Orel Family

For the ninth consecutive year, Aaron and I rode in the annual Tour de Cure  ride to help support the American Diabetes Association (ADA).  It was the 5th ride for Elianna and Lori. First things first:  We are still accepting donations through the end of June.  The link is:   http://main.diabetes.org/goto/teamorel We may have a date conflict next year, so this ride may be our last for a while. So I am posting some pictures of our rides over these past 9 years... Aaron during the first ride, in 2005 At a rest stop in 2006. Elianna was still using the bike in 2012. On the ride, in 2007 2008: Prepared to leave 2009: The first full family ride, and the last at Island Lake. 2010: Aaron and Elianna at Brighton High School before the ride Lori and Elianna during the 2011 ride. Before the start of the 2012 Tour de Cure 2013: At a rest stop. Aaron says he wants to go 62 miles next year. 2013: After the ride. We've gone from 7 mile rides to 15 to 25, ...

A few days ago, an espn.com front page headline caught my eye. Under a big photo of Dale Earnhardt, was a caption announcing that it had been 10 years since his death. Ten years!! I’ll note that I’m not much of a auto racing fan, and to the extent I watched it, it was typically Indy Car, not NASCAR. I didn’t watch the race that day. But I remember that weekend. On February 16, 2001, we flew to California for a cousin’s bar mitzvah and an 8-day vacation. We, being me, Lori, and Aaron. Aaron was a few days shy of his 4th birthday, and Lori was becoming very large with our 2nd child. She needed a doctor’s clearance to fly. I have looked through my 16,000+ pictures and can find no evidence that she was ever that large, but it’s true. I remember it. But 10 years ago, I had no digital camera – I had tried out an HP prototype in 1998 but it would be another 2 years before we’d buy one – so I was still paying to develop pictures. When we stepped off the airplane at SFO, we were gree...