Race For The Cure

Today we walked for you, your wife, your mother, your sister, your friend, your daughter. Today we walked for women everywhere....for survivors, for their families, in their memory.

It was a beautiful day in San Francisco. Perfect weather for a 5K walk along the Embarcadero. We walked along the water with thousands of others. We saw women wearing pink shirts and scarves on their heads, their baldness not hidden, their fight not complete yet. Women pushing their infants in strollers while proudly wearing their pink shirts and scarves on their heads. We saw groups of families and friends with their loved ones imprinted on their shirts, their battles have ended, but the hope is still there for future generations.

We were a family today. We were a united front. We remembered our family that we lost, our friend that we lost, our family and friend that have survived, their battle won, for now.

The color of the day was pink.....the symbol of hope. Hope for my daughter, for your daughter and granddaughter. Hope that in their lifetime there will be a cure. Their battle will be easier than ours.

As we crossed the starting line in front of the Ferry Building I had tears in my eyes. The amount of people coming together from all walks of life for a united cause blew my mind. Cancer does not discriminate.

We walked down to AT&T park and back. The walk was easy, the mood was light. The views were incredible. I was struck by the joviality of the crowd. Cancer may have taken a part of them but it did not take their soul. The cancer did not win in the end, their essence of life remained. It remained in the people they left behind, the people who impacted their lives. Their souls were vibrantly alive in the survivors and the remainders. The cancer did not win.
My children had a wonderful experience today. They were a part of humankind at its best. The love in the air was palpable. The hope was tangible. We were making a difference.
After our walk we let the children choose the direction of our day. They chose the Rainforest Cafe for lunch.....
....and a drive down Lombard Street before we crossed the bridge to home.

I had a dream two nights ago that has affected me ever since. I dreamed I was having a mammogram and a doctor was doing it. He took film after film after film. He was taking different shots of the same lesion and was coming back into the room to tell me the results of the films....and I woke up. I don't know if I had this dream because of this walk or because of this. I am almost due for my 6 month recheck so I think I had better make an appointment.