Last week I was sitting on some steps on the corner of Frankfurt and Coral Avenue in Kentucky. My 42nd state. I was on a phone interview discussing my trip. In the middle of the interview the woman asked me how long it has been since I left to start this journey. I told her roughly two years and seven months. (Give or take some trips back to NY to photograph weddings.) She asked me how I am still doing it. I told her, “I hadn’t hit all 50 yet!” I also told her about a sticker in my car. It’s right above my radio and it says in big blue letters, “BRAVE like Gabe.” I told her I look at that sticker every day because it was from a girl behind one of my beautiful stories. Gabe was my age and battled a rare cancer over ten years by quite literally #runningonhope - her story could not possibly be given justice condensed into a social media post. But this time, when I told the woman on the phone this explanation, tears began to spill down my cheeks…because the night before this interview, Gabe had passed away. One of my first stories in the beginning of this journey highlighted a woman who had run the NYC marathon, along with other 5Ks in as many states as she could **after** being diagnosed with brain cancer. Her name was Judith. I met her in November of 2016 in the beginning of my trip. She passed away in June of 2018. And then there was Emily. One of the sweetest and brightest lights who lived in Reno, Nevada. I met her in April of last year. Eight months later, in November, she passed away. How do I do it? How do I keep driving? THEM. Three beautiful, inspiring, hopeful, strong-ass women. I keep driving because these stories deserve to be heard. They NEED to be heard. They trucked on despite every obstacle solely based on their belief in one big word: hope. If they trucked on, I certainly can too. Their stories are not over, and I will keep telling them. They sit on my dashboard, as my angels, and forever as my reminders of why this mission matters so very much to me. They believed in me. They believed in More Good. They showed me no matter how hard, or exhausted, or scared you might be…you can keep going and accomplish things you never thought possible. ✨ (at Cincinnati) https://www.instagram.com/p/By8eeQhnf1J/?igshid=t6jasqbwwr00
