One Summit

As we learned from Dan Cnossen’s Profile in Resilience, those who choose and learn how to move forward in the face of these obstacles share a common realization: Although written for younger readers (Grades 6-8 | Ages 8-12), the book – told through the thoughts of the main character, Mark – encourages us all to evaluate our own hopes, dreams and goals and reflect on the strength needed to tackle the obstacles encountered along the way. As the story unfolds, we learn that the mountain that’s calling him isn’t just any mountain, but rather one of the biggest mountains in North America, Mount Rainier – a glaciated, volcanic peak standing over 14,400 feet above sea level. The baldness that told the world:  This kid’s got cancer.

While One Summit has been a proud partner of John Hancock in the Marathon Non-Profit Program since 2016, this year’s team is perhaps the most diverse to date. It features a mix of One Summit Mentors & Team Leaders, as well as passionate supporters with a variety of personal experiences with, and connections to, the mission; experiences and connections we’re excited to share with the broader One Summit community. Over the past two years, I continually heard about One Summit and the opportunity to mentor the brave children, and young adults, facing one of life's greatest challenges. So this year I am running the Boston Marathon on behalf of One Summit and Jack's sisters, Cassidy and Maya.

I didn't know what he was going to look like, how sick he was going to be, how well he'd recover or if he'd recover at all. I was a brand-new nurse at the time and while I had some medical background, I really didn't know anything about this type of traumatic war injury. It’s the best way for me to get back out in the woods and cover ground, something I’ve always liked doing, but now I get to do it on snow, which is unique. If I had been a biathlete or cross-country skier before, I’m not sure that I would want to do it the way I do now, from the seated position.

As a scholar, a church and community worker, and a mother who tragically lost her sixteen-year-old daughter, she understood the twisting trek of grief, its daily challenges and opportunities. Each of its 365 pages presents a calendar day’s meditation in three parts:  a quote, a discussion — often tied to Martha’s own experiences with seismic loss and post-traumatic growth — and a final, pithy reminder that serves as a bookend to the opening quote. * The steps to resilience and actual growth require action or activity, many of which are described in other resources in this very blog series: taking a walk, creating, painting, telling your story, finding a place that offers perspective and comfort, embracing old or new rituals. When we got to the Marginal Way and reached a high, hallowed spot, Donna noticed that the sun had beamed through the clouds way off to the south, just as it had on Jan 6, 1993 when Josh's friends came after learning of his death.