Mike Has MS
Monday, April 10, 2006
Recap of the Boston MS Walk
The MS Walk is an emotional event for me. It is every year, and I’m not sure why. I go into the event telling myself that it’s not about the walk, but rather about raising money for research and services. And every year, it overwhelms me. I just get so choked up seeing all of these people, walkers and volunteers, who are there to help raise money to cure a disease that I have. It’s emotional.
The pre-walk festivities were kicked off by Fast Freddie of Boston’s Mix 98.5. He knows how to get a crowd warmed up.
Next came Anthony Everett and Mary Richardson of Boston’s WCVB-TV5. She was okay, but he was outstanding. This man is passionate about finding a cure for MS. He speaks from the heart because his mother had MS.
The last big part of the event was MS Lifelines Ambassador Carrie Smith who told the story of being diagnosed with MS when her daughter was only eleven months old. Then she sang a song. It was hard to find a dry eye in the crowd. Her song about finding her lifeline was emotional, and beautiful.
The walk was three miles around Boston and Cambridge, and it was cold and miserable. For the first few blocks, I found myself walking beside Mr. Everett from Channel 5. Most TV personalities seem to be condescending when you talk to them one-on-one. Anthony Everett was the exact opposite. He wanted to hear about my MS story. He was a genuinely nice person. Anyway, I did the complete three mile walk and came back to Boston Common for lunch.
While I was waiting to hear the results of the walk (1400 walkers raising over $400,000), I got a chance to talk to Carrie Smith, the musician. She was so genuine and so sweet. I bet we talked for fifteen minutes. I gave her my e-mail address, and I hope to hear from her soon. I offered to help her set up her website so she could start publishing a blog. I hope she’ll take me up on the offer.
It was a good day. We raised a lot of money for a good cause. Next year, I’m going to raise the bar. My goal is to raise $2000 for the Boston MS Walk and another $500 for the Manhattan MS Walk. I want to do the MS Walk in two different cities next year. I got a lot of money from our New York office, and I have a friend from New York whose dad has MS. I’d like to do the walk with him if he’s interested.