Do you want the good news or the bad news?

Do you want the good news or the bad news?

How I came to be an FTEC 2018 Fighter

Summer 2017 was fast approaching.  My dojo, where I train jiu-jitsu, would be closing down for a couple of months and I wanted to do something to stay active.  Boxing had always interested me and my daughter, Abby, had joined Kingsway Boxing Club in the spring and was loving it.  So I signed up.  Figured it would be a great way to stay in shape for the summer and pass the time until jits resumed.  Little did I know how my life was about to change.

I met Alison Turnbull, my opponent in FTEC 2018, during the summer at one of the conditioning classes.  We were supposed to be running around the buildings but both of us had given up and were walking the last half of the way 😳.  We started chatting and Alison told me about why she was attending the classes - she hoped to be part of the Fight Team for 2018 for the Fight to End Cancer.  I was intrigued but by no means ready to get in the ring.  I had heard about the Fight to End Cancer, my husband had attended one of the galas a few years before and last year I had noticed an old school mate was participating in the event.  It looked like an amazing event but it also seemed like something out of my league.

Fast forward to the end of summer.  Jennifer (Huggins) is talking to Alison and I at the end of one of her classes.  She suggests that I come to the FTEC tryouts that are coming up at the end of next month.  Jenn sends me all the info and I check it out.  I decide I will go to the tryouts. Just to see what this is all really about.  In my head I'm still thinking "there is no way they will pick me" "I'm not a boxer" "I can't get into a ring in front of hundreds of people!!!" and a bunch of other thoughts!  But I go to the tryouts.  And there are a lot of people there!  And I am IN AWE of the FTEC alumni that are there, helping us all out and sharing their stories.  I was in tears listening to the stories of some of them - of why they fought and their own experiences of this FTEC journey.  And they had amazing advice for us - and some hard questions too.  Were we willing to put in the work?  Not just the physical work of training - but the energy of what it takes behind the scenes.  And what do our families think?  Do we have a good support system that will be able to pick up the pieces for us while we are giving our all to this amazing cause?  Will our spouses and children be understanding of us being missing in action for the next 6+ months?  There was so much to think about.  To consider.  To absorb.  I was worried about all of the above.  I was worried about the fundraising.  How could I ask people for that much money?  I feel bad asking someone else to drop my kids off at a birthday party - now I was about to lean on everyone to become my kids' uber drivers as well as ask for items and money for donations.  I went home with all of the above swirling around in my head.  I discussed it all with my husband and close friends.  I even tried to let them talk me out of it....how much work it would be, I would be asking so much of everyone....but no go.  They were all too supportive and adamant that if I got this opportunity, I should take it! 

I found out the following week that I made the first cut.  I continued to attend classes over the next month (as we were asked to while they made final decisions) and at the same time pondered the "what if" I actually end up doing this.  About a month later (and a few days before my birthday) I got 'the' call.  It's Virgil (Barrow).  And he opens with "do you want the good news or the bad news first?  I decide on the bad and he gives it to me straight "the bad news is that you need to lose 15lbs...but the good news is you have made the Fight Team".  I still remember my initial response "well, that might not exactly be bad news 😆.....!"  (Alison and I need to be within 8 or 9 pounds to be able to fight each other and since she weighs less than me the goal is that we meet somewhere in the middle weight-wise.)

So here I am.  Embarking on this incredible journey that I am sure will take me on some ups and downs along the way.  I imagine there are going to be some nights I leave the gym in tears - maybe they will be tears of frustration, or tears of joy or even tears of pain.  But that's OK by me.  Because at the end of the day the fight is worth it.  And I want us to win this fight and knock cancer out for good.

Please follow along with me on this journey - via this blog or find me on social media - and please, if you can, DONATE to help us end our battle with cancer (bit.ly/2GbXyR8 or www.fighttoendcancer.com).

Thanks for reading,
Dawn

Instagram: ftec2018dawnmillar
Facebook: Dawn Curnew Millar