I was struck that I didn’t know any of these people and yet I knew them all, families that rise up and circle a loved one with a positive approach. Families fight back as a unit - they appear aggressively happy while facing a most serious situation.
Stephanie Hughes I know from Gold’s Gym and seeing her train with Chris Antonio. I saw her before the race and she told me she and Chris were getting married at 5 p.m. that day and she was running the race for her friend, Kelly Fritchman, who had CF. I noticed that name on her number and said that Todd Fritchman was a personal friend of mine. “I had no idea Todd’s wife Kelly had cystic fibrosis,” I said to Stephanie.
“Yes, she is in the hospital at Christiana. Todd is in the wedding later. You know he and Chris are best of friends.”
Tim Bamforth called me late Sunday to tell me that Kelly Fritchman had died. A young mother of two, I had heard of her struggle on a Saturday and on Sunday she was gone.
The event in Rehoboth coordinated with other walks in the region raised $30,000. Robin Clark is a director of special events for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and said in the tightening economy that donations have actually risen.
“It’s like people realize what’s important,” Robin said. “We are finding more people with a sense of community who want to help.”
The website cff.org defines cystic fibrosis as “an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States (70,000 worldwide). A defective gene and its protein product cause the body to produce unusually thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections and obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food.”
Stick by your family, support your friends and integrate yourself into the greater community of people. A story like this teaches us that the walk of life is a journey we all take together.
COMMUNITY SERVICE - I always joke that I’d like to see a young person do community service after being sentenced by a court of law or to embellish a resume. Just do it because it’s the right thing to do and because you want to. The power that we all walk around with is just amazing. And it’s not the old “you get back 10 times what you put into it” model, but rather a heightened awareness that life is seen through your own eyes but it is not only about you.
Last Saturday’s walk for cystic fibrosis collided with a cancer walk on the Boardwalk. The Boardwalk and beach attract walkers for a cause all year round. It’s that ocean and relentless tide cycle that beckons us and unlocks the poet inside us all. Poets may brood and lament, some are sullen and morose - no one needs a giddy poet - but rarely are they actively grouchy.
“Hey you and your family listen to my words; each and every one one of you get on my freaking nerves!”
CAREER ENDER - I was the designated keynote speaker at the WGMD sports boosters banquet Monday night, June 8, and will be the emcee of the Cape girls state lacrosse championship banquet Tuesday, June 9. I view both as opportunities to make a career-ending comment, but my protection is I really don’t have a career and if forced to shut down the sarcasm I’ll just spend even more quality time riding around with my dogs. And I was ADD before it was cool and can change topics every 15 seconds. You see, therein lies the secret. ADD peeps are quick to get it which is why they don’t hang around for long explanations.
My grandmother said, “You have only two minutes to keep a person’s attention; then you have to either break out a guitar or harmonica or just shut up.”
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Sports Editor Emeritus
Email Fredman at fredman@capegazette.com
