By Day 3 we were pretty much spent. We had just put our bodies through just over 40 miles of walking over the previous 2 days; we’ve been sleeping in tent and showering in trailers. We were ready to get this walk over and done with. On day one, we were sent off with much pomp and circumstance; Day 2 started off really uneventful……however, Day 3 was going to be the day that we will truly never forget. For Real!
The 3-Day is set up so that all of the walkers can camp out with each other at Marymoor Park Redmond. The staff provided us all with these really cute 6x6 pink tents. Some walkers even decorated their tents with lights, inflatable things and beads. The plan was that we all would wake up about 5 or 6 am, get all packed up, eat breakfast then load up on school buses to be taken to UW to start our walk from there. Team Pink and Purrrfect, that was our team name, did not come prepared to decorate anything. We brought our clothes, sleeping bags, blankets and an air mattress. Our team had originally started out with a couple others, but they were not able to join us for the walk so we had a total of 3 tents for the 4 of us. Brandon and I shared slept in one, Barbie and Ryan shared the other and the third one was used to keep our stuff. We had finished Day 2 in a very emotional way and we all needed our sleep to get going the next day.
At about 4:00am I heard a lot of talking and movement just outside our tent. I remember thinking to myself that it seemed really early for people to be up and about, the buses won’t even be leaving until 7:00am. I stuck my head out the tent to see what in the hell all the commotion was and I noticed a lady dragging her cute pink tent past my tent. Now, that seemed really odd to me but then, I noticed a few other tents being dragged across the field. Well, now I am really tripping, did I not see the correct time on my iPhone? Was I running late? So, I asked one of the ladies dragging her tent by what was going on and she told me that the in-ground sprinklers have begun to go off. It’s still not registering to what’s going on. I get up and go to the port-a-potty and notice that walking through the field is like walking through a marsh or something…..but, now I see a table tuned top down on the ground and water is shooting from underneath. I know these people did not turn the sprinklers on us!!! Another sprinkler was gushing water underneath a port-a-potty! I surveyed the grounds and notice sprinklers go off EVERYWHERE! I get back to the team and we were all thinking “REALLY, REDMOND?” I mean, for what it was worth, it was just another great memory to be had, but it was too early for that mess. So, we left everything in our tents and dragged all three of them to the pavement like everyone else. What a way to start the day!
Needless to say, we are all wide awake and seem to be taking things in stride…..after all, we were not going to let a little water take the focus off the real reason we were here in the first place. But, I tell you, God has a funny way of putting us where we need to be. By the time we all got packed, loaded our things on the trucks and got our breakfast, it starts to pour rain. Had those sprinklers not gone off and we were able to sleep, we would have been packing and getting ready in the rain. Yes, it was Sunday and everyone that knows me, know that I get my praise on every day, but especially on Sunday. God had his hands on us for the entire way so far and he was not going to let us go now; it reminded me of an old gospel song “We’ve come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord. Trusting in His holy word, He’s never failed me yet”. That’s how my day start, leaning on the word of my God that had put his touch on all of us walkers that weekend. We were going to continue to go strong.
The buses had taken us to the parking lot for the one of the auditoriums for the University of Washington. Once we got going, the team let me listen to a little gospel on the radio that Ryan brought and that really got my walking spirit going. Day 3 will take us through Fremont, Ballard, The Locks, Magnolia, Queen Anne to our final destination at Memorial Stadium next to the EMP museum. One of the cool things about this Walk is that each route showed me something different. For example, I had never been to the Ballard Locks and it was so beautiful. Just across the Locks was a Pit Stop with a big sign that said “Listen up soliders….you’ve walked 6.2 miles today…you have completed 50 miles so far…..Keep up the good work! HOORAH!”. I loved seeing that sign, it meant that were only had 10 more miles to go. I took a picture with Stephanie, another new friend of mine, at that Pit Stop. We were so close to being done.
Magnolia was hard. As we left my favorite Pit Stop with only 10 miles to go, we hit a really big hill…..I mean, really big. For Real, SGK? But, we made up that hill….only to find that Magnolia is all hills. We kept it moving. By this point, we were all working on pure heart, soul and faith. On one of those Magnolia hills, Barbie and I noticed an elderly walker sitting on a fire hydrant. We asked if we could help and it was clear she could not make that hill. So, without even thinking about it, I grabbed one arm and Barbie grabbed the other arm and we helped this lady up the rest of the way up that hill. You see, that was not odd for an event like the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day…..I’ve said it over and over again, there was so much love and energy that it just made doing the right thing feel so good, you just wanted to keep doing it. I loved seeing Barbie, who was really in pain and barely getting herself by, grab this lady and help her. That’s one of the things I love about that women and will walk 60 more miles for her in 2012. When we got to the top of Magnolia, it was very worth it; the view from up there was beautiful. However, the next time I wanna see THAT view, I will be driving…..FOR REAL! LOL…
Well, now, we are on the home stretch! We have had to pick up the pace just a bit because Barbie needs to be there by a certain time to check in for her part in the closing ceremonies.
The closing ceremonies were being held at Memorial Stadium and our friends were going to come out and root us on and be there to watch B march in holding her Survivor flag high in victory. We walked through Belltown and Pike Place Market. I started to think about what it was going to be like to finish this walk again for the second time. I thought about Barbie, obviously. How much she showed who she really is; stripped down to her core. I watched a lady who, a year ago, was taken to the edge and fought her way back and I was watching her fight again. What she must have been thinking. I thought about my mother and thanked God that she has not had to go through this. I thought about all those ladies whose names were written on that pink shirt I wore on Day 2. This Walk was truly bigger than me and I was blessed to be part of such an event.
The team had all agreed that, no matter what, we were walking into the stadium together. As we got closer….we were just a few hundred feet away from where all the supporters were gathered to cheer us into the stadium, it hit me that we are done. We all stood side by side and latched arms and walked down that pathway to a rousing round of applause. It was AMAZING! Then…..with tears flowing from their faces…….I see Barbie’s mom and dad. I lost it! I started sobbing so badly. It was the emotion of the moment, the soreness of my body and I was just tired and worn out. But, as torn as we all were, we had just walked 60 miles…..we kicked cancers punk ass.
We could finally sit down and rest. We each received a long-sleeved shirt white shirt, except B’s was pink. We spoke to the other walkers and hugged the many faces that had become our family over the weekend. We ran into Julie, Woo, and Ly…..they too had finished the walk. Now, the time had come for all of us walkers to walk together out onto that field in victory. Our supporters had all taken seats in the stands and as we walked in, the crowd went crazy! It was almost like we were celebrities…..the love was overwhelming in this place. There was music and we were partying! Then, came the time for all of the survivors to walk in; we all took off our right shoe to salute them for triumphant journey that they all just embarked on. We were all so proud. I saw Barbie……and, yes, I lost it. Let’s just say, I lost it and never really got it back until we left that stadium….For Real! As the MC was giving us the stats of how much money we raised, I made eye contact with my new sister in love, Tori. I gave her my pink rose and we hugged each other like we were old friends or family members that had not see each other in years; another moment that I will never forget. I remembered looking in the stands for our friends and I could see them…..Todd, Rock, Jason, Will, mom and dad….they were all there; thank you guys for your love and support.
At the end of closing ceremonies, one of the survivors that were in the circle with Barbie came down to me with a flag she had made. She had noticed our team during the walk and knew we were Barbie’s Boys. She remembered me and Barbie walking in as the last walkers and wanted to give me that flag as a way to say thanks for the support and for being there for a fellow survivor. We said our farewells to our other walking buddies then headed to Purr to each and celebrate being done. While in the car, Todd noticed that I had lost one of my gold hoop earrings…..I’m not surprised, there was lots of hugging going on. But, it really did not bother me. I lost an earring, Barbie lost her breasts….I can replace a pair of earrings, Barbie will not ever have her breasts again…..Perspective. There has been surgery to reconstruct her breasts and she is as beautiful as ever. Something that means even more is that she did not lose who she was as a person. In fact, she is more complete than ever. She is a survivor in more ways than one.
We went to Purr and had some food and a cocktail or two then Todd took me home. I could barely walk.
I reflected that night on many things; the accomplishments that me and the team had gained, how thankful to God I was that I was able bodied enough to participate in this event, how much more respect I had for Brandon and Ryan and how proud of them I was and lastly, how blessed Barbie was. I prayed that night for every person that had been touched by Breast Cancer in any way. I prayed to God that He would continue to hold them in his arms and walk with them past this weekend. I prayed that He would be comfort to those families that will lose a daughter, sister, cousin, best friend and mother to this disease. I asked that He would continue to bless the researchers out there fighting to find a cure for this disease. I continue to say this prayer every single day.
And, as I put head to pillow on Day 3, I see her face, one more time…..Barbie, the blonde, spike-haired rock star.....the survivor. Way to go, B, you are my girl…….FOR REAL!
