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Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Queen Tunafish and Team Fox

I am relieved that winter is finally over.   It's still a little cool, but summer is on the way.  The cold weather took its toll on me this year -- at the end of March, I ended up with a prolonged case of flu and I appear to have torn a meniscus retrieving a cute (but really uncomfortable) pair of shoes from under my desk when we moved offices.  I rebounded from the flu and the favvulous knee doc appears to have sorted out the achy knee so I am back in the pool (and back to the blog and my lap swimming/training for an open water swim in September).  So it's all good (and summer is coming).

This past weekend, we had a mini family reunion with my cousins in Connecticut.  We hadn't gotten together in years.  My cousin "Ablets" and my sister-in-law came up with the idea for "Cousins Day" -- we hope to make it a regular event.  My dad and his cousin were both only children, so my brothers and I spent a lot of time with these cousins when we were younger.  I was the youngest kid of our generation (and am the only one still in my 40s).  With this crew, I will forever be known as Queen Tunafish.  At some point, when I was 4 or 5 years old, my much older brothers and slightly older girl cousins tied me to a tree in my cousins' back yard (don't ask) and I apparently declared myself "Queen Tunafish" -- because I loved tuna sandwiches.  I'm not sure if they tied me up before or after I declared myself the queen.  My cousin Risa also reminded me that I liked to read the encyclopedia as a kid (so I was a sea creature and a geek).  My nieces thought it was hilarious.  Ah, childhood memories.  I realized this weekend that I started as a tuna and grew up to be a Mermaid (and I'm still a geek).  It all makes sense now.

Team Fox

This trip down memory lane reminded me that I was afraid of swimming as a young kid, which brings me to Team Fox.  My law school friend Bret Parker was also afraid of the water when he was a child.  Bret is one of the most amazing and courageous people I know (he's simultaneously a mensch and a bad-ass).  We went to law school together and he was always smart, witty and supportive when I worked with him on our law journal.   He still is.

Several years ago, Bret was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease (he wrote an amazing article about it in Forbes).  Rather than letting it slow him down, since his diagnosis he has run marathons, taken up skydiving, gone on safari, and is a one-man fund raising machine for Parkinson's research.  Bret set out to conquer his fear of the water this past year and -- in typical Bret style -- is doing a triathlon this summer.  He is attempting to raise $50,000 for Team Fox by completing the Mighty Hamptons Triathlon.  You can contribute to Team Fox and read about his inspiring journey here.  And I know he'll ace that swim -- go Bret!!

-MM