I am heartbroken to hear that Lance Armstrong choosing to no longer fight doping charges. As a result, his Herculean effort in winning a record 7 tour de France have been vacated. The valiant effort made to fight cancer and raise awareness has been tainted. With guilt by association.
He was diagnosed with cancer around the same time my dad lost his fight with colon cancer. A year later, Armstrong founded Livestrong, an organization dedicated to fighting cancer and providing support to patients, families and care givers. The ubiquitous yellow bracelet was born. Millions was raised, and even more consciousnesses were. Cancer truly came out of the shadows into the light.
Since he battled back against a nearly terminal diagnosis, something that my dad (and Katie Couric's husband who also died from the same colon cancer then) was unable to do. Armstrong went on to win, and keep winning. For those touched by cancer, those victories were sustaining.
They were for us.
Several years ago, I had the chance to see him in person. He's a great speaker, engaging and personable. His story of overcoming insurmountable odds is the classic American tale. I used him and his story of making lemonade to youth group and sunday school kiddos for years. It increased after he was part of the cancer institute gala, because I heard his story first hand.
The fact that he's a cyclist makes him even more approachable. How many people ride bikes? We could be like Lance! In fact, on my 3 year plan, I have riding the Tour de Kota, in part inspired by his resiliency. Both my brother in law and his wife recently rode in the Livestrong ride in Philadelphia.
To me, in a month that baseball players Melky Cabrera and Bartolo Colon were both suspended for 590 games, the news that Armstrong will no longer fight doping charges is considered a passive admission of guilt. Whether or not he did is almost besides the fact now. The titles and medals are gone. I only hope that there is a chance to salvage the good he did to make cancer a conversational item.
Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity. Margaret D. Nadauld
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