Author Topic: Rebekah Jordan is running in the 2007 LA AIDS Marathon  (Read 11282 times)

Offline Lynne

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An Email to Rebekah
« Reply #10 on: October 04, 2006, 01:50:16 am »
I know I'm hogging this thread  :D  BUT it occurred to me that it's not very polite for me to be shamelessly quoting from Rebekah's newsletter without so much as a by-your-leave.

SO...I sent her (rather, her management) an email:

Quote
I am writing to let you know that I am working to actively promote Rebekah's marathon training and fundraising on a website that I help moderate.

The website is www.bettermost.net/forum.  We are a group of people who came together because we were profoundly affected by the movie 'Brokeback Mountain' and are motivated to make changes in our own lives based on some of the messages of that movie.  Obviously, conversations about other 'gay-themed' movies have occurred; I learned about Rebekah and her music after viewing 'Latter Days.'

Some of us are planning a trip to Alberta (where Brokeback Mountain was filmed) and Rebekah's training is serving as another source of inspiration for us.

This is a link to the specific thread on the forum.  You may need to be a registered member to access it, but that is a quick process.

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php?topic=4568.msg95334#msg95334

If Rebekah has the time, we would love it if she could visit and maybe leave a personal post.  Regardless, I'm sure you'll be seeing some donations from our membership.

Thank you and best wishes for this worthy endeavor,
Lynne Steele

Sound OK?  I hope she does drop by!!!
« Last Edit: October 04, 2006, 02:23:37 am by Lynne »
"Laß sein. Laß sein."

Offline Shakesthecoffecan

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Re: Rebekah Jordan is running in the 2007 LA AIDS Marathon
« Reply #11 on: October 04, 2006, 01:15:54 pm »
That would be so cool if she did, she was brilliant in Latter Days. I think I am going to have to buy that one for me permanent collection.
"It was only you in my life, and it will always be only you, Jack, I swear."

Offline Lynne

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Rebekah Replied to My Email !!!!
« Reply #12 on: October 05, 2006, 04:56:33 pm »
OK...so I am absolutely stunned at what I just found in my Inbox.  Now that my heart has stopped pounding and I have caught my breath, let me share it with you.  (I don't think she'll mind because it contains links to her myspace site and the marathon donation page).  Clearly, I'll be replying with gratitude and an invitation that she may post here - anytime and anywhere. -Lynne
--------------------------------------------------
Hello Lynne,

Rebekah Jordan here. First off, what a wonderful forum you have!

Thank you SO much for posting and promoting my marathon training and fundraising for AIDS. I was terrified to sign up for the marathon. If you read my first blog about it on myspace, I wrote that I do not run unless someone is chasing me. lol. But I decided to tell people so I would have to be accountable. And one way to do so is through writing emails and a blog. I have been pleasantly surprised at how encouraging people are. Even if they can't contribute financially, the "you can do it!" messages are so encouraging.

But yes, donations would be great too! Not only have I never done a marathon, but I've never done fundraising, never been involved in a charity or cause. But this one just got to me. I went to the info meeting and my heart just said yes, I want to help. I want to challenge myself to help. And I am willing to sacrifice my weekend mornings and go through a little bit of physical pain if it means somebody's life will be just a bit sweeter. Just imagine if we all went that extra mile for someone other than ourselves, how much less suffering there would be in this world. I live in Los Angeles and I am in a field of work where it is so easy to be self-obsessed and self-absorbed. And really, what are we here for, what do our lives mean if we never touch or help someone else? Even if it's just one person.

So I truly truly appreciate your forum and the spirit behind it. And I am so happy you've let people know about the Aids Marathon. Even if they don't donate on my runner page, maybe they will be inspired to do something else, to make a difference in their own way, as you were writing about considering the walk.

So yes, I'd be happy to post on your forum. Maybe next week? Let me know when.

In the meantime here is the link to my Myspace blog:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog&Mytoken=8F24535E-3C61-4E3F-BDB584E332FD16F029513139

and you already have the link to my donor page but here it is again...

http://aidsmarathon.com/participant.asp?runner=LA-2411&EventCode=LA07

Let me know when you'd like me to post!

Hope your week is going well.

Cheers,

Rebekah Jordan
"Laß sein. Laß sein."

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: Rebekah Jordan is running in the 2007 LA AIDS Marathon
« Reply #13 on: October 05, 2006, 06:08:50 pm »
What a cool message!
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline Lumière

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Re: Rebekah Jordan is running in the 2007 LA AIDS Marathon
« Reply #14 on: October 17, 2006, 09:59:35 pm »
Wow .. was that message really from Rebecca??  :D :D
I loved her in Latter Days!!  And what a beautiful voice ..!


Offline Lynne

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Re: Rebekah Jordan is running in the 2007 LA AIDS Marathon
« Reply #15 on: October 17, 2006, 11:51:43 pm »
Wow .. was that message really from Rebecca??  :D :D
I loved her in Latter Days!!  And what a beautiful voice ..!

It sure was!  I was thrilled.  She registered for an account here, so we now just have to lure her into posting!  She said it was cool for me to keep posting her marathon progress...I'm hoping that they'll motivate me and others in this whole 'getting into decent shape for Alberta'  :D

And then, once we get to be good friends, maybe she can tell us how to lure Wes and Steve here!!  ;)
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Offline Lumière

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Re: Rebekah Jordan is running in the 2007 LA AIDS Marathon
« Reply #16 on: October 18, 2006, 11:54:36 pm »
And then, once we get to be good friends, maybe she can tell us how to lure Wes and Steve here!!  ;)

That would be ..  :D..great!! 

I checked out Rebekah's website, I am going to be getting her CD soon hopefully!  :)


Offline Lynne

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Re: Rebekah Jordan is running in the 2007 LA AIDS Marathon
« Reply #17 on: October 19, 2006, 01:01:24 am »
I checked out Rebekah's website, I am going to be getting her CD soon hopefully!  :)

Terrific!  I should be getting mine soon b/c I donated.  We'll have to compare our impressions when they arrive.  And bonus is that the donation was tax deductible!
"Laß sein. Laß sein."

Offline Lynne

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10 MILES! 10 MILES! 10 MILES! Ya HEARD?!
« Reply #18 on: November 10, 2006, 02:30:10 am »
Here's the latest from Rebekah's blog on how her marathon training is progressing!  I'm very very proud of her!!  The underlines are mine...

No that is not a typo. I did 10 miles last weekend as part of my Marathon Training. That's so crazy to me that I think it bears repeating. 10 Miles!!!! I'm in shock. And so are my legs. I've developed pain in places I didn't even know could hurt. And I have a newfound appreciation for stretching. Oh how it takes the pain away. So does wine, but that's another story.

And let's take a moment of silence to thank my new running shoes, without whom I surely would have collapsed. What a difference a shoe makes. Much gratitude to the salesguy at Top to Top who scrutinized my feet so closely that it was borderline uncomfortable. I mean shouldn't we have had dinner first? Thanks Donald!

I was dreading facing 10 miles the whole week. For some reason the idea of it, double digits and all, had taken on huge proportions in my head. 10 seemed like Mt. Everest. Oh yeah, and I missed the week before when we were supposed to run 9 miles. So I was behind in terms of distance logged. I had visions of myself crawling on the side of the road, clutching my water bottle in agony.

The night before was the night we turned the clocks back and I was so paranoid about over or under sleeping that I barely slept at all. I kept opening my eyes, wondering when there would be light, when it would be morning. Morning finally came. And here's where I get cheesy. Because it was a beauteous morning. Unexpected like a gift.
 
And perfect, I swear. It was cold, but the sky was all baby blue, dotted with puffy clouds, the sun was kind of winking at me, and it really felt like anything was possible, like I just might be able to do the unthinkable: run 10 miles and not need hospitalization afterwards.

Though I started to think that a hospital might be a nice place to be around mile 8, I also knew that I was only 2 miles away from finishing, that I'd come so far already, and that I had to keep going, leg cramps be damned. And so I did, we did, me and the people in my pace group. I developed newfound love for my pace group that day. We really did get through it together. Yes I'm real Kumbaya right now, somebody light a campfire and break out a marshmallow. But it felt really significant when we finished. We felt strong and proud, like we'd let the day have it! 

I've considered the power of that moment a lot since Sunday because I've had a challenging week. My "step" sister passed away unexpectedly, she was only 28. When something like that happens, you find yourself  asking "why"?  And there's no answer really. So i'm thinking that maybe a better question is "how"? How can we make sure the people in our lives know how much they mean to us? How can we make our own lives mean more? For these questions I think there are answers. And for me, training for this marathon is one of them.

She planned on picking her 5 year old son up from school that day, and never made it. She was epileptic and had a seizure. So hard trying to wrap my brain around it but nothing is promised to us beyond the moment we are in.

For those of you who've been keeping up with my blog, you know I'm doing my training through the National Aids Marathon program for the upcoming L.A. Marathon in March. The program helps the men, women and children who already have AIDS, it helps make the moments they have left just a little more bearable, just a little brighter. I have to raise $1500 by December 4 or I'll have to withdraw from the program and stop training. But I'm halfway there (!) thanks to your generosity. If you're reading this and haven't donated, I hope that you will. Together we can do a small thing that might make a world of difference. (and my leg cramps won't have been in vain!)  Feel free to pass this on to friends and strangers.

No donation is too small or too great.

http://aidsmarathon.com/participant.asp?runner=LA-2411&EventCode=LA07

This weekend I have a date with 12 miles. I think I'll wear something cute.

Til next time with lots of love,
Rebekah
« Last Edit: November 10, 2006, 02:39:53 am by Lynne »
"Laß sein. Laß sein."

Offline Lynne

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Re: Rebekah Jordan is running in the 2007 LA AIDS Marathon
« Reply #19 on: December 01, 2006, 07:00:51 pm »
Bumping in honor of World AIDS Day.  Thanks to dot-matrix fo reminding me!
"Laß sein. Laß sein."