Break not a flower....

Kate and I were interviewed last week for the Inspired Community website.
We had to explain why we had hatched this hair-brained idea to run ten 'race for life' events and talk about our training etc..
We talked about the support we have received from corporate sponsors and the amazing individual sponsorship that has been pledged.
We spoke about the unbelievable response we have had and that our Team Tonia runners now total nearly 70!!!  This number has left me feeling totally overwhelmed and humbled by the massive support Team Tonia is getting.

We know that we are all running to remember/celebrate different people and that what motivates me may be different to what motivates someone else but the reason for us all getting out there is the same. We want to raise enough money to put a dent in the massive cost of research/drug trials/cures for Cancer Research UK and we want to remember or celebrate those people who have been challenged by cancer.

When we were growing up, the actress Joyce Grenfell played quite a big part in our lives....we would listen to her monologues on tapes (!) and watch her on television...her most memorable sketch was as a nursery school teacher "George...Don't do that..." (It's worth a listen.....You Tube - Nursery School (going home) - Joyce Grenfell).
She also famously penned the poem below which I think sums up what Team Tonia is doing.

Thank you everyone - you're all amazing x

If I should die before the rest of you,
Break not a flower nor inscribe a stone.
Nor, when I'm gone, speak in a Sunday voice,
But be the usual selves that I have known.
Weep if you must,
Parting is hell.
But life goes on,
So........ sing as well.

Joyce Grenfell, actress and writer (1910 - 1979)