2012 Recap

It's been three weeks since the end of this years ride...I am still trying to come to terms with all the emotions I experienced this year. This was my 4th yr and each year it does get a little easier, however this year was actually the hardest year for me and I struggle on a daily basis with processing my feelings and emotions. It was especially hard due to Lori's passing in January. I can't even put into words the struggle I have been going through the past few months. Once I am able to better put into words all that I am feeling, I will update my blog with a day to day recap. Until then....be good to each other and especially to yourself (which is my struggle).

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2012 NATIONAL EMS MEMORIAL BIKE RIDE Donation Site

2012 NATIONAL EMS MEMORIAL BIKE RIDE: Its that time of year again!! Please help send me to the East Coast to honor our fallen Paramedics and EMTs by participating in the National EMS Memorial Bike Ride. To donate directly to my site, please click on the blue highlighted title at the front of this post!! THANK YOU!!! YOur donation is GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

Countdown Starts!!!!!!

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2 weeks!!!

Some of you know that for the past two years I have participated in a 7 day bicycle event, The National EMS Memorial Bike Ride, on the east coast. We ride to honor all of our fallen EMS brothers and sisters. We ride in their name, we ride to remember.

In 2009 I rode 650 miles on a bicycle in 7 days from New York City to Roanoke Virginia and then in 2010 I rode another 650 miles from Portland Maine to Washington DC to help raise money for the "Fallen Angel" Fund. When I first decided to do this ride in 2009, I hadn’t been on a bicycle in 20 years. I learned about this ride while attending the Ocean Shores EMS conference in 2009 while listening to Steve Berry, the PIO for the Muddy Angels and the National EMS Memorial Bike Ride talk about the ride and I was amazed at how only a handful of the 300+ participants even knew that we had a memorial or the existence of the ride.

This year I have decided to undertake the adventure again. This year the ride starts in Boston Massachusetts and ends in Washington DC. Along the way we make many stops at various Fire Stations and EMS stations for memorial services for those who have died the past year. It’s not only a physically draining and exhausting 7 day journey but an emotional one as well. We meet the families of loved ones who have died and we help bring closure to them. We wear dog tags with their loved ones names on it for every mile of the ride and at the end of the ride we present the dog tags and a personal poster of the loved one to the family members. For any mile I or someone else is not on the bike, the dog tags get handed to someone who is riding so that every mile those tags are with a Muddy Angel.

This year I will be riding in honor of Matthew Durham from Woodinville Fire who lost his life this past December battling Cancer which was a direct result of his work in Fire and EMS. I will wear his dog tags proudly and present them to his family, along with the poster that all the honorees have made in their memory. Help me honor him, his family and his work with a donation to the Fallen Angel Fund.

I have been a Firefighter/EMT for the past 11 years, and I am also a Combat Medic with the Air Force Reserve; therefore I have a vested interest in seeing the continued success of the National EMS Memorial Bike Ride and the Fallen Angel Fund.

All riders (known as "Muddy Angels") are tasked with donating a minimum amount of $250 to this great cause as well as a $350 registration fee and I need your help again to make this happen.

There are a few ways to help me in my fundraising efforts:
Donations may be made payable to: NEMSMBR, and can be mailed to PO BOX 813 Littleton NH 03561 with my name in the Memo Line of the check as one of my sponsors. Your donation and sponsorship is 100% tax deductible. You may also make a secure online donation at www.muddyangels.org. Please make sure to include my full name in the memo line when donating online so I get credit for your contribution. Please feel free to take a look at the web site for verification of the organization and to find out more information concerning the ride. You may also visit my personal blog of last year’s ride to get more information, see pictures of the ride and read about last year’s journey: http://teamtamie.blogspot.com/


Thank you for any and all support you are willing to give for this great cause. It’s not only for those we have already lost, but for those we will unfortunately lose in the future.

COUNTDOWN

Muddy Angel Poem

By ROCCO C.

"A year has past and now waiting for the blast.
The stockings are hung I mean the spandex is hung and the jersey is wrung.
Hope they're dry for the mornings ride as I might have a cold seat
The support team is restless in their sleep and awake rubbing their eyes as they must mark the route and get rest stops set
The Board gets less sleep,as they don't sleep as they work on the next day
Making sure all is well as you sleep
We depend on support, community, friends, family and most important the Muddy Angels watching over us to make our journey safe as we pedal to keep ours safe
We do this not for the pride but to ride for those
Those who have died doing there job
Those who became sick
Those who became injured
We do this for closure
Not only for ourselves but for the families, friends, community and those who trust in us to be there in time of need
We are THE MUDDY ANGELS"

How to Donate!

There are many different ways you can donate:
1) Directly to the Fallen Angel Memorial Fund at the website Muddyangels.org.
Click on the support the ride logo on the right hand side of the page and make sure to include my full name Tamie Zabroski when you are donatingso I get credit for the donation.

2) Mail a check made out to NEMSBR (National EMS Memorial Bike Ride) with my name on the memo line to:
The National EMS Memorial Bike Ride, Inc.
P.O. Box 92283
Austin, TX 78709-2283

Both the above are tax deductible!!

You can also donate directly to me to help defray the cost of expenses to participate in this ride which for me is approximately $2000.

You can mail your donation to 3719 91st Ave Ct E Edgewood WA 98371 in the form of a check or money order made out to me
OR
You can go to my online Facebook Fundrazr page at http://bit.ly/fwq8qe

Even $5, one morning latte or mocha, will go a long way in helping.

Raising money is only part of the ride experience. There is so much more to the ride than trying to raise money. The other part is raising awareness of who we are, what we are trying to do and riding to honor those who have lost their lives providing care to others.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and read about the ride!!
Tamie Zabroski
Hurricane716@comcast.net
253-221-5289

Air Force News Article Joint Base Lewis McChord-446 Airlift Wing

http://www.446aw.afrc.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123249841

Why We RIde

By Rocco:

"We Ride for those who have fallen in the Line of Duty
Not only for the LODD but for those who can no longer do their duty due to sickness or injury
We Ride not for the pain but for the knowledge we've made a difference in those we've touched along the way
Tears are shed as bonds are made, healing begins as the next days ride begins
Long days and short nights ready for the next day to honor those ahead
We should be used to this being in EMS but it is nothing like a day on the streets
At the end of the ride so many bonds, so many tears and fears of next year doing it again
It makes us stronger knowing we ride for a cause, helping to heal those we have touched and bring closure to so many
There are Muddy Angels watching over us as we pedal remembering what we have done and continue to do
We ride to Honor those who served before us giving the Ultimate Sacrifice helping the communities in which they served"