A very happy and warm birthday to my first sister in law.

Hello all,
Just a quick note to bring you up to speed on my Mom’s progress. Four weeks ago my Mom was released from the rehab hospital after her lung transplant in June. So that is very good news! Just before that I decided to come back to Ontario for a couple of weeks to assist her with the transition back to real life with her new lungs. I spent two weeks here in Toronto at my grandparents place with Mom as an intermediary step between the hospital and home in Kitchener.

Last week I went to Vancouver for the U2 concert and to visit some dear friends. After that a quick stop off in Calgary to store my stuff and then came back to Kitchener to take care of Mom and put my nose to the preverbal grindstone here in Ontario till after Christmas. After that, the Olympics, and then… who knows what? It should be interesting to see what I come up with over the next couple of months. Now we are both at home in Kitchener going back and forth to Mom’s physio and post transplant appointments and getting accustomed to “real life”.
Thank you to everyone for all of your support and love.

Chad

THANK YOU!

From the bottom of my heart… THANK YOU!

With your help I reached 80% my goal of raising $5,000 in support of the Alberta Cancer Foundation.

This money is going directly towards the fight to end this disease.

If you have a moment watch this video that was shot at last weekends ride in BC. It is a truly moving piece.

Again, thank you! Your support it means the world to me.

I’ll be thinking of each of your as I ride these next two days.

If you would like to follow along, you can do so by either Facebook or Twitter (http://twitter.com/chadweir). I will post something on my blog at some point next week to let you know how it all went (www.chadweir.com).

Without your generosity, none of this would be possible.

Thank you.

Wish me luck cause the only thing left to do is ride.

Sincerely,

Chad

As many of you already know in just a few short days from now I will be participating in a major 2-day cycling event called The Ride to Conquer Cancer benefiting the Alberta Cancer Foundation.

In just a week from today I will be cycling over 200 kilometers along the Majestic Canadian Rockies, with thousands of other Riders. All of the proceeds from this event will go to the Alberta Cancer Foundation which is one of the top 5 cancer research hospitals in the world that is devoted to cancer research and care. The work they’re doing is really cutting-edge and I am proud to have them here in Canada.

I really need your help. I have agreed to raise at least $2,500, but I’ve set my personal goal to $5,000 (Go big or go home right!). Right now I have raised $2,000 towards that $5,000 and for those of you who know me, know that this is not good enough.

So here’s where you come in, because I need your help right now to get to my goal. I have less than a week to reach my goal. Could you please consider making a donation of $100, $50, $25 or even $10? What ever it is that you can afford. Hell I’ll take $1,000 if you can afford it! What ever you can do I would appreciate!

Use this link: http://www.conquercancer.ca/goto/chadweir

Go visit my fundraising page, click on the green button that says “Sponsor Chad Weir” and take the couple of minutes to help me support those people who really need it.

Please keep in mind the time (and pain) commitment I’m making to end this heartbreaking disease and the personal efforts I’ll have to make to accomplish this. When I say “heartbreaking,” here’s what I mean: according to the National Cancer Institute of Canada, over 153,100 new cases of cancer and 70,400 deaths from cancer were estimated to occur in 2006. Men outnumber women for new cases by 5% and mortality by 11%.

That’s why I’m riding. To do something BIG about cancer. I hope that you’ll share this incredible adventure with me by supporting me in my fundraising efforts.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generosity!

Sincerely,

Chad Weir

http://www.conquercancer.ca/goto/chadweir

For a long time now I have struggled with the notion of having my own blog. Actually I have questioned the validity of blogging in general.

“Who the hell wants to listen to someone blather on about them selves in meaningless rants. God those people are SO self indulgent!”

“It is just one more way for people to self indulge in them selves in some pathetic attempt at their 5 mins of fame or for getting attention from strangers that they can’t get from their family or friends.”

Then I thought that maybe it’s just a tool, a vehicle and that it’s not the Blog itself but the person writing it and their reason for doing so.

It’s not the medium, it’s the message (or even more so the sender).

Why hate the method or the tool that people use. Why not use this same tool for something more. Why not use this same tool for some greater purpose?

I don’t really know what that purpose might be just yet. But I figured that if I am ever to find it. I had better have a way to share it. Who knows, by keeping this blog it might actually help me find that purpose.

I hope at the very least it will provide me with the opportunity to clarify my thoughts, and maybe even improve my writing and my ability to communicate. A journal of sorts since I can’t seem to find my paper journal I started years ago.

Not only that but in a way I am writing only to myself in a kind of self introspective nature here.

I know that it has already done something pretty big for me.

It has help me get over my self and take back some of my self confidence.

I have a voice.

Why should it not be heard?

Who knows, what I have to say may just affect someone positively?

Thanks for reading.

Chad