Chapter I: Raison D’être

Raisons D’êtres change as long as you procrastinate long enough in committing to what they might be. I believe in letting them develop like life develops, like a child develops, like a parent with a child in need develops. So when something develops there is a sequence of events. This should be shared.

October 2011. I hear of the climb from a stranger while at a dinner. Adventure, adventure, adventure … I jump on board to challenge myself physically … TheRaison D’etre at that moment.

October 2011. I realize the challenge of raising $5000 for the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation is looming and for me this is the tougher challenge, yet it is The Raison D’etre at this moment.

February 2012: As of today over 100 ‘GIVERS’ have donated through my Foundation webpage. Gifts between $15 and $2000 floated in through the internet on angels wings.  We are above $12,000 now:)

February 2012: So now what is TheRaison D’etre for jumping on board this experience?

The Raison D’être had turned into a gift!!!

The gift has two parts.

The first part is so many ‘givers’ are folks I had not heard from in a long time, or folks I really don’t know that well, therefore they don’t know me, and yet here they are, jumping on board!. Hearing from all of you, side by side with family and friends, and feeling all your support is a gift that is with me forever.

The second part.. My Buddies from The Montreal Children’s Hospital.  Back in November 2011 all the trekkers / climbers, (the bravado term is climbers, the real truth is trekkers) met each other at the foundation offices for the first time.

An idea was born to fruition at that meeting whereby any trekker who wanted to, could metaphorically ‘adopt’ a child currently in the care of The Children’s Hospital, and bring that child, spiritually with them, to the summit of Kilimanjaro.  Now were talkin’!  Now there was meat between the buns!  And now this thing was becoming substantial. It was becoming touchable! This is The Raison D’etre that got to me.

January 2012. I write a letter to The Foundation saying a little about me so the matchup with my buddy would be as solid as possible. … The Foundation matched us up real good.

Jeffrey is 11 years old, and was born the fifth and youngest child in his family. Jeff was born with a heart malformation. Through life Jeff has had surgeries to correct issues that are a result of the malformation. And there may be more surgeries. No one knows. Jeff plays hockey and leads a normal life excluding his awareness to be constantly cognizant of his heart rate which can go up to 200 beats per minute. He knows how to deal with this.

On February 2nd I met Jeff and Jeff’s whole family. Jeff has 2 sisters by birth and 1 foster sister, all of whom are young adults. I met Jeff’s older brother Jeremy (14), who has Down Syndrome. They are a wonderful family, tremendously supportive of each other. When I asked Jeff’s Mom on February 5th if I could be Jeremy’s buddy as well as Jeff’s buddy, there was not a nano second of hesitation when she asked Jeff and Jeff gave his response … ‘of course, yes!’

I hope I can give Jeff and Jeremy and their family another window to the world. They have already given me one, and my heart is warm because I can see through this window from the top of the world, way above Kilimanjaro, a view of the most positive example of the human spirit. This has become The Raison D’etre for me. Where will it develop from here? … I am excited to see