Sunday was spent in Chicago for the 19th Annual Network of Strength Walk to Empower Breast Cancer Support Today event. Since the event has grown so much it had to be moved at the last minute to Grant Park, Butler Field! The announcement at this morning's warm up was that 35,000 participants came out for this Mother's Day! How cool is that?!
Speaking of cool...um, COLD...FREEZING COLD (good morning, 38 degrees!)...there was some major layering going on to keep from freezing this morning. It may be the month of May, but it was NO May Day when it came to weather at 4:45am! Two short sleeved shirts, one long, one fleece jacket, one volunteer shirt and a fluffy sweater duster later, and I was good to go. Well, at least for the first half hour! After putting together bibs and pins and registering runners, the feeling came back to my feet and toes, ohhhhh, sometime after returning to our hotel room (hubby thoughtfully took us to Chicago for a nice pre-Mother's Day dinner, and a REALLY EARLY morning driving reprieve for me).
No amount of cold could outweigh how glad I was to be there, though. Not only did I see some faces I'd seen before, but I also got to meet some amazing new ones. The one picture posted with me in it is sitting with Miss Tani, who after 13 years of being breast cancer free, and a volunteer for WTE and SGK for 15 years, found out this past Friday that her cancer has returned. She will be going in for pre-treatment Wednesday. After talking to me about everything, including her meeting Mrs. CO from over 10 years ago at a walk in Milwaukee who was her inspiration being a survivor as well, she said, "Oh well, I'm still here and I am still going to be here fighting, and fighting for others. I will see you in August!!!" She and I have been working with SGK 3 Day (Tani will have 10 years on my 6 as of this upcoming year - she's giving me something to shoot for, and I am praying she will keep me running!), but on different crews. We will now be looking for each other from now on, and I expect her to be smiling and cheering everyone on just like today!
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Special thanks to Janet and Bernita, my team leaders for the event for working hard to make things run smooth and for being so grateful to all the volunteers, and to Gali of Walk to Empower for coordinating this event for me. I was signed up and set to walk the event, but through her I was able to work at the event as well!
PS: I love the early morning shot of the ribbon lit up on one of the city buildings - a couple of them did that!
I'm glad your Mother's Day was a truly fulfilling one. Even though it was really cold (wow even colder than Alaska that day!) I'm sure that the warmth of all that love surpassed any discomfort. I love to hear that you have been involved for six years, it tells me that even though you have the Mrs. Illinois title, you're still doing things that you want to do instead are "obligated" to do! It may take a little bit away from your "free time" but it is really a great feeling to give back, isn't it? You're awesome!
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