In Craig's memory

It is so wrong when someone you love dies at 32, and so difficult to no longer hear Craig's voice, see his smile and feel his hugs. We cannot change what happened to Craig, but we can embrace a cause in his memory, one he would have participated in with pleasure before non-Hodgkin's lymphoma destroyed his considerable athletic ability and took his life.

A gift for our family was being able to spend Craig's final month together in San Francisco. Corey, his sister, also lived there, and Dick and I were able to leave our Clarkston home to stay with Craig. We continued with the details of everyday life, talking, renting movies, eating, doing laundry, and made our way through the heartbreak dealing with his physical pain, saying goodbye and talking about the meaning of his life.

During the year he was in treatment, Craig had touched many people's lives as
an honoree for the for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training
fund-raisers. As it became apparent that Craig was going to lose his battle with the disease, he filled some of his dreams. Enduring pain and growing weakness, he took a trip to England and France with Nga Tran, the woman he loved; got Taz, a faithful little dog; joined the Catholic church; and as one of his last gestures, took a little boy's name off the gift tree at church and went shopping and filled his Christmas wishes.

Still, Craig worried that he hadn't done much in his lifetime, that he had never zeroed in on a way to really help other people. From these conversations came Craig's Messages, written together five days before he died, on Dec. 21, 2000.

After Craig's death, Corey joined the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training in San Francisco and began training to participate in a marathon in London and collecting money in her brother's memory. Friends, family and co-workers who wanted to help made donations. Corey was able to donate more than $16,000 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Craig's name when she ran the race in April 2001. She later moved back home to Michigan, and her  next athletic endeavor was a triathlon at Independence Oaks County Park, in Independence Township near Clarkston, in September 2003. She and a group of friends, Eileen Bullen of Clarkston, Kelly Weersing of Berkley and Jill Hancook of Highland decided that a good way to remember Craig and raise money for a good cause would be to start a triathlon in his memory in our hometown.  They contacted 3 Disciplines Racing of Fenton, which put on the triathlon at Independence Oaks, and began working on the multitude of details necessary to hold such an event.

The date is set - Aug. 8, 2004 - and Craig's Messages written shortly before he died are such good advice for living that we want to share them with the
participants in the Craig Greenfield Memorial Tri & Du. They will appear on the back of the Tri & Du T-shirts. The design for the logo on the front was donated by Brian Merriman, one of Corey's co-workers at Wright & Hunter in Birmingham. This Web site was created by Craig's aunt Skye Gentle of North Muskegon.

We know that Craig will be at the Tri & Du in spirit, running and biking in and around Clarkston and swimming in Deer Lake with the crowd, all activities he enjoyed while growing up in Clarkston. And we're pleased that we've a found cause we know Craig would consider worthy to support with the proceeds.

In Craig's memory, we and all who participate are embracing the hope of finding a better way for others to fight back.

- Kathy Greenfield, Craig's mom

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