Bonnie Straka
Welcome to my website
I am the wife of award-winning crime novelist, Andy Straka, mom to 6 children ranging in age from 22 down to 4, and a dermatologist in Charlottesville, VA. I have never run a marathon before, and haven't run/jogged for over 10 years due to foot injuries. However, I REALLY want to finish this marathon, and running with my daughter, Kelci, and raising funds for LWB are 2 BIG motivators for me! Four of our children are adopted from China, and we learned about LWB during one of our adoption journeys. I have participated in a medical missions trip with a LWB team (Shanghai Children's Hospital, Nov 2007) and have seen firsthand what wonderful things LWB does for the children in China.
My motivation to participate with Team LWB this year
I have always wanted to complete a marathon...just one of those life goals! But carving out the time to train, finding a running partner who also wanted to complete a marathon, and just plain getting older and finding that my feet and legs weren't very forgiving after pounding away on pavement prevented me from accomplishing this goal. When I heard that LWB was organizing a team for the Marine Corps Marathon, I became excited as I couldn't think of any cause I would rather support than LWB. When my 15-year-old daughter, Kelci, agreed to join me in training and running the marathon, we both signed up on the spot! I'm a bit nervous about whether my almost-50-year-old body will be able to complete 26.2 miles next October, but I'm going to give it my best!
Fund-Raising
Goal: $750.00
To date: $305.00
I'm participating on behalf of Colton. Colton was born in September of 2006 with many complicated heart defects. After a complex surgical procedure, Colton came to Love Without Boundaries' Heartbridge Pediatric Healing Unit in July 2007. He has been a real trooper and will be blessing a new adoptive family some time in the coming year. Colton is on numerous heart medications, so he will be stay at Heartbridge to receive the care he needs until his family is able to come for him. A bright and active boy, Colton likes to instigate a lot of silliness with his buddy Gracie, or begin a "how loud can you scream" match with the other boys in the room. He keeps it lively and everyone in the home is in love with him!
