Let me say right here that with my family, job, and cycling and fishing hobbies, I haven't made time in the past to advocate for anything. But November 1st, I was one of two survivor speakers at the DFW Walk/Run for Lungevity event. Katie Brown, founder of the Lung Cancer Support Community, who hosted the event to raise money for lung cancer research, had asked me to speak. The other speaker was
Jerrold Dash, a former college football player who received a rare double lung transplant.
There are so few lung cancer survivors in any kind of condition to be able to speak at an event like this, plus Jerrold and I both had unusual enough stories to tell, and even though I hadn't done any kind of public speaking for many years, I felt compelled to do it. Lung cancer kills more people than any other kind of cancer, but its research is the most underfunded of any major disease. My wife put together a team for the 5k walk, and a bunch of my cycling friends participated. I expect that I will participate as a survivor in other fund raising events.
What kind of advocacy work do other 50+'ers do?