As many of you may know, this past Friday, June 13th, Team Portland lost one of our teammates, Jamie Roberts. She was taken from us so fast and it's still surreal that she's not with us anymore. Jamie was an amazing teammate, friend and role model. She had this smile that lit up the room and was pasted on her face 24-7. But what made Jamie truly amazing was the kindness, selflessness and love that she shared with all of us on Team Portland for the 12 days we got to spend with her. And from the outpouring of love that I have seen after her passing, I can tell that she touched so many other people during her 24 years than just us. Not to mention she also was hilarious :) Her witty sarcasm and jokes always made me laugh. She was my partner-in-crime on my birthday and our rest day in Pittsburgh, and also the one to belt out Katy Perry's 'Happy Birthday' song with me whenever it came on (this started on my birthday, when she blasted it for Margaret and I about 20 times during our ride). My team and I have shed a lot of tears since her passing, but we've also shared a lot of smiles and laughs over all of the unforgettable memories that she left us with. We feel so blessed to have had Jamie as a teammate and friend, even though our time with her was cut awfully short.
3 days ago, my team and I got back on our bikes to continue our ride because we know that it's what Jamie would want. She was so dedicated to the 4K and all that it is about. We are going to finish our ride in Portland, as planned, to honor Jamie's incredible heart and spirit. Finishing the ride without her is going to be so so hard (it already has been), but it makes it a little easier knowing that we've got 'Jamie love' in our hearts and 'Jamie power' in our legs. I'm going to be trying to keep my blog better updated from now on, so check back in a little for a new post about our past 4 days!