Alpharetta, Georgia

A rainy day in Georgia. Today was an off day. No riding. This is not to say we were not busy. Our team was split into two groups of six, each of which went to a local high school. I was on the team that visited the fighting tigers of Stockbridge High School. There we met with a class of health care students. Many good questions were raised. After the high school we traveled to Alpharetta Life South on the north side of Atlanta.

On a personal note, my wife Angie had decided to visit me in Alpharetta. I was not sure about the directions she might have gotten, so as I was about to call to give her directions to Life South, she appeared in the parking lot. What a nice feeling to see her. This has been the longest separation of our marriage!

She brought a care package from GHOA for Bruce, as well as two sets of red horns for each ofus. The significance of these remains a mystery, as well as why they glow when exposed to flash from cameras.



A TV interview had been scheduled for the team, but a major explosion at a sugar plant called local media away, so the TV coverage was canceled. However, not to be outdone, Life South sprung a real surprise on all of us.

In 2000 one of the team members, Gary Smith, from Pennsylvania, had anonymously donated bone marrow to a young woman with Leukemia. All that he knew was that the transplant was successful, and that the recipient lived in Australia. They had corresponded since that time, but had never spoken. He said that when he retired he wanted to go to Australia to meet her.

Gary had been the major speaker today at Life South. At the conclusion of his presentation the Life South people said they had a surprise for him, and brought his marrow recipient out from behind a closed door. There was not a dry eye in the room. We all cried out of joy for this reunion. There are no words to describe the emotions circulating throughout that room.

She will be staying with us for a few days, following the riders along and experiencing our adventure firsthand. Their meeting is shown here in one of the photos.

Tomorrow we bike to Gainesville, GA. There are no scheduled events, and the distance is a moderate one of approximately 45 miles. The weather is turning colder, with predicted lows tomorrow morning in the 40's. That will be quite a shock to most of us.