Hojun Choi
MONTPELIER — Three words have anchored Matt and Dani Smith since their 18-year-old son, Peyton, died in 2020 after a battle with Ewing sarcoma — “Keep on fighting.”
Matt Smith remembers when Peyton presented him with the watch ID tag that had the phrase written on it. His son was on the couch, struggling with the rare cancer attacking his body from within his bones.
“I asked him what he meant by it, and Peyton said, ‘Sometimes, that’s all you’ve got,’” Smith recalled.
Since Peyton’s passing, the Smiths, who live in Montpelier, have organized fundraisers to raise money and awareness around pediatric cancer. On Sept. 13, the couple, with the help of dozens of volunteers, held their sixth annual AirPeyton 5K.
More than 200 people attended this year’s event, held each year at Montpelier High School around the athletic field that in 2021 was renamed in honor of Peyton. The name of the race is in remembrance of Peyton’s dreams of becoming a sneaker designer.
Over the years, the Smith’s have expanded on their fundraiser to include virtual participants from outside Vermont, including the college baseball team of Peyton’s younger brother Keegan, who plays for Salve Regina University in Rhode Island. In addition to their flagship 5K event, the AirPeyton group holds an annual yard sale fundraiser. This year, the group expects to hit a major fundraising milestone: $200,000.
Sandy Mohlman, a retired teacher from U-32 Middle and High School, said his family has volunteered at AirPeyton fundraisers for the past six years.
“Dani and Matt [Smith] just have a way of reaching out to people,” Mohlman said, adding that his grandson was a friend to Peyton and his younger brother.
Three Montpelier High School students, Salvador Doyle, Forrest Kidd, and Andy Sheehan, were the first to finish the 5K.
“Kids who are suffering from cancer, they just want to go to school, they want to do sports, they want to go to practice,” Sheehan said. “These are things we all take for granted, and that’s what I thought about.”
As she looked over the field of people who attended the event in support of Peyton, Dani Smith said she felt heartened by the support from the community, which she has seen grow over the years.
“For me, I’m a doer and this gives me something that motivates me to keep going,” Dani Smith said.
That doesn’t mean their pain is gone.
“There are moments where I have to take a break from all of this and just kind of focus my energy and time on something else for a little bit,” she said.
Dani Smith, who is a lieutenant colonel and Matt, who holds the rank of colonel, were deployed overseas multiple times following 9/11 as part of their service in the U.S. Air Force.
“Dani and I were deployed at the same time, and by that time Peyton had been born,” Matt Smith said. “He was our little guy, and I know it sounds terrible, but we had to leave him behind.”
Even as Peyton got older, the Smiths uprooted their lives multiple times in service of their country, with Peyton having to adjust to life in different parts of the U.S. and Europe. Sports and sneaker culture became a passion that seemed to keep Peyton grounded, regardless of where he lived, Matt and Dani Smith recalled.
The Smiths also worked to find time to make up for missed anniversaries and holidays; they found a fix.
With Peyton’s illness, Matt and Dani remembered the heartache of feeling like they couldn’t help their son.
“Cancer isn’t something you can just fix,” Dani Smith said.
In that way, all of the hours the Smiths have dedicated to fighting pediatric cancer in Peyton’s name contribute to the family’s own healing process, Dani Smith said. “I have one very simple personal goal,” she said. “I don’t want anyone to forget him.”
The Smiths still fight back tears when thumbing through old pictures. They fight against thoughts about what Peyton lost and can’t get back. They fight to be good parents to Keegan.
On the day of the AirPeyton 5K, however, the Smiths can put those battles aside. Dani Smith puts on her coordinator hat, managing the sign-up and the volunteers with the calm, cool collectedness that comes from nearly three decades in the military.
Matt Smith, who runs in the event each year, straps on a different watch from the one that carries the inspiring parting words from his son. He wears Peyton’s watch, because Peyton’s fight — the same one shared by others whose lives have been impacted by pediatric cancer — is the one that the Smiths choose to fight that day.
On that day, Peyton’s fight is all they’ve got.
