Breast cancer has hit my family pretty hard through the years. I walk and will always walk or support finding a cure for this horrible disease for as long as I can. In our family, we never say, IF I get breast cancer..... we say WHEN and that's a sad thing, but it's also reality. We've lost several family member but luckily have many many more survive this disease today. Above are the survivors closest to me. My aunts Norma and Diane and my wonderful Grannie who passed away a couple of year ago. These are 3 very strong women that have helped mold us to be who we are today and I'm so proud of them.
Wild Grannie
Megan and I at the Breast Cancer 5K Race several years back. That was a blast too, but nothing compared to the 3-Day. I don't think anything could have prepared me physically and emotionally for those 3 hard days of walking. It's an event that will stick in my memory as long as I live and an event that I will try and participate or at least support as much as possible too.
In fact, the Atlanta 3-Day will be going on next weekend and I'm figuring out what kind of poster I'd like to create so that I can stand in that wonderful and much appreciated Cheer Station to cheer on ladies that I have never met before and thank them for their hard work and dedication. If anyone would like to go with me..... I plan on going Saturday- not sure which time, but the cheer stations for Sat are...
Saturday, October 25:
9:15 am - 12:00 am
Oreck Vacuums Store
5005 Peachtree Pkwy.
Norcross, GA 30092
11:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Duluth Monarch School
3057 Main St.Duluth, GA 30096
I tell ya, that was one of the things that I looked forward to the most. They couldn't be in more perfect locations too. Just as you are starting to really drag and your spirits are truly being tested, you see a few people up ahead with posters.... then more and more people show until you are in a sea of posters and supporters, giving out high fives and hugs to anyone that needs them. My heart just races to think of the joy I felt walking through the crowd and hearing their thank yous and reading those beautifully decorated posters and I just wish I could have stopped and talked to each of them, to hug them, and thank them for being there for us as well! I hope that by going next Saturday, I'll be able to give the same feeling to someone else because really, if it wasn't for those walkers out there.... marching through nearly 60 miles for 3 days and raising $2200 a piece, we wouldn't know as much about breast cancer as we do now.
Opening ceremonies at North Point Mall.... at the butt crack of dawn. I believe we got there around 6 am and the sun wasn't close to being up. I also couldn't get over how cold it was that weekend either. We nearly froze our butts off! ; ) Above is Megan and her mother-in-law Karen, who walks in memory of her mother.
Me, Megan, and Polly
PART of Boob troop 815. A number chosen as Karen's mother's birthday... although I believe it should have been 816, but that's ok. We'll remember to do it right next time.
Me and Stacey
The survivor flags. These flags were carried by different walkers throughout the whole 3-Day.
Megan punching random people. hehehe!
Ok fine, giving out high-fives.
Our first Pit Stop. They had these every 2, 3, or 4 miles with snacks, drinks, and bathrooms. Each stop had a theme and the volunteers at each stop handed out some kind of goody.
The first Cheer Station. hehehe! I tell ya. Folks dressed up as funny as some of us walkers at these stations. It was great!
One of the many sweet posters we saw.
A close up of my hat. Each ribbon had the name of a person that I walked for. These names aren't all my family or friends. They are names that our team gathered from the folks that donated money to us and we placed them on my hat and on the back of our shirts to walk in honor and in memory of. It's sad to think that between just 7 team members, we came up with over 50 names. One day, through all the hard work of these fundraisers, this list will be smaller!
Dani.... and yes, it stunk bad where we stopped to stretch. hehehe!
Stretching it up.... gangsta style
Polly and her mom Peggy. Walking for Polly's aunt.
The volunteers really get into the action as well. EVERYONE dressed up and it was great! They made sure that you KNEW where they were and who they were with. hehehee!
End of the first day!
Even the Steves got in on the act. This was our nightly entertainment from the volunteers. They were on the tent crew and helped set up and tear down our pink tent city.
This is one of the Sweeper Buses. There were MANY and honestly, it was ok to ride in them. I had to a couple of times. Stupid sugar issues. But each van was decorated and the driver and spotter would drive up and down the road, yelling and cheering for us. When you got in, each van would hand you a little token to attach to your name badge. It wasn't too bad and I thought of all the jobs, I'd LOVE to be a sweeper spotter! ; ) Maybe next year.
Picnic lunch on Saturday.... nothing like a bag of Advil's to get ya going.
Picnic lunch on Saturday.... nothing like a bag of Advil's to get ya going.
Yes... and nothing like a bunch of blisters and aching feet too. I had some nice blisters on the inside of my feet that took forever to heal up... not to mention all the other issues. hehee! But they had a great first aide tent that took care of all of us... wrapping our knees, feet, and popping blisters. Thank goodness!
Yep, this was it for me for Saturday.... whatever stomach bug that had hit Stacey the day before hit me today and really did a number on the sugar and I had to take the bus back to camp after lunch. So techinically, I believe I walked all but 6 or so miles after riding a sweeper van or two.
Tent City. There was a reason they had a tent decorating contest.... and I think it wasn't just to keep us entertained at night.... it was the only way you could find your way back to your own tent at night.
Showers.... in the semi-trucks. THAT was interesting. We learned to stand in line for the individual shower stalls rather than jumping on the trucks that had several showers. Not a good place to hang your clothes so you pretty much had to walk out of the shower nude to change. I felt like I was back in the locker rooms at UGA after swim class. hehehe!
Showers.... in the semi-trucks. THAT was interesting. We learned to stand in line for the individual shower stalls rather than jumping on the trucks that had several showers. Not a good place to hang your clothes so you pretty much had to walk out of the shower nude to change. I felt like I was back in the locker rooms at UGA after swim class. hehehe!
The 3 out of the team that walked all of Day 2! YIPPEE!!!! Go ladies! Go!!!
Our Day 2 Team Picture!
The cute sign that the kids at Dolvin Elem. made for Megan. They all signed it and had a Pink Out the day before she left. We used it as our decoration for the tent.
My sweet and unexpected sign that my Landmark family all signed for me. They had it taped up on my door the Thurs before the walk. I love it!
These tents are great. Each city that had a walk, had their own tent and each tent is set up at every walk. They are all lit up and the Atlanta tent was beautiful. They had it set up inside a large tailgate tent. When you walk inside, they have photographs hanging up in memory of breast cancer victims.... they also had a guest book and markers all over so that you can sign the tent or write a message to the loved ones you are walking for. It was a very emotional but beautiful sight.
These tents are great. Each city that had a walk, had their own tent and each tent is set up at every walk. They are all lit up and the Atlanta tent was beautiful. They had it set up inside a large tailgate tent. When you walk inside, they have photographs hanging up in memory of breast cancer victims.... they also had a guest book and markers all over so that you can sign the tent or write a message to the loved ones you are walking for. It was a very emotional but beautiful sight.
Our Last Day! The trip home. This was right after breakfast and we froze all night long hence the reason for the layers of clothes.
The Forsbergs
The Qualls Ladies
Me and the Endicotts
Walking down the streets of Atlanta heading to Piedmont park.
Walking down the streets of Atlanta heading to Piedmont park.
This Pit Stop, they handing out wax lips. hehehee!
This one was the clown stop.
Getting ready for closing ceremonies. We each got our t-shirts and pink roses to carry in with us. We had to make sure that every walker made it before we started.
Walking side by side with our arms linked to help each other to the end.
Walking side by side with our arms linked to help each other to the end.
Just breaks my heart...
Traditional raising of our right shoes in honor of the survivors that walked. We raised our shoes as they walked in the middle of the whole crowd. What an amazing thing to see.
The raising of the one survivor flag.
All I have to say is, being there with all these walkers made me feel empowered. I felt like despite what's going on, these 3 days I stopped and did something to help better our future.... and to honor those in my life that has fought and either won or lost to this horrible disease. I just hope when it's my turn, there will be a cure.
1 comment:
What an awesome thing to do!! I'm sure the pics dont even beging to describe the feeling of being there. Great job..you should be really proud!!
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