Saturday, May 25, 2019

Those Who Serve

Ours is a team rooted in love and dedication to honoring the lives of 3 brothers lost too soon because of HIV/AIDS. In our 20 years together, we’ve come upon many such siblings, in addition to sons, daughters, spouses and friends but Joshua Campbell was the first to refer to us as “sibling survivors”. Joshua became a survivor in 2007 when his brother Jason lost his life in the line of duty with the Greenville NC Police Department. He’s ridden over 1,500 miles in support of families and especially children, whose parents are killed in the line of duty and is equally dedicated to the mission of Action Cycling Atlanta and the AIDS Vaccine 200 beneficiaries. 

In 2018 Joshua chose to dedicate his AV200 ride to the memory of Donald David Fehrenbach, brother of my teammate, Jon. Last weekend Joshua chose to dedicate his AV200 ride to my brother Bret and didn’t let conflicting family obligations slow his plans. In stepped Mary Harding, long term ride buddy, teammate and fellow sibling survivor to carry out Joshua’s plans. Over the course of 2-days and 200 miles, 4 red cuffs engraved with Joshua’s dedication to Bret were passed from scientist to rider to crew to donor and back again. My words cannot come any closer than the looks on their faces as that bracelet came to symbolize the inspiration for why we ride and give, work and serve to end AIDS.  

Bret Granato - Band of Honor relay 2019 AIDS Vaccine 200 Ride

Joshua made it back in time for closing ceremonies
 and to see everyone who participated in his 2019 AV200
Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can                          -John Wesley

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Very cool story that goes so well with you, Jon and Mary's commitment to continue to ride for a reason!!!