Transplant Games: Lisa R. Post #1

Can it be? Have two years really passed since Louisville, since the very first Transplant Games that Phi Sigma Sigma ever sponsored?

Why, it seems like only yesterday. And yet, here we are, counting down the final days before the biennial Games begin in Pittsburgh this weekend.

This year promises to be an even more meaningful, emotional experience than 2006 for a number of notable reasons:

• We’re 120+ sisters strong. I heard Katie Herschede, Games coordinator and sister extraordinaire, give the exact number during a conference call the other day and promptly forgot it, apparently – such was my shock and awe! All I know is, our Pitt-based Phi Sig contingent is easily four times larger than in Louisville – and Katie tells us our group is fully five times larger than any other volunteer organization that will be present. All I can say is – wow!
  

• We’ve got a Phi Sig athlete to root for. Aubrey Birden, the bright, funny, outgoing collegian who told me in 2006 that she’d return in 2008 to participate in the Games has made good on her word…. You may remember Aubrey’s widely publicized photo from 2006, as she posed with TV’s famed Dallas actor Larry Hagman who, like her, is an organ transplant recipient. Aubrey’s story is moving in the extreme…. You’re sure to hear a lot about her this year as she competes for the gold and we cheer her on!

• We’re blogging fiends. In 2006, blogging was a relatively new technology – with Katie H. swearing to me it was “all the rage” and that sisters would be logging onto the Foundation site from around the world to read the latest from the event. We filed dozens of blog entries and personal stories (and I guess I edited most of them, busy gal that I was!)…. And Katie was right: We got a pretty decent response for the time. But this year – there’s zero doubt that blogging IS the rage, and that we’ll be hearing from plenty of you in real time. What’s more, every Phi Sig onsite can be an iReporter! How cool is that?!
  

Start looking for regular entries here July 10 – because we Phi Sigs en route to the “Steel City” (also called, for you gridiron fans, the “Cradle of Quarterbacks!”) are ready to rock and roll and bring YOU along for the ride!

Chat soon!

Lisa Romero (hereafter, Lisa R. for short)

Transplant Games Communications, Sphinx Editor