We did it! It’s taken me a week to finally post this and share how we lived like Theo last weekend by riding in the Courage Classic. But first, a HUGE thank you to all our amazing friends and family who supported us – by training and riding with us, dropping off gifts and snacks, sending loving notes and cards, repairing our bikes, watching Lulu, helping us design our shirts and donating in Theo’s honor.
As you know, “Live like Theo” was the phrase we heard so many times from various hospital staff in the last week before Theo passed and from friends and relatives in the weeks after. We heard from so many people that they wanted to live more like Theo – to really enjoy life to the fullest.
To us, Living Like Theo means:
– Showing courage
– Being kind and loving
– Embracing adventure and fun
– Giving back to help others
We showed courage by signing up for the Courage Classic, a 2-day bike ride in the mountains to raise money for Children’s Hospital. After a lot of training, we all completed the ride! 42 miles up and back on Vail pass (almost 3,800 of elevation) and 24 miles from Copper to Frisco and back. It was a slog (Doug did the ride on Theo’s mountain bike), but we did it!
Our friends showed us so much love and kindness during the ride, supporting us throughout, cheering us on, waiting for us while we tried to catch our breath, hugging us, crying with us, and remembering Theo throughout the ride. We also showed kindness to ourselves, reminding ourselves that this was hard, physically and emotionally. And we would get through it together.
Although we cried a lot and felt deep sadness, we had fun being together. We shared funny stories, enjoyed good food, relaxed in the hot tub, and laughed at our sore butts and legs. We missed Theo’s adventuresome self during the ride, but we also felt Theo’s presence throughout the weekend – a rainbow and hummingbird that greeted us, a cold breeze on our back pushing us up the hardest part of the mountain, a fox playfully jumping by the hot tub, and what we all felt was a classic prank on Jeff!
And we gave back. We donated more than $11,000 to Children’s Hospital of Colorado, which will be pooled with the incredible Wheels of Justice team and go directly to the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. (For those of you who have been asking how to donate in Theo’s honor, we’re almost there. Stay tuned for news of the foundation we are starting to help other’s get cancer treatment).
We also want to thank Alana Vachris, Primal Wear, and Blaine for our AMAZING shirts! Everyone loved them and everyone asked about Theo on the ride. A few details about the shirt design:
– In the logo, Theo designed the letters of his name. We used his design, so he actually helped design the logo!
– The #11 on the back is in honor of Theo’s favorite number. He was born on December 11th, he always chose 11 for his sports teams if it was available, and we always said he knew how to turn it up to 11. Just like in Spinal Tap, Theo burned brighter, rocked harder, lived bigger, and loved more fiercely than an ordinary 10. (And we were 11 strong for the ride)!
– And finally, the symbol on the sleeve is the infinity heart, meaning that our love is timeless, eternal, forever.
So much love and thanks to our amazing team of 11 and everyone out there keeping us afloat!
