"In Medias Res"

Though my favorite high-school English teacher, Ms. Lord, wouldn't believe it I do remember something from The Odyssey- that the story began "in medias res," or "in the midst of things." Hopefully the parallels between my Atlantic rowing expedition and The Odyssey end there, but one thing is certain - there's no way that I'll be able to cover on this page everything that the Row for Hope team has accomplished up to this point. Instead, this story will start "in medias res..."

Over the last two and a half years we've built from the ground up a healthy 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity that is poised to break new ground in the fight against cancer. We've had designed and built an unusually small but incredibly sea-worthy ocean rowboat and named her Liv, after the old Norse word for "protection." Though by reading this account of my project you'll gradually get caught up on what we've accomplished to date, the purpose of this is really focused on the future and what we'll accomplish over the next year.

I can assure you that we're aiming high - a year from now I will have rowed across the Atlantic ocean in a nineteen-foot boat, Row for Hope will have funded cutting-edge research at a leading institution, and, with our donors' help we will have put ocean rowing on the forefront of the next generation in fundraising strategies.

For now I'll leave you with my favorite picture of the moment, taken on a morning row a few days ago: