BUFFALO, N.Y. — Kathy Gibbons and her husband, Jim, have been together for 48 years.
"She's easy to love," Jim said.
The retired couple likes to travel. Kathy likes to cook.
"I would say some of my fondest memories are Thanksgivings and Christmases at our house, where my mom's making feasts for everyone and teaching me how to cook. Her chocolate mousse pudding is unbelievable," said Cailin, their daughter.
They have one more daughter, Bridget, who lives out west. Last July this tight-knit family received the news that no one ever wants to hear.
"July 1st, we were admitted to Roswell to the leukemia practice. She was diagnosed with a disease called acute myeloid leukemia, and that requires a bone marrow transplant to have any chance of a cure," Jim said.
At first, there was natural confusion, anger, and negative thoughts that come to mind when a loved one is diagnosed with cancer. But Jim and Cailin said the team at Roswell Park quickly turned their concerns into action and got Kathy enrolled in programs for a bone marrow transplant.
"There were no familial matches to her, so this Be The Match organization came through for us," Jim said.
Be The Match is a national marrow donor program and works with organizations internationally to find patients a donor. Kathy had a successful transplant in October of last year, and ever since has been spending time in and out of the Roswell Park donor center, receiving platelets and blood.
Cailin said the dedicated donor center at Roswell has had a big impact on Kathy's recovery.
"The donor center here, the blood and the platelets, it stays here," she said. "So it's going to people at Roswell, and until you are either a patient or a family member of a patient who is relying on blood products, you do not know how much they are needed."
Wanting to give back, raise awareness, and raise money for Roswell Park, Cailin and her father Jim are riding in this year's ride for Roswell. Avid cyclists, they are not.
"Well, funny side story. Nate. The last time I rode a bike, I fell off it and fractured my collarbone," Jim said.
Cailin won't be riding one of those 10-ounce carbon fiber bikes either.
"I'm riding my mom's beach cruiser, so, um, yeah, there's a first time for everything," she said.
The father-daughter duo is nearing their goal of raising $25,000. The fundraising rivalry between the two is heated.
"I looked at the numbers: $11,835," Cailin said, admitting that she trails Jim's $11,920.
Cailin will be carrying the banner for the donor center team during the Celebration of Hope for her mother, who is still recovering, and all of those at Roswell Park still fighting.
"I'm really looking forward to, you know, being there surrounded by people who have the same goal in mind of curing cancer," she said.