Max killz

I fold because.... there are so many reason but its hard to explain...

+1

To keep this going, I'll mention that not just do I fold to cure the 'big ones' like cancer, etc., I fold so that one day, we'll have a cure to the stomach flu and common cold.
 
Imagine one day, waking up and not having a runny nose and being glued to a box of tissues, or worse, glued to a toilet seat.
 
Imagine not needing to carry a bucket on your wobbles between bathroom and bedroom.
 
Imagine no more "this cold's been going around work, everyone's getting sick" worries, adding to an already stressful job.
 
I fold not just to cure cancer, Alzheimers, and other diseases such as those, but also to cure the minor annoyances that can make a good day bad from the start.
 
Also, I fold to save the environment: for every system I run, it's something someone else didn't want anyway (in most cases).  I'm not afraid to 'adopt' the Pentium 3 from 4 houses down when they curb it.  I don't mind Athlon XP's that have died inexplicably from a clicking hard disk.  I'll revive it, even knowing that the points gained are low.  If my Athlon XP or my Pentium 4 saves your life or someone else's, then I feel I've done right by taking them in.  If they save no one's lives, I feel I've done right by reducing the population of 'dead' computers in landfills.  When I throw out a system, it's really and truly dead.  As in, there's nothing in this case that can be reused, and it's only cased cause the case has problems.

Why I Fold.

Well I guess it all started with me wondering where Madrias had gotten to, he wasn't on instant messenger much and often was quiet or vague, he gets that way when he's thinking though this was more than usual, with a little work and prompting he at last told me of Folding and EVGA forums, he made a slight incorrect assumption that as it was a computing forum and Folding invovled computers that I wouldn't really be interested once he realised he'd assumed wrong and I looked into folding I knew it was something I wanted to do for the science and for the cause.

I have lost two family members in my life so far ones I knew well enough to feel it.

Back in 1998 I was working as a Teaching Assistant life was happliy moving along when we got the news that my Aunt (one of them my Grandma had 5 girls) had a brain tumour she had been getting headaches for a while. She had surgery to try to remove it, the surgery was not in time, Mom took my brother to meet her everyone spent two weeks with my Aunt, My brother was 7 at the time and when the two weeks were up as the youngest there he got passed around for hugs his responce to this "What am I pass the parcel?" It made all incliding my ill Aunt laugh, she passed months later. I went upstairs before work and Mom broke the news to me I remember biting my lip and staying strong for my brother and my Mom. My Aunt left behind her husband and four children in their teen and under, One of her daughters got Married recently.

Years passed and we were soon met with bad news again, this time it was my Grandmother that was ill. She went to her doctor feeling unwell unable to go to the bathroom and with a lump on her side her doctor told her it was just a build up of well poop, she had an explanation and time went on and she didn't get any better nor did she seek another opinion until my Aunt insisted she see a doctor again and took her and the truth was found My Grandmother had bowel cancer by this time it was treatable though to prolong her life some. She soldiered on for some time was there thinking of me when I went into hospital for a major surgery and sent me a get well card, I still have the card it's treasured now as sadly not too long after I had recovered she passed it was late 2005. She had been hosptalized in her last days, she could not eat, I remember being told that she could smell the food of the others around her and all she could do was suck ice cubes as she sucked on one she said "This is the best thing I've ever tasted." Even thinking of that now pulls my heart strings.

I met and became friends with Madrias about a year after that there were other troubles at home and talking to him made it all seem better we'd talk for hours getting things of our minds we still do, and one day I asked him of his family I was very nervous of upsetting him, I thankfully didn't and he told me of his Mother and how old he was I thought him so brave being so young when he lost her. Madrias said once after some time of being friends and boyfriend and girlfriend that there were no real female influences in his life until me he then said "You have been a positive influence in my life, and when I need to lean, I lean on you." "You've guided me through stressful times and let me know I could talk to you." In that moment without words we each knew what we meant to the other

So I fold for the family members I lost and as Madrias is a big part of my life I fold for him and the family member he lost. For the science and for a cure, so that no one else has to suffer through cancer or any other disease.

We glad your with us shykal

tank1023
We glad your with us shykal

 
Thanks Tank
 
And we shall all Fold on!

DeepPurple23

November 4

By DeepPurple23

This was more emotional and harder to write than I thought it would be, but I LOVED it, thanks Warthorn, even if no one reads it I needed to write it, I hope you enjoy.

Why do we fold…or in this case why do I fold.  To properly answer that one I have to give you a little background.  I was born in Philadelphia, when I was three my parents split and we moved back to my Mom’s home town, a tiny little speck in the Midwest (loved growing up there BTW).  Of course, when we got there my Mom had to go to work so as a result I spent my days with my Grandparents.  To give some perspective, there are 10 kids in my Mom’s family and 115 Grandchildren, I am the third from the youngest, huge family and I barely made the list, kinda surprised anyone even knew my name.

In any event, growing up my only father figure was my Grandfather and it turns out I couldn’t have had a better father figure in all the world, he was an honest, fair, strong, and caring man who would have given anything for the happiness and well being of his family.  He taught me right from wrong and kept me on the correct path no matter what.  He never thought twice about going out of his way to let me know that I was loved and that not only did he care but he was watching.  When I was freshmen in college I learned that my Grandfather had developed cancer, he was 86.  Since he never complained about anything and was so strong/stubborn by the time he went to the doctor it was ravishing his body and there was only one treatment option, morphine and time.  I finished up the last of my finals and went home to see him, of course this powerful man that I knew my whole life was now bedridden and barely aware of anything that was going on around him even though there were about 15 people in the house.  Through the haze he made a point of grabbing my arm to talk to me one last time and to give my some advice and life well wishing, even in the end it was more about the ones he loved then it was about him.  That was over 20 years ago and it still makes me cry to think about it, transported back to when I’m a boy standing in his room as he passes.  One of the proudest moments of my life was when it was relayed to me that he had asked that I be one of his pallbearers.

After that I never really paid too much attention to cancer or cancer research, I know it sounds horrible, but it was simply too painful.  Then I saw the promotion from EVGA about the race to #1, started reading about the project.  Realizing that I work at home, from a work laptop, but that an i7 860 sat on and idle most the day (my gaming rig for when the urge strikes).  I decided that maybe it was time that I did something to help some future version of me from having losing a loved one before it was time.  That was three months ago and now I have the 860 as a dedicated 24/7 folding rig and I’ve built a new 875K for my main rig, although that folds pretty close to 24/7 as well.  Resources limit the number of computers but not the desire to do more, regardless of 2684 or 6701 in needs to get folded.

Of course, as tank said it’s really all about the chicks.  I did get laid when I explained to my wife what I was doing, why I was doing it and why the electric bill was so high and it was going to stay that way.   So I must be doing the right thing. 

Fold On

Hey man sorry to hear about your grandfather thats real tough but you were there for him when he needed you most and you took on what he really wanted to share with you so i guess he lives on in you.
 
 

Thank you for sharing. More people than you know read these posts. I've shown some friends from college this thread and threads like it and I know one has showed at least one or two more people.  DeepPurple and everyone else who has posted, thank you very much!
 
Fold on!

Why I fold...
 
I sit here tonight in front of my computer searching for the right words to say. As if somehow putting the right letters on the screen are going to make me feel better or change anything. I know deep down that it won't, but my brain is not working correctly after the events that took place today. I am riding a roller coaster of emotion that keeps swaying me back and forth for completely numb to overcome with grief.
 
This morning my mother passed away. 
 
Just typing the line above almost made me swell up in tears again. This was something I knew was going to happen sooner or later, but for whatever reason I guess I always just assumed later. You see over the last few years my mother had become a very sick person. You wouldn't know it because of her upbeat attitude and likable personality but she been busy fighting breast, ovarian, and finally brain cancer. Her body was a hot bed of cancerous activity and sadly despite my family's and her doctors best efforts, she could not be saved. 
 
She was the best mother a little boy growing up could ask for, I was truly blessed. She always worked hard and made sure that my brother and I were put first in her life. When we were little she would around the clock in addition to my father two jobs so that we could be afforded every conceivable chance for success. But it didn't stop with her job because she was involved with everything in my life. She was my little league "Team Mom", she made custom Halloween costumes because the store ones weren't good enough, she taught me how to fish, she taught me how to make a proper campfire, she taught me about football and the Chicago Bears, she would take my brother and I to the comic book store and comic book conventions whenever we asked, she took me White Sox games, she wasn't afraid to yell at teachers when she thought I was getting a bum wrap, she yelled at me when the teachers were right (haha), she was....everything to me. She would go without so that I could enjoy the things I wanted in life. To me there is no more pure a sign of love than when someone puts another person ahead of themselves the way she did for her children.
 
As much as I am overtaken with emotions right now, I thank God that he shared her with me as long as he did. Every moment and memory I have is a blessing. I know that as much as I love her, she did not belong to me. You see I'm 29 years old. So while I feel like my mother was taken far too soon I realize that she had been there for me my whole life and was able to see me grow up and become a man. She knew that I loved her and that she meant the world to me so I left nothing on the table and have no regrets. 
 
She is reason I fold.
 
But she is not alone. I also fold for my grandfather who succumb to cancer back in 2004. At the time I thought that was hardest thing in the world to deal with because he was almost like a second father to me, but today moved slightly ahead. These two people always loved me and made sure that I was taken care of to the best of their abilities. I fold because I know that someday it will help to put an end to the terrible diseases that put an end to their lives. 
 
This thread gives me strength. What I've read here shows me that I am not alone in my pain. We are all in this together. I fold for not only my family, but for everyone out there who is reading this and their families too. I fold for all the people mentioned in this thread along with all the others that are not. Every work unit I've completed and will complete is testament of love for everyone out there. 
 
So fold on brothers and sisters. 
 
Thank you,
Joe

I'm sorry for your loss man... I wish i could say the same about my mother.
 
Fold on, maybe a work unit you complete will be the key to save people like your mom

Joe, thank you for sharing your loss and some of your good memories with us.  I've lost my Grandma, an Uncle, and a Great Grandmother to cancer so I kind of know what you are maybe going through. I've learned that eventually it helps to remember all the things she did with you and your brother that made you feel so good inside. 
 
Thank you for folding and sharing,
Adam