Melanie Cruse ran the grueling Boston Marathon last month with a breeze of inspiration in his back, lifting through every hill and climbed every step she took.
His father, Duane Bunkowske, provided the silent wind in the sail.
Bunkowske died of peritoneal mesothelioma 17 days earlier, but not before Cruse promise him that she would go to the race. He promised to be there.
"I felt the whole race, especially on the slopes when it became difficult," said Cruse after returning to Rapid City, South Dakota.
"I talk to him, think about him, feel him there. It was quite emotional. When I arrived at the top of Heartbreak Hill, I said thank you, Dad, we did it. "
Bunkowske instilled in his family unfailing belief in excellence and the pursuit of individual goals, a conviction Cruse kept alive by the 26.2 miles.
his race was a tribute to his life.
Honoring his father
Cruse finished in 3 hours, 26 minutes, 22 seconds. the 32-year-old mother of three ran with initials his father - DNB -. carved from a tag attached to his shoe
she ran to honor him that day he had bought a plane ticket to Boston the next day, she is qualified, and. carried on the flight.
Melanie Cruse run the Boston marathon.
He would beams watching his pride and joy reach the marathon peak, a hobby she began her suggestion after his first child was born, and after his years as a dancer and gymnast serious had happened.
Even when the doctors told Bunkowske surgery was not an option and he would never do it to Boston to see his daughter run it that he would be waiting at the finish line as always promised again.
"He said you have to run no matter what," said Cruse.
Bunkowske died the next day.
an unlikely victim
mesothelioma diagnosis is a beautiful Bunkowske, his wife, Jill, and the rest of the family. He was 62 and had the comfort of an early and active retirement earlier after a career in banking.
He was a former high school athletics champion of the state. As a collegiate baseball player at South Dakota State University, he was good enough to win a minor league testing with the Oakland A. He played competition in his 50s, adding a serious game of golf in his routine.
The preferred company for retirement, however, pursued and take care of the grandchildren, now 2, 5 and 8, who lived a few minutes. It makes Cruse and her husband, Brandon Cruse, each had the time to pursue their professional and personal lives.
Bunkowske then be loved grandfather still young enough to play games, teaching them baseball, tennis and football at a young age. He coached his children for years. Now it was the same thing with the grandchildren in the yard.
He rarely missed their games. He throws batting practice Conor (oldest grandchild), then take the golf. It was already helping granddaughter Lilian with gymnastics. It often leads to both practices. For him, it was not babysitting. It was acquired rights he loved.
The end came quickly
It was not until the end of February, while vacationing with his wife in Mesa, Arizona, when Bunkowske started feeling weird. He thought he was the heartburn or indigestion at first. He deteriorated rapidly.
In early March, they returned to Rapid City. Doctors began a battery of tests that revealed much more serious problems.
They sent him to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma on March 22.
On March 30, he was gone.
"We had no indication that he had something like that," said Jill Bunkowske. "And even when he was diagnosed, he still thought, OK, I was treating me, may have be surgery, then we'll all go to Boston. It just happened so fast, from anywhere. The blessing is that we have 100 percent of it until the last two weeks. And it was so great. "
Melanie Cruse with his mother, Jill Bunkowske.
She does not think her husband mesothelioma has been connected to the exhibition to asbestos, the main cause of the disease. He spent his career in the banking sector, without known toxic asbestos exposure.
She believes it stems from his childhood lymphoma and high-dose radiation treatments used to stop it. previous studies have shown patients diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma at a young age have a significantly increased risk of mesothelioma much later in life.
the family continues
Before retirement Bunkowske, Cruse and his wife opened a fitness club together to Rapid City called Nucleo fitness
the motto of the company ". Have fun. Get fit. Feel amazing. "He embodied the family.
The company has given Bunkowske more time with her grandchildren. Her husband Cruse is an industrial engineer, but the black autumn weekend as an official college football.
Two days after Bunkowske died, Conor had to go to tennis camp overnight for several hours. He had been hit hard by the death of his grandfather. They were the closest . as Cruse, though, Conor had absorbed the Bunkowske lessons had taught him.
Duane Bunkowske with his grandchildren.
Cruse and her husband gave Conor the possibility of skipping the camp to stay with the family as they grieve. He went to the camp instead
Jill Bunkowske recalled the reasoning of his little son. "Why should I jump camp? Grandfather would have told me to get to camp and kick some butt. "
This was the reaction of Conor that cemented the decision to Cruse to still run the Boston Marathon. Her mother and husband went to the support.
" It was very healing for everybody, knowing that's what dad wanted, "Cruse said." I know he was proud of me to reach my goal of running Boston. "
The mother and husband of Cruse got up and looked brand 25-mile passing. They wore T-shirts with "Go Mel! Boston Marathon" printed on the front. Photo Duane Bunkowske was on his back.
They stayed away from the finish line. This was reserved for Cruse and his father, who had made a promise to each other.
"He said he would be at the finish line," said Cruse. "And he was."
