Time to say goodbye

On the 2nd of April 2011, Melva Florence Derham, grandmother to Garry, lost her battle with cancer after a courages fight. A fight that went on for over 6 years and at one stage was looking to be won.

Below is a tribute by Garry for his Grandmother:

Melva (Nan), was born in 1924 at Murrumburrah, NSW and was the 4th child out of seven. In 1938, Nan and her family moved to Cootamundra after my Great Grandfather was transferred. It was here that Nan would remain for the rest of her life, working as a nurse during the war, meeting my grandfather Stan (pop) not long after war was declared, marrying, having 5 children, 11 grand children, and 16 great grand children (with one on the way to make it 17).

I don't have many memories of Nan and Pop before Pop passed away, as i was only very young, apart from Nan's "no non-sense" face, her voice and cooking snails out the front of the farm on the outskirts of Coota(mundra). That voice didn't change even after she sold the farm and moved into Coota. I commented to many people that even while she was sick and becoming frail, if you spoke to her on the phone you could hear the same voice. It was that voice that made me forget what she was going through and remember Nan as she was before. Sitting on the veranda out the back of Thompson St, Coota, knitting needles in hand, working on something. She always had her knitting needles. Even when her knuckles where riddled with arthritis, Nan's hands would still be a blur as she made a jumper for someone in record time. Introducing my young family to Nan and the relatives, and the family Christmas parties at one of my Uncles/Aunties place are also memories I will have with me forever.

As a lot of people would say, growing up during the World War period was tough and made you tough. Nan was no exception. She lived by herself (not alone, as Nan had many family and friends nearby) since she lost her mate in 1982, she travelled, mostly by herself, but more importantly she fought. Fought the disease that wanted nothing more than to stop her. I can still remember Nan a couple of months before she past away saying to me, as she did many others, "... they are going to find a cure for me". It was this spirit to fight, to never give up till the last breath that inspired the journey I'm going to take.

See ya Nan. Going to miss you lots. Say hello to Pop for me.

Parkinson's NSW

The Charites Part 2.

WHO WE ARE:

We work in partnership with a network of support groups throughout the State.

We encourage research into Parkinson’s disease and co-operate with those undertaking it.

We advocate on behalf of the Parkinson’s community and strive to increase community awareness of the disease.

We look towards taking a leadership role in representing the Parkinson’s community in New South Wales and Australia-wide.

OUR VISION: A community free of Parkinson’s disease.

OUR MISSION: To enhance the quality of life to all people living with Parkinson’s disease.


PARKINSON’S DISEASE IN BRIEF:

• A chronic progressive, incurable, complex, disabling neurological condition.
• The four key symptoms are tremor, rigidity, akinesia/ bradykinesia and postural instability, with many secondary symptoms.
• Over 80,000 Australian’s have been diagnosed with Parkinson ’s disease.
• 10% of those diagnosed will be under the age of 40.
• Parkinson’s disease is more prevalent than prostate, ovarian or cervical cancer or leukemia
• 1 in 5 people with Parkinson’s disease are working age (15-64)
• Prevalence increasing at around 2-3% pa

To donate, visit "The Long Road" donation page or email us at donate@thelongroadtour.com

For more information about Parkinson’s disease and the support services offered by Parkinson’s NSW, ring toll-free 1800 644 189 or visit http://www.parkinsonsnsw.org.au/

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Jason and myself (Garry) would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Hopefully yours and your family's wishes all came true over the festive season. Now it's time to party into the New Year.

But before I / we go, a quick recap of the year that's about to pass and some thank you's. Bring on the visual blur and music as we reminisce of times past. If you have some of those funky incense sticks now's the time to light them:

2010 was an interesting year to say the least for The Long Road. Jason went and hit me up with this grand scheme of travelling the world and it all began (ok, he didn't need to ask, I actually put my hand up).

The name we chose for this trip, The Long Road, has certainly lived up to itself. What was thought to be easy has been a real hard slog with setting things up, hunting down what we will need, trying to spread the word of what we are doing and attempting to get sponsors on board. But we have progressed through with the simple thought of why we are doing this and, as I'm sure, all Parkinsons and Cancer sufferes have done it tougher. We remain positive that this will be a success.

By the way we are still looking for sponsors and equipment suppliers so if you know anyone that can help out please pass on the good word and our details or let us know and we will send through our sponsor pack.

Now to the "Thank You's":

To everyone that has helped us so far, a big thank you. Cycle City Ballarat who jumped on board from the start, Sam from Tour De Cure who helped at the beginning in guiding us to and through places we had never been to previously or even thought about. To those charities we are supporting, Parkinsons Australia (NSW), Cure Cancer Australia, Livestrong (The Lance Armstrong Foundation), and Team Fox (The M J Fox Foundation), thankyou for your time and patience. We are slowly but surely getting to our goal start date. To all our followers on this site, Face Book and Twitter, thank you for simply being there and watching as we bumble our way through.

Last but not least, thank you to our families. You have supported both Jason and I through this hairbrained idea and pushed when we needed to be pushed, even if you think we are stupid to be doing it. We've not left yet so the stupidity hasn't even started.

In closing I hope everone has a great New Years. Stay safe but most of all have fun. 2011 here we come.

Cure Cancer Australia

Welcome to the first, of a series of posts all about the charity organisations we will be supporting on the tour.

“I’m sorry, you have cancer”…1.4 million people a year unfortunately have to hear this news as the search continues to improve prevention, detection and treatment outcomes for people with cancer.

115,000 Australians will be diagnosed with cancer by the end of 2010.  As we all know only too well, this is someone’s Mum, brother, husband, child or best friend.  Cancer impacts all of us.

Mission:  we champion innovative researchers in their quest to cure cancer.

Vision:  A world without cancer, nothing less.

Cure Cancer Australia has played an important role in advancing cancer research in Australia over the last 42 years.  Many of Australia’s leading cancer researchers today had their start with Cure Cancer funding.

Since 1967, Cure Cancer Australia has provided over $14m in seed funding to Australian researchers at the start of their careers.  Close to 400 researchers have been supported across over 60 different institutes, hospitals, universities and centres throughout Australia, in all areas of cancer research (non cancer-type specific).

We thank all of our donors, supporters, stakeholders and volunteers for their support in making our vision a reality. With your help, we will win the fight against cancer.

Every dollar donated brings us closer to a cure.

To donate, visit "The Long Road" donation page or email us at donate@thelongroadtour.com

To find out more about Cure Cancer Australia visit: www.curecancer.org.au

The cure starts here.