“Always encourage and help one another." ~ 1
Thessalonians 5:11
Ninety-two degrees with oppressive
humidity; not what you’d call optimal conditions for the Olympic-distance NYC
Triathlon. Rebecca was one of a select
few vying for spots on the U.S. Olympic team.
She’d already finished a 1.5K swim, bicycled 40 kilometers and
was nearing the end of a 10K run through Central Park. It was only a matter of time before she’d
start bawling. Her sentiments were of another
competitor - her twin sister Laurel.
One morning while enjoying a summer weekend with friends on
the Jersey Shore, Laurel woke up with a sore neck. She thought it was just the kind of stiffness
one would expect from sleeping on the floor, or at least lingering stiffness
from running, swimming and training so much. Extensive tests confirmed a heartbreaking
diagnosis: Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Rebeccah, knowing her sister would have a rough time, moved
from Washington, D.C. to Laurel’s New York apartment to cheer her sister through
six months of chemotherapy. Before then,
they’d been together their entire lives - in the womb, as toddlers, on numerous
youth softball and basketball teams, as swim and cross-country teammates, and virtually
every single day through their high school graduations. So on days when Laurel underwent chemo,
Rebeccah worked out until she was utterly exhausted. It was her way of sharing Laurel’s pain.
As Rebeccah was doing hard interval workouts and tempo runs
in Central Park, Laurel was getting crushed by heavy doses of powerful
chemicals. As Rebeccah was increasing
her long runs, Laurel’s hair was falling out in clumps. As Rebeccah was hanging out with other healthy
young people who were energized about life and their upcoming races, Laurel was
getting treatments at the Cancer Center with patients much older than her. And as Rebeccah was starting to get super-fit
and discovering her hidden endurance abilities, the sickly, energy-starved Laurel
was suffering the debilitating effects of noxious chemicals assaulting her
body.
After two hours of swimming, biking and running, Rebeccah
Wassner, accountant and successful triathlete crossed the finish line, the
first woman to do so. Nothing unusual
there – she was the defending champion after all.
But it was the runner-up, with a time of 2:02:16, however, that
caused Rebeccah’s pulse to quicken and
tears to flow uncontrollably. Laurel
Wassner, Rebeccah’s twin sister - younger by five minutes, crossed the finish
line in second place, becoming the first professional triathlete to overcome
cancer.
Though they’d only been separated by a little over two
hours, theirs was a soulful reunion. For
it was Rebeccah who’d been the motivating catalyst behind her twin sister’s
racing career. And it was Laurel who
taught her older sister that the only way to experience life is by looking forward.
God give me faith in myself. Not only on the days when I am going great
and winning and nothing seems impossible, but on days when I wonder if I am
brave enough, smart enough, strong enough.
Don't let me quit, not ever. Amen
