As I am flying over the center of the U.S., on our way to the Grand Canyon, my mind keeps asking “Can it be true?” I am still basking in the glow of climbing the highest free-standing mountain in the world (Mount Kilimanjaro) with four multiple myeloma patients in January of this year.

I truly got to experience the real human condition and the real human spirit. I hiked among giants to the roof of Africa (19,431 feet). Five months later I still hear my inner voice say, “What an honor it was to share such a life experience with those four multiple myeloma heroes.” I miss the four of them every day. They went ever up and up, one step at a time.

They did not do it for glory, they did not do it for their personal bucket list. They climbed it because they made a promise to fellow patients that could not climb the mountain and those that lost their battle with multiple myeloma and to raise money for the MMRF to find a cure.

So now I tell myself to stop worrying that I am about climb one of the hardest trails in the U.S. — Did I prepare enough? Am I ready? I learned determination, heart and drive from my dear friends on Kilimanjaro.

Can it be true that I now get to climb the Grand Canyon with three different multiple myeloma patients, loved ones and those that have lost loved ones to this horrible disease.

Can it be true?

- Marty