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"She worked so hard and she inspired people"
- My former teammate and friend at the University of Chicago, Margaret Bradley,
died unexpectedly on July 10, 2004; See the Chicago Sun-Times story here.
Margaret was the quintessential U. of Chicago athlete I have so much admiration for:
taking on loads of work and training at the same time, and always thinking.
Doing it all with a kind smile and a wonderfully charm and wit that only thousands
of hours in Henry Crown and Regenstein can bring about.Though I saw Margaret in person only a few times the past three years since
leaving Chicago, I think our mutual work-train-work-train (oh yeah, sleep) life
styles kept us in the same plane of being. Perhaps that's why it hits home so much.In Spring 2003, Margaret spotted me running outside the Science Center on
Harvard's campus. This is remarkable because (thanks to Boston's weather
and my tendency to over-dress) I was wearing full workout gear, with my face
hardly visible. Margaret recognized me by my running form and my red stocking hat.
That, I suppose, is what happens when you're on a team with someone. You begin
to recognize their quirks - how they run, what they wear. I could do the same with
Margaret -- I often wondered how she ran so fast, running with a style that to me
always looked like a fast race walk. I look back to that night now, and realize
that although we would never have called ourselves 'best friends',
Margaret and I would certainly have called ourselves teammates. And teammates,
whether they ever say it or not, can grow pretty damned close to one another.The only picture I have with Margaret came from Senior Week 2000, when
the track team collectively took the dance area by storm. (GBTC has a number
of additional photos here.) That she was willing to dance one with this geek
in a pink shirt and bow tie is testament to her accepting and out-going nature:
It is difficult to accept that Margaret has departed this Earth. Like many
others, I will be praying for her and for her family. They, I'm sure, are
wrestling with grief much greater than mine. For them, it is the
hurt that only God can heal. Let us keep them all in our prayers.