Vince's Journey

Hello everyone. Sorry it's been a while since my last post. With the snow, olympics and Xavier events I just haven't had time to do any blogging. Right now I'm waiting for the Xavier/Charlotte game to come on (in about 40 minutes) so I thought I'd try to get something out on the old blog.

While we were flying out to Vegas a couple weeks ago I finished reading a book by Mitch Albom called Have a Little Faith. I like Albom's books because they're usually short, easy to read and have a nice message to them. (If they only had a few more pictures they'd be perfect!) I'm sure you've heard of some of his other books, most notably; Tuesday's With Morie and The Fivye People You Meet in Heaven. Anyway, Have a Little Faith is about two men in Albom's life who helped him reconnect with his own faith; one was the Rabbi from the synagogue where he grew up in New Jersey and the other, a reformed drug addict and ex-con who became a minister in one of the poorest areas of Detroit, which is where Albom lives today. The story bounces back and forth to the lives of the two men; Albom is asked by the Rabbi to deliver the eulogy at his funeral so he decides he needs to get to know him better in order to truly do 'The Reb' justice when the day of his final exit arrives. Meanwhile, Albom meets the minister by chance, writes about the struggles his ministry is facing during the horrible economic times Detroit has been through recently in his newspaper column which winds up having a positive effect as Albom's readers pitch in to add support to the struggling ministry. It was one of those heartwarming stories that makes you wonder how you can have a similar impact. I obviously don't have the readership that Albom has with the Detroit Free Press, I imagine there might be a few regular readers of this blog but if there are more than 10 I'd be shocked. And I'm not naive enough to think that something I might say or do would inspire others to go out and do something nice for someone they may not even know but it certainly would be nice if people would. I think we all have the capacity to make a difference, we just need to make an effort to do it. You have to make it part of your regular routine. It may require you giving up some of your free time but I'm sure you'd find whatever you'd choose to do far more rewarding. Sometimes I think we feel like we can't make a difference; the task is far too great for one person to accomplish. What you don't realize is others are watching and your actions just might provide the inspiration for your family and friends to follow your lead. We all can make a difference, all we need to do is have a little faith.

This segues perfectly into my next topic. This summer, as I've done the past two years, I'm going to be riding in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team in Training program. On June 19 I'll be riding in the Ride to Montauk, a 100+ mile bike ride to the tip of New York's Long Island. Between now and then, I'll be riding close to 1,000 miles to prepare for this ride. As part of the commitment riders are asked to raise close to $4000 for the LLS. In the past two years, with the help of many family members and friends, I've raised over $12,000 for the LLS and hopefully that total will be close to $20,000 by the time we do the ride in June. Following is a link to my web page for the ride. If you would like to support this effort please go to the web page and make a pledge. With your help I know we can find the treatments and cures needed to eliminate blood related cancers once and for all. I can't think of a better legacy for us to pass on to future generations. Here is the link....

http://pages.teamintraining.org/soh/montauk10/vhopkins