Hopkins 4K for Cancer

Eric Ahnmark

Trip Year: 2007
School: Denison University
Hometown: Columbus, OH
Email: ahnmar_e@denison.edu
Please support me by donating now: http://www.active.com/donate/hopkins4k/4KEAhnmar

Lung Cancer took my grandmother before I was old enough to know her. I have been told my mom’s mom was a fabulous woman and a wonderful spirit. This I take to heart, for the only memories I have of Grandma Bachtel are pictures of her holding me in her arms. I am dedicating my ride to her, to someone I wish I could have been able to grow up with and learn from—to someone who lived a life great enough to leave lasting impressions on my older siblings—to someone I would give up just about anything to sit down and spend some time with.

I have not devoted my life to fighting cancer, nor have I really asked much about my Grandma and her life. Yet what drew me to the Hopkins4K was and is the sense of hope that it instills within not only the minds of the young cancer patients we visit, but in the minds of us riders as well. What I missed out on by not getting to know my Grandma I will never know. This ambiguity, of all things, is what has inspired me to support these individuals in order that they may fully appreciate their own lives and benefit from the relationships they have made.

Future plans: Going off the research I did this past summer at Saguaro National Park, I would like to someday work for the National Park Service. I have loved the outdoors for as long as I can remember, and I would cherish the opportunity to work so closely with our nation’s most beautiful places.