1st at 8:00am is registration for the Hustle up the Hancock benefiting the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago. My buddy Paul wanted to “climb all the peaks” in Chicago, and we do. But the Hustle is where we’ve focused our attention – in part because the Hustle has focused attention on us.
From the very start, I’ve done this climb to honor my donor and her family. My team, Kari’s Klimbers, is named in her honor. I posted a little about what these stairs mean to me after the 2007 Hustle… And, I have a small tribute to Kari and more about our climbs at www.ClimbingForKari.org. The past several years I’ve been able to honor not only Kari and her family – but several of Kari’s friends, including our Jenn at Revive Hope. They have come out from Iowa, Minnesota and Aurora to join my team and climb with me. Most people who know me know how I feel about Kari – can you imagine how I feel being in the presence of her friends? Can you imagine how proud I feel to have all of the people on my teams surrounding me? Can you imagine how in awe I am of the people who pledge and support our cause? They also help me tell people about Kari, and about organ donation. There are not many things in this world that mean more to me than telling people about Kari…
Every year we try to bring attention to organ donation. Every year I’ve had several transplant recipients climbing with me – and the past three years I’ve had a very special donor family member, Annie Gulotta, climbing with me too…
Here is my team page… Here is my personal page… Here are instructions for joining my team… Please note – registration for the Hustle up the Hancock officially begins at 8:00am central time on Thursday, November 1st. Last year the full climb sold out in 31 minutes! Be aware - if you sign up before 8:00am on November 1st, you’ll be obligating yourself to raise $1,000 for the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago.
Over the next several months, through the February 2008 climb, I will likely have a number of posts about my teams and why we do this…
And here is why I do it. This is my favorite picture in the whole, wide world… I like my expression… I like the way I’m standing – strong and proud in front of the building we conquered. And, I love the way I’m holding Kari’s picture. This is how I imagine I’ll look the moment I get to heaven, when I’ll be tugging on the robe of the fist angel I see and asking, “Have you seen her?!?! I need to find her… I need to give her a hug.”
More than one person has suggested whose robe I will probably be tugging on…
