This Saturday our glorious country will celebrate two hundred thirty-three years of Independence…better known as the Fourth of July which as many of our holidays has devolved into a day to see how much beer and how many hot dogs we Americans can consume in a twenty-four hour period.

While we gorge ourselves on backyard bbq and enjoy the controlled fireworks displays, 5,500 miles away Lance Armstrong will begin the 2009 Tour De France.  As great as his comeback is, and as much as he has done for the Cancer Community as a whole, I ‘d rather remember the Lance from ten years ago when he shocked the sporting world, caught the attention of the American Public and simply became “our guy” in the cancer community.

I don’t remember watching the Tour as much as I remember the aftermath, and excitedly reading “It’s Not About the Bike”…the great book Lance and Sally Jenkins wrote shortly after the miraculous events of the Summer of 1999.  I had just finished my first round of chemotherapy, supposedly done for good, and waiting to have my portacath taken out.  Though I knew that I wouldn’t be taken the sports world by storm anytime soon, it was a great story of courage and determination that still resonates with me today.

Hey, I’ll be honest I don’t know Lance personally, and I can’t certainly agree with all that he has said and done in the last ten years, but he was/is a beacon of hope to millions of people not only in America, but across the globe who are fighting cancer.  Since 2002, when I donned the yellow Livestrong bracelet it was a daily reminder of where I had been and what I had accomplished.  I figured I would wear it forever…until it broke about two weeks ago.  I finally dug out another one that I had, and have placed it back on my right wrist, where it rightfully belongs.  Just in time to root Lance to another victory in the Tour de France…with the entire cancer community behind him.  Viva Lance!