Everyone Deserves a Lifetime

This was the theme of this year's Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3 Day. We would walk 60 miles in the hopes that this would be the case for all women and even men some day. I am not totally certain where to being or even how to, so the best I can do is share my 3 day journey with all of you.

Day 1 - November 9th
"Some angels have wings, others wear sneakers."

This was a hard morning to get up. I had to be up by 4:30 in order to leave the house by 5 and be at Del Mar Fairgrounds by 5:45. Opening ceremonies were set to begin at 6:15.

Traffic into Del Mar was horrible and very congested but once we were under the care of the 3 Day crew, it all went smoothly. Suzanne and I jumped out of the car and grabbed our luggage from the trunk. I kissed Chris goodbye and we were off. We had to find the Q truck to drop off our luggage at and tag them with our tent assignments, Q88. We then set off for the stage and opening ceremonies.

At the ceremonies we learned that there would be 4600 of us walking over the next 3 days and 550 people crewing it and taking care of us. The weather was going to reach a high of 63. After these little announcements the real cermony began.

An excerpt from the speech:
We dedicate this walk to the one more moment, the one more year, the one more decade or half century that we get to spend together. A lifetime as it was meant to be. A lifetime as it was meant to be without breast cancer."

Hand in hand our survivors surround an empty circle and we use this circle as a living symbol for the millions of women and men around the world whose lives have been lost to breast cancer. To remember the time that we walked with them. And we use this circle to hold the stories that connect us to one another to the friend that can't be here with us but is with us in a different way. Or the husband that is here because his wife lost her battle and he had a choice to be here or not, but he is here and he will continue her fight until this walk becomes a victory parade. Or the young woman who is here because she lost her mother and was just diagnosed herself but plans on walking every mile. Whose the hero of your story? Instead of honoring our hereos by a moment of silence, let's do something different. Let's honor them by saying their names aloud and inscribing their names on this moment.

The truth is everyone of you is a hero. You are hereos just for being here. We now part our circle and we salute the courage of our surviors for facing an uncertain future and your commitment with no finish line in sight. Your belief in a world without breast cancer. Let that be ours. Your amazing spirit of healing. Your powers of hope. Your patience in the face of setbacks. Your enduring optimism. and finally your incredible love, the love that binds us and carries us through the struggle.

In all there are 20 flags that will wave above us over the next 3 days. Carry one awhile and then have a fellow walker take over. We hope that passers by will marvel at the moving monument you are about to make. Walk carefully. Walk safely and be good to each other. Everyone deserves a lifetime and you my friends deserve the experience of a lifteime, one that is beginning right now...(It's a Beautiful Day music starts playing as we exit)

As I yelled my mom's name out, it cemented in me that she was gone, but definitely not forgotten. She would have been proud that I was here trying to make the fight against this disease no longer a necessity. That in my own way I was fighting too.

Probably one image I will never forget as the speaker said those loved ones were with us today in spirit, a seagull kept circling over all of us and when we were released to begin our journey, music blaring, the seagull flew off into the distance.

Today's journey was from the fairgrounds, over Torrey Pines, down into La Jolla and finally to Mission Bay to camp. The hill at Torrey Pines was a bit of a pain but what would happen on top would remind me of my journey and why I was here. After coming up very steep hill that lasts for a few miles, we leveled off into the nicer areas of Torry Pines hotels and hospitals. Outside one such hopsital sat a woman at a bus stop. She sat there alone. She has lost her hair and hel her wig in her right hand twirling it around as we passed she shouted, "You are walking for me! Keep it up!" Further down the road a woman in a white car would honk, roll down her window and yell, "I am a 12 year survivor! Thank you!" How could you not be changed? We were walking and making a difference. People would honk and wave. Cheer and dance! Along the route people had stopped their cars and blared music and held signs cheering us on. Others made cookies, brought candy, gave stickers. We might have been placing one foot in front of the other, but others were there to make sure we knew we were loved and supported as well.

Suzanne and I arrived at camp at about 3:30 20 miles complete and in very good condition. We needed to set up our tent, but were told boy scouts were also in the area helping. We were lucky and 2 of them came and set up our tent. When we learned it would be a wet night, Suzannes called her husband Bill and he came to deliver a tarp to go under our tent. A hot shower was next on the agenda and then off to dinner - spaghetti with meat sauxe, salad and chocolate eclair!

Probably one of the hardest moments for me was sitting at the table and having a woman still doing chemo sit with us with her brother, family and friends. She was puffy from the steriods and hormones she had to take and had obviously lost her hair and it was beginning to grow back in. What was hard is that she looked so much like my mom before the passed away. I could not believe it and there she was sitting next to me eating dinner. Another reminder of the journey and why we were all here...

Day 2
"Blisters Don't Need Chemo"

Today would be a relatively flat walking day in the morning with some surprise hills later in the afternoon. We basically walked around Mission Bay and Ocean Beach. Today we would walk 21.1 miles.

We left to walk at 6:59 and were at lunch 9.6 miles by 10:15 in the morning. We decided to try and hook up with my father, Chris and the boys. After a fiasco of them being in the correct place, while we were a few blocks away, we were able to find each other and enjoy a quick sandwich. The boys were happy to see me and Ethan thought I was in a race and that I got a lot of candy. Little did he know how right he was!! Everyone offered you chocolate, cookies, fudge, licorice anything and everything along the route. There were even people out today spraying us with water after we made it up some hills.

Today we started to talk to a lot more people and read their shirts. There was one team that a husband and brother were walking for a wife and sister that they lost in March of this year. Another husband walking for his wife. A grandfather walking so his grand-daughters would never have to worry about this disease. So many couples walking the journey together only to later learn the wife had had a scare earlier in the year and it had brought them closer and they realized they too wanted the lifetime.

Today there were young little girls holding sign saying, "Thanks for saving my chi chis!" We also started to realize we were seeing the same supporters each day on our walk. One of these people was Mr. Smiley and his daughter, Little Grin. Cute does not adequately describe Little Grin!! she would decorate your credentials with smile stickers while her dad would CHARGE us up. Her mom was walking the walk as she does every year. I later learned that Little Grin has been out there since she was an infant and has supported all of the walkers. There was Bustin Old Billy, The San Jose Police bike team that volunteer their time and services - this year 22 of them came down. They strapped bom boxes onto their bikes and encouraged all of us. They were fun and loud and made the journey all the better.

We arrived back at camp again at 3:30 and decided to move the orientation of our tent and go and shower and such. Again, the same woman sat next to me at dinner. A poignant reminder and I truly wondered her choosing to sit next to me two nights in a row had a reason. Afterall there are two HUGE tents multiple tables and chairs to accomodate 4600 walkers, but yet she sits down next to me each time?

After dinner we grabbed some hot chocolate and went over to the La Croix tent for a free 5 minute foot massage, which I picked up and used on my thighs instead! LOL! On our way back to our tent we stopped at the Remembrance Tent where I went in and wrote a note to my mom on the tent for San Diego, further inscribing her name on this journey.

Day 3 - yet to come off to take care of the BOYS!