Race For The Cure

I just got home from walking in the Race For The Cure.  I was very overwhelmed, as were alot of others - they were expecting about 6,000 to participate, and there were over 10,000 people there.  Pretty awesome.  I was very proud to be walking on the team of two cancer suvivors - Susan Williams and Kathleen Lucas.  Susan is currently going through her chemo treatments.  I'm ashamed to say that Kathleen, aka Granny Katie, kicked all of our butts and finished the walk long before the rest of us.  The most awesome thing was seeing so many people together, united for a cause. 

Before the walk/race, they urged people to wear a sign bearing the names of breast cancer survivors and victims.  I know, the word "victim" has negative connotations, but they honestly are victims.  On my signs, underneath my lucky race number 4632 (which I will play tonight in the the Kentucky Lottery Pick 4), I had a sign for survivors that listed Kathleen and Susan, and my friends Jerri Fleming and Paula Stearns, and one of my favorite singers Melissa Etheridge, recently diagnosed with breast cancer.  Underneath that I had pinned to my shirt the "in memory" sign, and proudly listed my Grandma's favorite neice, Dorothy Elliot and one of my Mom's best friends, Nancy Barkley.  Almost everyone I passed along the route had a pink sign pinned to the back of their shirts.  That was the most overwhelming part. 

Sure, we complained and whined about getting up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday to go downtown and walk for almost 4 miles, but it was well worth it.  As I walked, I said a short prayer of thanks for my Mom who had a breast cancer scare about 10 years ago.  She underwent a lumpectomy, and the lump was benign, thank the Lord.  But I never will forget the tension and fright we experienced in the few days before we would find out the results of the biopsy.  She is truly one of the lucky ones to be spared. 

I'm very proud of my fellow Louisvillians for participating in today's Race For The Cure.  We rock.