Our group first met in person in July 2016. We all convened in Denver for a weekend and got to know each other. We had meals together and roomed together. We climbed a 14er together and shared long car rides. We learned about each other's backgrounds and personalities and became friends.

Between Facebook and emails we kept in touch and learned about our families, neighborhoods, training and even our health. Before we knew it the posts were about gear and training, about packing duffels and repacking.

Today we donned our orange MMRF shirts and sporting our orange day packs we met again - this time in Amsterdam to board the same flight to Kilimanjaro airport. The first leg of my trip began in New York’s JFK airport. Whereas the full team reunion is Amsterdam, meeting teammates/friends Jim Brophy and Kelley Ward at JFK fired up my adrenaline. After a year of preparation, the Kili trip is really here.

I write this on the flight to Kili as we fly over Sudan. We all met up in Amsterdam, Gate E3, as planned. The JFK group were the first to land and soon everyone was there - arriving from Boston, Juno, Atlanta, California and layovers in Amsterdam. We easily spotted each other by our orange gear and because the faces are familiar. The hugs were big bear hugs and felt great. We are tired from the travel and excited and elated.

We are now a group of friends, proud to be the MMRF Kilimanjaro 2017 team. Hoping the fundraising will enable the MMRF to fund more and more important research. Hoping for a cure.

The monitor says we land in Kilimanjaro in two hours. The reunion continues! #MM4MM