Chefs for Jimmy: Good cause, good food

It was cold Friday night, and I was tempted to stay in sweatpants and sit on the couch watching "Washington Week."

But I gave myself a little push, got all gussied up (my mother's words) and went to Chez Josef in Agawam for the Chefs for Jimmy event to benefit the Jimmy Fund, which, as many people know, supports the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a very worthy place indeed.

I was glad I went. Like the "Taste" events held in different cities, restaurants set up stations offering samples of their signature dishes. There was a lot of good food, and I happily went around eating and talking to people who I knew...and some who I didn't know who made recommendations about good dishes they had found.

I talked for a while to Wendy Webber, one of my tennis teammates; you can see our photo in the seen@
section from yesterday's Republican or on MassLive.com. The event was held in honor of her late husband, Neal Webber, a big supporter of the Jimmy Fund.

I also bumped into my local doctor, Ronald Berger. When he asked how I was doing, I said I was great and approaching my third birthday on Jan. 31. Berger, a runner, said, "Good, just in time for the race," meaning, of course, the Saint Patrick's Race in March.

I told him I might not be ready to run it and said I was worried I would be so slow as to be left behind.

He said not to worry so much, adding, "You'll probably be the fastest bone marrow transplant recipient there."

I like that way of looking at it.