My right wrist feels naked.
Almost three years ago my daughter, Emily, returned from a holiday in England and France and presented me with a yellow silicon band. She had bought it on the final day of the 2004 Tour de France, the day that Lance Armstrong took his record breaking sixth win in the event. He went on to win the following year making it seven in a row before retiring from the sport of cycling.
I’ve worn that wrist band pretty much ever since.
The band was a fund raising initiative and was really the first of its kind. These days you can get silicon wrist bands for just about every cause but back then it was a new phenomenon, raising money for cancer research through the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
In the early days of the band they were a little harder to get hold of and so they were fetching considerable prices on eBay.
I wore the band to remind me of Lance’s achievements on the bike, of my wonderful daughter who gave me the band, and of those I know who have battled cancer of various kinds.
Yesterday morning as I was getting ready to ride to work the band snapped. It’s now sitting in my top desk drawer at home.
I have a pale stripe across my wrist where the band used to sit while I was cycling. Within a couple of weeks the sun will erase that reminder.
It would have only cost a few cents to produce. It only cost one euro to buy, but it has meant a lot more than that over the years. The band may be gone but I can still think about Lance Armstrong’s amazing career, I’m constantly thinking about Emily and my mind is taken up a lot of the time right now thinking about my sister-in-law who is just beginning her fight against lung cancer. There’s still plenty of reminders to do as the band used to say and Live Strong.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: Livestrong – Lance Armstrong – Wrist Band
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Hi!
True, a wristband (or just about any other thing) can be bought anywhere at a price. But the “meaning” of that band is priceless (to borrow from Mastercard ad – btw, “priceless” used to be free, now I have to borrow from MC, LOL).
Now, instead of buying one for yourself, why not give a similar band to your loved one, making it full circle? Just a suggestion.
Thanks Deb. Brilliant idea.
Rodney, I’m sorry I missed the post regarding your sister-in-law. What a terrible blow. It sounds like you and Pauline both come from close families so I hope you can all support each other through what will be a rough road ahead – it’s so important for everyone to feel they’re all in it together. I liked Deb’s suggestion too.
Thanks hazelblackberry. 🙂
I think we still have one or two at home (we bought a load from the Foundation and sold them to friends and family) – Wendy is a huge Lance Armstrong fan.
I am somewhere in the peleton on the website too.
If you email me your address I’ll bung one in the post 🙂