Miles and Smiles of Texas

Our Texas Proposition 15 tour ended this afternoon in San Antonio at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center (CTRC). A crowd of supporters greeted us under a somewhat cloudy sky, but luckily the rain stayed away.

I met pediatric and adult patients at the Center and signed some autographs and took a tour with CTRC president Karen Fields.

My mom and I visited with Connor, a 3-year-old boy with an inoperable brain tumor. Connor was just waking up from radiation. Mom and I agreed that he was a really cute kid. CTRC is the only NCI-designated cancer center in this part of the world and I’m glad it is here for Connor and the other patients I met today.

We have traveled more than 500 miles across the state from Round Rock to Temple and Granbury and Fort Worth and Dallas and Houston to San Antonio and back home to Austin. The team is worn out, but completely exhilarated. It was worth every mile.

Cathy Bonner, the “mother” of Proposition 15, has been with us all the way. She’s a trooper. Representative Patrick Rose has made every stop and Senator Nelson has logged a lot of miles, too. This afternoon, we added Representative Geanie Morrison, Senator Jeff Wentworth and Councilwoman Mary Alice Cisneros.

Again, the crowd at the event and on stage with me reminded me that this is a bipartisan issue. Cancer doesn’t care about how you vote or the color of your skin or whether you are an athlete or couch potato. It doesn’t care if you live in Texas or not. It doesn’t care where in the world the lab was that discovered the treatment you need. It is rare and refreshing to see this kind of politics and this kind of determination to do the right thing.

It also occurred to me that during the 15 or 20 minutes I spent talking to our audience, we lost 15 to 20 people to cancer. It’s unacceptable. Because I was just walking the halls of this center. There is potential and energy here and real stakes. We can do many more great things… we just need the funding and the will.

We can’t wait for Washington to take the lead. We need to get serious about it now. And we need to do it for all the patients I met today and for everyone who cares about them and for people being treated for cancer across the country and around the globe.

So I’m asking you … Make sure you vote, no matter where you live. If you are a Texas resident, vote FOR Proposition 15. And tell all your Texas friends and neighbors to vote FOR Proposition 15.

Thanks for coming along with us!