The first event of this year's challenge the IronMan Mooseman 70.3 was dedicated to the loving memory of Pigi Kontekakis the aunt of Kay Moysis (both in Picture).

Pigi Kontekakis - From the eyes of Kornelia Moysis
Pigi (pronounced pee-yee) Kontekakis (nona) was "my aunt" and was a kind, strong, and loving woman born on the island of Crete in Greece. She moved here to Massachusetts with her husband Stelios without knowing a single word of English. Pigi found work, learned to read and write English on her own, and raised her family which consisted of her two sons Dimitri and John the "Greek way" here in the US keeping her Greek Roots intact.

I say "aunt" because although she wasn't a blood relative she was still family. We did all of our holidays, birthday parties and vacations together as a family. Her house is where I felt most comfortable other than my own. When people left Greece to come to the US they left most of their families there. Here they formed "new families" being such a tight knit ethnic group. Pigi was a fantastic cook who enjoyed to cook for anyone and everyone! Pigi loved to care for people. She was a home health aid to many patients who adored her.

In 2005 she was diagnosed with myelodysplasic syndrome which is a bone marrow stem cell disorder that effects blood production. This syndrome often progresses to AML(Acute Myelogenous Leukemia) which is what she progressed to. Pigi was told that she had a few months to live and she should consider hospice. Of course being the fighter she was she wouldn't take that as an answer! So with the help from her son John, they looked for clinical trials for AML. Pigi entered a clinical trial at UMASS Worcester. She chose to fight rather than to give up. Unfortunately, Cancer won the battle as it so often does and it took Pigi from us on July 9, 2007...she was 69 years old.

I was at her side along with her husband, two sons and sister Georgia when she passed...one of the saddest days of my life. Life is never the same when you lose someone so close to your heart, but their memory lives forever. To this day I will never forget her hard fought battle.
Thank you for taking the time to read this...Thank you for supporting Shawn and helping find a cure for Cancer... With Love, Kornelia