From Rick Wasserboehr:

I met Cynthia Lucero in January 2002. We set out for a long training run for the Boston Marathon and we introduced ourselves and began to talk. We talked about everything. We talked about our family and friends, we talked about her school, our lives. She mentioned she had nearly lost her life in a serious car accident four years ago and how that had changed her life. It gave her a new appreciation for life and since that time she focused her energy on helping others and became more involved with charities.

At one point I asked her what I thought was a difficult question. "How can we best contribute to Society? Without hesitation, she said: "That's simple....Just be nice to people". Five words I didn't expect but mean so much. As the months of our training went on I kept thinking about what that truly meant. I started to practice making a conscious effort to be nice to people. As I got better at it, I realized what Cynthia meant. She meant to think of others before you think of yourself. Be kind to others, and don't expect anything in return. Just make a difference in the world.

An example of Cynthia's powerful message began for me on the day before the Boston Marathon. I had heard that my friend Tom Devine's mother Charlotte, had just passed away. I called Tom and we talked about his mother and what she meant to him. Just before we hung up the phone I asked Tom if I could run the Marathon in his mother's Memory. He thought that would be nice....

My wife Susanne and I grabbed some thick white tape and wrote on the back of my Marathon singlet, "IN MEMORY of CHARLOTTE DEVINE". The next morning was the Marathon, I was hoping to see Tom at Mile seven with our friends. But I wasn't sure he was going to make it because of his mother. I was running like a Kenyan, running 4:25 splits. At mile seven I saw Tom. He had his video camera and was filming me running by. Everyone was screaming GO RICK! GO RICK! Within 10 feet of Tom, I shouted back, "Tom, I have your back!!" I turned slowly to show him his Mother's name on the back of my singlet. Tom's hand started shaking and he began weeping.

A few days later I went to his mother's services. I sat with my friends and we listened to a woman talk about Charlotte. She said, "Did you know that Charlotte loved to run? Whenever she had a moment she we go for a run to clear her head. She had a dream to one day run the Boston Marathon....Last Monday, her dream came true. She ran on the back of Rick Wasserboehr's singlet". I began to cry and as I looked up, Charlotte's family turned one by one, nodding their heads in thanks to me for what I had done. This is just one example of what Cynthia's message can do.

Cynthia Lucero had a Big Heart and she made a difference in so many peoples lives. Today, I look up towards heaven, knowing that she is looking down on us.... She's our Guardian Angel.