Meg's Courageous Battle

My dear friend Meg passed away yesterday. Fortunately, I was able to visit the hospital and tell her how profound of an influence she had on my life before she passed. I pray that she heard me.
This is my favorite picture of Meg although you can't see her. She is the one with her back to the camera being hugged. Meg was such a powerful force that you couldn't resist wanting to hug her and be a part of her aura.
The year was 2005 and she had just ridden cross-country with Lance Armstrong to raise awareness for cancer
research. While she was riding in the Tour of Hope, I was in a hospital bed receiving my first round of chemotherapy. I was so scared and had no way to know how to handle what was ahead of me. Meg and I had not yet met but she sent me pictures and emails offering hope and guidance from every state she visited on her cancer tour.

Immediately after she returned, she came to meet me in the hospital and our "official" friendship began. The truth is, she had me at "hello" in her first email. I will forever be grateful for the impact she had on my life. She taught me so much in such a short period of time and I just wish we had more time together.

I thought the best way to pay tribute to Meg was to post what some of her friends and family have written about her.

From Lance Armstrong via twitter:
Just heard that 1 of my Tour of Hope teammates, Meg Berte-Owen, passed today - what a loss. Rode across America on just 1 lung! May she RIP


Some of my fondest memories of Meg were when I was no more than 4 or 5 years old. She was baby-sitting my sister and I and she let me run around in our back yard in my new spiderman pajamas. My parents never let me do such a thing (especially after taking a shower before bedtime!) so Meg won major points in myMeg played such an important role in my life. When I was overwhelmed with my cancer diagnosis and didn't know what "hope" looked like, Meg walked into my hospital room and showed me...in her words, in her actions and in her heart. When it seemed like no one understand what I was going through, Meg always did. She always knew exactly the right things to say and guessed my thoughts, feelings and frustrations before I could even tell her. She became a mentor and a role model to me...and I know that she will continue to guide me going forward. She has forever changed my life for the better and I feel truly blessed to have known her...if only for a short while. book. Another time, I remember that she let me watch Michael Jackson's recently released "Thriller" video on MTV. My parents would not Jess or I watch MTV and although I had nightmares for weeks after watching the video, I thought Meg was so cool for letting us watch it. Having known Meg for my entire life, I have always been impressed with not only her courage and determination but her fun-loving and down-to-earth personality. Not only in being an All-American in soccer, overcoming cancer, attending Harvard and HBS, working on top Wallstreet firms, but in being such a genuine, loving and special individual. She was a thoughtful and caring person, one who will surely never be forgotten.

I’ve been thinking so much about Meg and about how I (all of us) can possibly take something positive away from all of this. I realized that since surviving her early battles with cancer when she almost didn’t make it, she must have realized that she had been given the gift of extra years of life. She also may have realized that she might not have the luxury of a long life. I think she really lived her life like someone who had been given a gift, and I think the best way to honor her (for me at least) is to try to live life like she did. She lived large and she loved life and that is what I want to do. May her memory be a blessing.

"The real meaning in all of our lives comes not so much from the accomplishments that we list on our resumes but from the deep connections we make with other people. People who share themselves authentically with us, their yearnings, their failures, their courage, and their love." - Maria Shriver

Today I am going to thank Courtney Smith Rae for introducing me to Meg Berte in 2003. We had coffee in Grand Central. Meg and I compared cancer war stories. Her story made mine sound like a bad hair day. SiX years ago, almost to the day, Meg wrote me this email: After I 'survived' I had three years of hell (and this was AFTER treatment). My intestine was mangled, I lost 30 pounds and the doctors didn't know how I might be able to keep food down-I couldn't get surgery to repair my intestine b/c of all the chemo. Then, one month after the other, both of my lungs collapsed when I was at HBS. I was so angry! I had endured years of treatment to keep being bombarded with issues, month after month...but, eventually things calmed down and the problems stopped.

My doctors say that I am an example of someone where everything can go wrong and I am stil here!! I think about your health all the time, and you seem to be responding to the tough stuff by living like a rockstar. I applaud you! Life is only today and whatever happens to either of us, we will always know that we lived lifetimes in whatever time we are allotted. You are my hero again and again. thank you Meg.

Meg's story is in the Survivors chapter of "More Than 85 Broads". She was a dazzling ray of sunshine. In 2005, she told me that she wanted to ride in the Tour of Hope with Lance Armstrong. Meg had become an avid cyclist and she really wanted to make the team but there were only 23 spots. I recently told a group of woman at Wharton that it's not who you meet, it's who you connect. I connected Meg to 85 Broads rockstar Karen Cook who was on Lance's foundation board. Karen connected Meg to Lance and the rest was history. There is a phenomenal picture of Lance steadying Meg's bIke at one point during the Tour of Hope. That picture is worth 1000 words. You are my hero Meg and always will be.

There are no appropriate words to adequately convey our feelings. Meg was a beautiful woman, both inside and out. So caring, so passionate, so bright. We admired her spunk, her selflessness, and the kindness she extended to our daughter, another "Cancer Chick." We share a deep sadness with you, but we know Meg will live on in the hearts and memories of many.

Meg played such an important role in my life. When I was overwhelmed with my cancer diagnosis and didn't know what "hope" looked like, Meg walked into my hospital room and showed me...in her words, in her actions and in her heart. When it seemed like no one understand what I was going through, Meg always did. She always knew exactly the right things to say and guessed my thoughts, feelings and frustrations before I could even tell her. She became a mentor and a role model to me...and I know that she will continue to guide me going forward. She has forever changed my life for the better and I feel truly blessed to have known her...if only for a short while.

A True Honor - Meet My Namesakes!

My best friend Alicia and her husband Rob recently had beautiful twin girls. They decide to name their Hebrew names after me. I am beyond touched. Below is what they read at the official baby naming ceremony last week.

In addition to my grandparents, we wanted to honor someone else in the naming of our daughters. But, this naming will break with tradition somewhat as it is a living tribute instead of a memorial.

Our friend Jennifer Goodman Linn, is my oldest and very much my dearest friend. She is not our biological sister but she is an Aunt to our children in every other sense of the word. She is very much a part of all of their lives so we felt it was only fitting that our daughters share in her name as well.


Jen, a childhood friend of mine, is so busy living, it is a wonder she finds time to breathe let alone live a life that is incredibly empowering and inspiring to others. One would never know that for more than four years she has been fiercely battling sarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer.

While undergoing four surgeries and intensive chemotherapy for more than 30 months, and continuing her high-powered job as a marketing executive, she somehow managed to find the time to establish a charitable, indoor cycling event, Cycle4Survival, which funds cancer research and survivorship initiatives at Sloan-Kettering, where Jen receives treatment.

Since its conception in 2007, Cycle4Survival has raised just over $2 million. The Recession has clearly never met Jen! Most of you here have contributed to this cause that is very close to our hearts and we are eternally grateful for that support.

Jen, despite some fatigue from her treatment, is still an unbelievable force of energy and productivity. She has a full life that is not defined by her illness. I am not entirely sure how she does it but I have never met a more upbeat and positive person. That is just Jen. She was like that before her cancer diagnosis and I am virtually certain she will continue to be that way for the rest of her life.

She may have moments where she is frustrated, annoyed, mad or sad—you know, those moments when she is human like the rest of us—but that is always fleeting. She does not let her disease get in the way of her living. Her motto, like that of one of her role models Lance Armstrong, is “live strong.” She is, as she likes to call herself “a liver.” She takes every day as it comes and does the best she can with what she is given. If only I could say I did the same.

In addition to battling her serious form of cancer and founding what is now a multi-city fundraiser, Jen has an active family and social life. She is a devoted daughter, sister, aunt and wife. She is a supportive, selfless friend. Although not yet a mother herself, Jen welcomes her many friends’ children into her life and treats them as if they were her own. She plays with our boys, reads to them, cuddles them, roots for the Badgers with them and is even brave enough to undertake air travel with them! I cannot tell you how many times Jen has called me asking about what things the boys might like as presents. I can’t remember an occasion where she has shown up at our house empty-handed. She loves to spoil our kids and like everything else in her life, she cannot and will not be deterred from her thoughtfulness!

Jen embodies the word dynamo. She is a go-getter. If she wants it to happen, more often than not it does. She is not content to sit back and just wait and hope for her body to heal. If she has to be ill, then not only is she going to do everything in her power to restore herself to health, but she is going to try to make sure that everyone around her suffering similarly will be cured as well. When Jen sets her mind to a goal, there is no stopping her.

Girls, your namesake is a force to be reckoned with. If I were Jen’s sarcoma, I would be scared. This cancer can’t possibly be a match for this small yet powerful, empowering and inspiring woman.

Malena and Delilah, you won’t have the opportunity to know your maternal great-grandparents and the many ways in which you could have looked up to them and learned from them. But, you will have your Aunt Jen and we hope that you will be inspired by her determination, courage, her unrelenting optimism, her devotion to family and friends, and to you. 



In a living tribute to Jen, your Hebrew middle names respectively will be Yovela, which means “joyful heart” and Yadira, which signifies “friend.” In your English and Hebrew names you carry with you three beautiful, beloved and inspirational people. We hope to instill in you those qualities of theirs that we so admire.

CBS Kicks off Cycle 2010

Go! New York: Cycle For Survival

Participants Ride Exercise Bikes To Raise Awareness Of Rare Cancers

Reporting
Kate Sullivan

NEW YORK (CBS) ―

Click to enlarge

1 of 1

CBS

Related Slideshows

World's Most Useless Facts

Openly Gay Celebrities

Celebrities In Playboy

The Incredible Megan Fox -- Then & Now

Jennifer Aniston

Adriana Lima

For many people, working out is a chance to mentally work out many problems that are going on in their lives. But one woman decided that her workout could be a chance to really help others, and in turn help herself with a life threatening disease.

You never know who is sitting right next to you in a spin class. It might be Jennifer Goodman-Linn, who is currently battling a rare and deadly form of cancer, MFH sarcoma.

"I used to exercise all the time and it was my hour a day to battle the disease," Goodman-Linn said.

It was during this stress relief hour that she came up with a life changing idea..and shared it with her instructors.

"One day we got together and said 'What happens if we put our passion for cycling together with raising money for rare cancers which don't get the attention they deserve, like the one I have? And lo and behold: Cycle for Survival," she said. "Cycle for Survival is really a relay where we get people to create teams, either in honor of a loved one, or in memory of a loved one who's been dealing with cancer, and you form teams of family and friends and you share a bike for four hours."

It's designed to give attention to "orphan cancers," rare cancers that have less than 200,000 people a year diagnosed and therefore get very little funding or exposure.

There is no other event like it, and it was one that spinning instructor Gregg Cook was eager to join. "It's incredibly empowering. It leaves me feeling great that I can give back on couple different levels at the same time. At the end of a class, you can see the exhilarated, maybe exhausted but there is also the sense of being more alive and exhilarated and just happy," he said.

"It's the smile. It's the constant smile and it's the fight and it's the infectious personality," a friend of Goodman-Linn said.

Friends of Jennifer were quick to sign up, especially when they knew they could do something to help. And everyone can help, even with no athletic ability.

"My grandmother does it with me. She only gets on the bike for about five minutes but we need her on our team," said Goodman-Linn.

Cycle for Survival has grown to 1,500 people, 200 teams, and has raised $1.2 million.

"It was very, very difficult to see, but then it's actually the person's reaction and their attitude, and she galvanized this moment. And she said 'I may have cancer but cancer doesn't have me," Goodman-Linn's friend said.

For Jennifer, it's a chance to not only do everything she can to beat her own disease but to help others do the same.

"Everybody who comes says 'I'm going to be there next year," she said.

Jennifer is currently in remission and is looking forward to this year's cycle for survival event. "In some ways I look and I say 'I can't believe I created this'," Goodman-Linn said.