About Me

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About:




I grew up in a small town called Richmond, Texas and moved to Houston for high school. I’ve always loved sports, painting, and traveling. I’m a die-hard Houston Astros fan and a planning/organizational nut. I still thoroughly enjoy animated movies and I think I own more burnt orange than anyone I know. I am a corporate communication major, graduating from UT in May 2009. My family may be small with just dad and me, but my dad loves and supports me more than words can express and I don’t know what I’d do without him.

Texas 4000 for Cancer seems like the perfect opportunity for me to give back because cycling was exactly what helped me get through the depression I was dealing with after my mom’s passing. I was so sad when I returned to school; I spent a lot of days in bed because when I was sleeping I didn’t feel the pain of the loss I had experienced. Finally, I knew that something had to change. I started cycling to try to gain some endorphins, simply to help me want to get out of bed, but quickly fell in love with the intense, high-energy sport. Cycling is what helped me overcome my depression after losing my mom and now I have the opportunity to use what cured me to help cure cancer!

Why I Ride

During the first semester of my freshmen year of college, my mom was diagnosed with Stage IV Lymphoma. Being an only child, I was absolutely terrified and heartbroken because she was my best friend. I remember when she told me; it felt like someone had punched me in the stomach and knocked all the wind out of me as I doubled over, holding myself, thinking that my mom had been given the death sentence. However, I soon found that I was not alone in the pain I was suffering. I lived in an apartment with 6 other girls my sophomore year and at the ages of 19 & 20, 4 of us had a parent who had fought or was currently fighting cancer. I thought to myself, “We are too young to be dealing with the thought of losing our parents.”

When you hear the word cancer, you automatically think worst case scenario. It’s not a matter of lifestyle changes to cope with this new problem; it’s a matter of surviving. The funny thing is, cancer is something you think of that “will never happen to me or my family.” But the odds are that it can and it will. I don’t want anyone to ever have to suffer like my mom and my family did.
I ride in honor of those we have lost, for hope for those who are fighting, and for the knowledge to prevent cancer for future generations.

Momma, “I’ll love you forever, I’ll love you for always.”