Do it for love.

Do it for charity.

Do it because it will shut Rich up, if only for an hour.*

The 2003 Swim-a-Mile for Women With Cancer

October 4-5 • Mills College • Oakland, California

The Serious Part
 Some of you know that I was blessed with two mothers: Alice Boyle, the mother who gave me life, and Frances Bischoff, the mother who raised me. Alice died of malignant melanoma when I was six months old. Two weeks after Alice died, her brother Karl got a phone call from another sister, who told him how difficult is was for Alice's husband Joe to raise six kids, plus a new six-month-old baby. Karl looked at Fran and said, "do you want a baby?" Frances didn't bat an eye. She quit her job, and a few days later she was my mom, raising me and my brother, Karl. She was a wonderful wife and mother, an amazing cook, and played a mean game of Bingo. She died of breast cancer on April 14, 2000. She was 70 years old, and we all still miss her.

This swim helps me to honor their memories, and with your help, raise a few bucks for the Women's Cancer Resource Center. Located in Oakland, California, the WCRC is a non-profit community organization that provides information, resources, services, support and advocacy for all women with cancer.

I would be greatful for your donation. If you like, plesse send the name of somebody you'd like to honor, and I will add her name to the WCRC's "In Honor Of" list. Your donation will help other women with cancer, it motivates me to get my you-know-what (my mother would never say the word "ass") into the pool. You can pledge by the lap (35 laps = one mile), or make a flat donation. All proceeds go to the WCRC.
     

With your donation, I make three promises:

  1. I promise not to wear a Speedo.
  2. I promise not to shave my head.
  3. I promise not to make "pool bubbles."

(On second thought, let's be satisfied with two promises.)

  

Please send your tax-deductible donation,
made out to the WCRC, to:

1173 Hayes St. #1, San Francisco, CA 94117.

The WCRC's Tax ID number is 94-3131204.
Realizing you aren't alone is sometimes the only thing you can count on to make it another day.
*Technically, when you count the training time, I'm quiet for more than an hour, It's pretty tough to talk underwater.