Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Race for the Cure











On May 10th I and my 3 sisters, Annette, Marianne, and Lorrie joined in with 17,000 others (men, women, and children) for the Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure, a 3 mile race, walk, or stroll for breast cancer research. Everyone there had someone they were walking for who had survived breast cancer or in memory of someone who had not. Also there were many who were survivors themselves wearing pink t-shirts to set them apart from the others.

At first Lorrie encouraged me to go with her since I was in Salt Lake anyway tending Stephanie's & Jeff's children while they were in Boston. Jeff had a business trip there and Steph joined him later. Jeff's sisters and Mom took over the childcare so I could participate in the race. Lorrie suggested that Annette & Marianne join us too, so Ray, Marianne's dedicated husband consented to drive them up from St. George to join in the fun.

I loved the fact that the four of us could participate together. Who knows what the future holds as we are all getting older. One of these days we won't be able to walk very far at all. Right now we all have great health. We donned our special shirts and pinned sign on our back "in memory of Blanche Belcher". Although my mother didn't actually die of breast cancer she did suffer from it and dealt with the scars of a major masectomy. Her mother died of breast cancer in about 1930.

We had beautiful weather for the walk. We got up early and Lorrie drove us to the tracks station on 90th south where we boarded the train. Boy was it crowded. Some kind person gave up his seat for me, otherwise I would have been standing the whole trip to the Gateway where the race began. Poor Lorrie, being younger, wasn't offered a seat and had to stand the whole way.

The race started off slowly as we shuffled along with the crowd but after a while we could pick up the pace. Whole families participated and it was exciting to be there in the crowd and all of the activity. Cheerleaders with pom poms cheered us on our way. At the half way point we received a drink of water but since the temperature was on the cool side none of us was panting with heat exhaustion or anything like that.

After the race and the much needed potty break we visited many of the booths that were set up at the Gateway mall area. We got some free food and small prizes then caught the tracks train and rode back to the car.

Lorrie made us a special salmon dinner with lots of vegetables. She barbecued it all and it was so delicious. Steve and Andrea joined us for dinner along with Nick and Rene (friends of Annette's). We rented a movie and after our guests left the four of us girls and Ray sat down and watched the chic flick, "P.S. I Love You". I cried a lot during the movie. Not only was it very sad, but my allergies to cats started acting up. I suppose the nice warm blanket we used to cuddle up under was covered with cat hair. Anyway, my eyes itched and watered during the whole movie.

Sunday morning Lorrie made us a special mother's day brunch. It all tasted soooo very good to me. I totally blew my diet away. It's hard to be with family and not eat. Thank you Lorrie for this special time with you, Annette, & Marianne. Thank you Ray for you eternal patience. I know that this was a gift from heaven and we could feel our mother's presence with us throughout the day.