Our trip started well - We flew out on Sun Country at 7am on June 2nd. We had a smooth flight & everything went well with mom's oxygen. As soon as we got our car, we headed up to Just In Time Cafe for lunch & Mom to finally meet the rest of the Kalligheri Family! One bite of her chicken parm sandwhich & she was hooked. After checking into our hotel, we drove up to Kittery & then through Costal Maine up to Kennebunkport. We did some shopping there & headed back to the hotel.
The next day we took the T into Boston & walked around Faniuel Hall, the waterfront, & the North End (had to get Canollis) before Jeff - fresh off the red eye from California - picked us up for a personal tour of Boston. He brought us back to our car & then headed over to Harvard University for the Best Buddies Challenge Football Game. Mom got her first taste of Boston traffic & she wasn't impressed! (:
Once we finally got to the field, I ran to get my registration & mom & Jeff got seats for the game. Mom was in heave as Pepsi was one of the title sponsors & it was all the free Pepsi she could drink (& fit into her purse). The game was really a lot of fun. Tom Brady was the quarterback for both teams. Teams consisted of his teammates, celebrities, Best Buddies Participants & top fundraisers. We enjoyed ice cream & great company.
After the game was over, we went to the Guy Fieri Tailgate event - where local chefs & Guy served food. It didn't take long for us to completely stuff ourselves & decide it was time to head back to the hotel for an early morning drive to Cape Cod.
My first two mistakes for the challenge were already committed by this point. Mom & I had walked 14,000 steps or about 7 miles each. We also didn't get back to the hotel till probably 10am for a 5am wake up call. As you can imagine, I didn't sleep well at the anticipation of the events.
It was a beautiful two hour drive down to the cape. The event was right on the beach in Hyannis. We got there about 7:45am & scoped out the festivities. We also had time to walk the beach to get seashells before everyone started to arrive.
Jeff & his cousin Mike arrived shortly after. I had Jeff do the honor of pinning my event number. It wad a really special moment for me to take time to remember the reason why we were here.
The race started at 9:30. I lined up towards the back of the pack knowing I was going to be slow. My feet were hurting & my body was tired. It was awesome to see all the different people that were "competing".
The weather was perfect though. It was overcast & cool. It made for a really nice 3 miles. I finished just over 49 minutes. My goal was 45 minutes - but I will definitely take 49 with the lack of training the last month & the fatigue from the day before.
I've never competed in any event like this before. It was awesome to see all the people cheering, my mommy taking pictures, & just feeling so much like I had accomplished something
The rest of the day was filled with food, a massage, & hanging out on the beach. It was awesome to get to watch the bikers come in. The first 100 mile bikers came in only like 4 hours after they left Boston. The day ended with a bucket list item.
The chance to meet Tom Brady. Someone pinch me. I still can't believe this happened. It was super quick but he was super nice.
Mom & I drove back to the hotel & I pretty much went right to bed. I was exhausted.
Sunday we rode the T back to Boston & took a trolley tour around the city, shopped, & got mom her shrimp she had be craving. We were both pretty tired, so it was a pretty lazy day.
Monday brought checking out of our hotel which was sad for both of us. We weren't ready to leave. Then again - I never want to leave Boston. We drove up to the cafe & another thing I had been waiting for finally happened. I finally got the chance to have both my close friends & "brothers" in the same room. It was a great send off to finally get to introduce Colton to Jeff. 
Jeff & I met by random chance almost 20 years ago & he's pretty much been my best friend ever since. Jeff has dreams as big as this world. 16 years later, another random chance brought Colton into my life as he reminded me so much of Jeff. Even though he lived in Alabama at the time, fate put him in Boston a year ago. Our three worlds finally collided & it was awesome. Of course, it was way too short & we were then on a plane home.
Thank you so much to all of those who believed in me & this cause. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to help people & create memories with my mom. Thank you will never be enough- but in the next few weeks - you'll be hearing from me in a language of love directly from Justin.
This chapter has closed - but it's time to start writing another one.
