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Jennifer's Journey was inspired by my sister, Jennifer
Maher.
The years I spent with Jen were too few. She was born
when I was 13 years old.
Being an only girl with two
brothers, I was thrilled to have a little sister.
When I left our hometown in Massachusetts six years
later, I remember her big, blue eyes
welling up with
tears as she saw her big sister leaving to begin her
adult life. Our relationship became
long distance,
yet it was punctuated with loving sister letters, phone
calls, and visits.
Jen grew up to become the devoted mother of three
children living in Cape Cod, while I became a devoted
businesswoman in California. Our lives on opposite
coasts kept us busy. Although we didn't see each other
as much as we'd like, we often talked about how we'd
travel together someday, never thinking for a moment
that it wouldn't happen. It didn't.
In 2004, Jen was diagnosed
with cancer. Supported by loving family and friends,
she spent the next three years battling the disease,
even continuing to use her passion as an athlete
to raise money for the cause. The day before she
passed, we lamented our lost opportunity and the
fact that we hadn't made the time to travel together. "We
would have had fun," we said.
 One thing Jen taught me is that today is for living
your dreams, not tomorrow.
Life is mysterious, and
since her passing, the "signs" Jen
promised to send, have shown me
that life is a journey,
perhaps one that never ends.
—Bev
Sanders, Founder, Jennifer's Journey
• Read
more about Jen's cause and story, told by her husband,
Mike •
• Watch the video of Jen's family on CBS
Video Archives •
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