SOME CALL HER GRANDMA, WE CALL HER COACH

Behind every great JDRF Ride to Cure cyclist sits an even greater coach.  Gritty.  Relentless.  Demanding.  Unwilling to take "no" or "c'mon grandma I'm tired" for an answer.  The type of coach who calls you mid way through a grueling practice ride, pushing you to pick up the pace and hurry home to mind her crippled hound dog. 

But buddy do we love our coach.  In fact, our world revolves around her.  She has been tasked blessed with the purpose of raising three generations of boys.  It began with my father in ‘52, my brother and I a few decades later and into the new millennium with Adam and Braeden.  Fifty years of raising boys is bound to cause some wrinkles, but in our opinion, there is no face more beautiful.

Coach turned 95 yesterday.  Blessing 1a is that the world has had her for all these years.  Blessing 1b is that she gets to see her great grandsons run and play on the farm like the generations of Rogers boys before them. 

Didn’t get her a birthday gift?  Don’t fret, she proudly accepts JDRF donations! :)

SITTING ON THE SHOULDERS OF UNCLES

Uncles were created for no other reason than to carry nephews on their shoulders.  From the dawn of recorded history, its just what uncles and nephews do.  Don't believe me?  Just check out this creepy ancient photo - my Latin is a little shaky but I'm pretty certain thats some class uncle-nephew bonding

You think maternal instincts are strong?  Wait until you're an uncle.  I can sense the minute when his legs start to give and he's in need of a little boost.  Or when he wants to see what its like to be a 7 footer.  Or when he wants to stick his head through the branches of a tree.  Or when he pees his pants and doesn't want to walk anymore, and nobody tells said uncle that he has peed his pants, until the uncle asks about a mile later why his neck is so wet (true story...talk about some uncle dedication) 

But, truth be told, when I lift Braeden or Adam onto my shoulders, they are really lifting me.  There is no greater feeling than to have one of those little guys up there, laughing all the way.  A lot of love goes into that shoulders-to-nephew-butt connection and I'll miss the day when they are too hefty to hoist (given B's pursuit of all things food - do all diabetics eat this much!? - that may not be too far away).

There is a metaphor in all of this though; some day Braeden will be an uncle and a mighty fine one at that, and the folks at JDRF are doing their work to make sure he gets there and stays an uncle for the long haul.  And the folks like YOU are doing your work to make sure the JDRF has the fuel to keep the research moving.  As Isaac Newton once famously requoted, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."  So join me and 

PUT BRAEDEN ON YOUR SHOULDERS TODAY

RECAP FROM THE DESERT

Saturday, November 19th 2011 - JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes in Tuscon, Arizona... 
...0 miles and 500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  

Now I know what you're thinking - 0 miles? missing a 1 and a 0 in there right!? - but sadly this little uncle was medically disqualified from the ride.  I had some minor hip surgery (these beauties take work, ladies) about two weeks before the ride and to my dismay, my doc was adamant that I stay off the bike.  So instead of hitting the roads, I worked the refreshment tents with the vigor of a 111 mile biker with grade A hips - making 500+ peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, slicing bananas into peel-and-go pieces and pouring countless cups of water and gatorade for the masses.  While disappointed I wasn't on a bike, I had a blast and met some pretty amazing people along the way.  Plus, I got this sweet jersey for my volunteering efforts!  Even better yet, I got to meet this incredible little lady who received a jersey for being absolutely amazing (story follows):

Mallory, 6 was the life of our Tucson gathering. She was there to root on her dad, who was riding to give her a cure. Mallory was diagnosed with Type 1 when she was 2 years old and was thoroughly disappointed when told she was (way) too young to ride with JDRF. You must be at least 13. But, she wasn't discouraged. Her parents helped her keep tally of the miles as she rode her bike in her neighborhood through the summer. She finished the 111 mile ride before her dad.  Pretty inspiring let me tell you. 


Now on to the green stuff - for all those who donated, THANK YOU!  With your support, Allen and I raised over $9,000 for JDRF.  You are all fantastic and I can't thank you enough for your kindness and generosity.  I fully believe that with your donation, we are that much closer to finding a cure for my man Braeden and his future heartthrob Mallory.  In all, the Tucson riders received donations totaling more than $400,000 (wow!) and the JDRF riders for all rides in 2011 raised around $5MM! (REALLY WOW!)  


Below are some pictures from the Tuscon ride (in which Allen completely kicked tail) - I invite you to kick back, put off work for the next little bit and enjoy the slide show




Pretty cool, yeah?  Well now comes the even more fun news - Allen and I are up to our fundraising and biking antics again!  We're heading to the metropolis of La Crosse, Wisconsin for a JDRF 100 miler on August 18th.  Not only will my tail end be on a bike for sure this year but we're going to SHATTER last year's fundraising total.  Ahem, with a little help from our friends of course! 

BACK TO SCHOOL

Summer has come to a quick end for both uncle and nephew! Mine was an absolute blast; spent running around Tanzania working with dairy processors and grain millers on a whole heap of fun and exciting issues. Braeden's was spent largely shirtless, splashing in mud puddles, riding his tagalong bike and completely destroying a Mickey Mouse ice cream bar (pretty special deal for a Type I diabetic!). We'll let you be the judge of who had the most fun -

Lucky for us I have a handful of summer Tanzania-Braeden stories to catch you all up on over the coming weeks. Even luckier still, is that my poor memory means that these stories will likely be way more entertaining than if they were told in real time. So get ready for the final push towards race day - its time for me to a) start seriously fundraising (wink) and b) start training (brother just polished off a 75 mile ride on Sunday; I still get winded walking up two flights of stairs).

So back to school - I talked to the little man today and learned of his school schedule for tomorrow. Looks like my memory stands correct on this one; kindergarden is incredibly more challenging than life at HBS ;)

Braeden's Tuesday	Uncle John's Tuesday
7:50 arrival	7:50 sleep
8:00 morning meeting
8:15 share time
8:30 questions and comments (so awesome!)
8:45 celebrations*
9:00 reading
9:30 math	9:30 wake up!
10:00 recess	10:00 Managing Human Capital
10:30 lunch .
11:00 reading
11:30 crafts	11:30 Globalization and Emerging Markets
12:00 computer
12:30 legos
1:00 snack
1:15 science	1:15 lunch
1:45 social studies
2:15 recess
2:30 share time II (face it, a lot can happen by 2:30)
2:45 closing circle
3:00 pick up	3:00 nap

*celebrations: so I'm meeting with the dean on this one to see if we can have something similar at my school. The skinny is that everyone gets in a circle and celebrates those who shared, asked questions, or no doubt made very entertaining comments in response to those questions. You're probably asking a great question yourself right about now: How does a classroom full of 5 year olds celebrate such achievements? Answer: A crazy clap dance with spirit finger firecrackers, of course. AWESOME (working on the video!)

STEALING SHAMELESSLY...BUT FOR GOOD REASON!

I'm teaming up with Allen, my big brother, for the ride and fundraising - he's seasoned in both so I'll have a challenge keeping up with him on the road and the pocket book. Good thing I'll have your help for the latter ;)

The pic at the top of my blog is of me and Allen holding Braeden. It would be wrong of me not to mention that the picture is a little misleading when it comes to our relative height (which as you know in brother world, is a pretty big deal); I'm benefiting from standing on a hill while Allen benefits from a 1/4" advantage in real-life. I look forward to the day when he is 68 and shrinking while I'm 64 and holding steady!

Allen and my sister Jess (we dropped that -in-law bit a long time ago) are amazing parents in just about every way, especially when it comes to taking care of my little guys' health. The only area where they fall short is in bringing my nephews to visit me more often - ahem - but there is plenty of time to improve upon that. They both also happen to be spectacularly creative with the visual arts. I, on the other hand, am very much lacking in that area so you'll find me stealing their media creations throughout the summer and fall - below are the first of many!

JDRF Ride to Cure 2011 Kickoff from Jessica Rogers on Vimeo.

Braeden likes to call himself Big B - have to love a five year old's humility :) In my personal opinion though, it is well deserved. It's also important to point out that those are my brother's sculpted legs and not my own - mine are much more chickenesque. Good thing I've got a few more months to train!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOG, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAEDEN!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG B! Braeden turns the big F-I-V-E today so its only fitting that I get this blog up and running on his big day. Since I know you all haven't had the chance to meet the little man behind the mission, I figured I'd give you a little photo introduction.

So prepare to fall in love in...

3...

2...

1...

You're welcome :) I'll keep plenty of those coming your way through the blog - as you can see Braeden isn't short on personality or smiles. Both him and his big brother (introducing Adam!) make being an uncle my favorite job!

You'll see in some of those photos Braeden is sporting a cloth pouch. Although he gives 65 year old European tourists a run with his fanny pack style, the pouch is there to hold his monitor and insulin pump. He has a 2 inch needle stuck into his tail end or thigh 24/7 - one of the few times you'll find him crying is when the needle is changed every 4 days. He's a trooper though, readily extends a finger for a blood reading when asked and takes his sugar free cake and carb rationings in stride. You can bet he will down a whole chocolate cake the day we find a cure, though!

So this is the kick off to the blog - I'll post often, sharing my story and experiences and how they relate to Braeden and his struggle with Type I. I'll keep things as lighthearted and fun as possible, but please let your smiles and emotions move you to donate and help us find a cure for Braeden and the many others with Type I. Thanks and enjoy!