Race for the Cure meets the Slowest Woman Alive
My neighbor.
My childhood friend's mom.
Two ladies from church.
My mother-in-law.
What do they all have in common? They have suffered horribly at the hands of a horrible killer: breast cancer. Of those I listed, only one is still with us.
A few years ago I was there as my husband's mother lost a decade-long battle against this vicious disease. I thought I had known suffering, growing up in my dysfunctional family. This opened my eyes to what real fighting was.
It is our job to fight as much as we can, too.
64,000 people got up early Saturday and decided to put one foot in front of the other in the name of a dream-- a dream of a day when breast cancer is cured. This was a new record of attendance at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure for this area. Last year, over $2 million dollars was raised to fight breast cancer through this event alone. Look at the size of this crowd!
Many people walk this race, but some of us are crazy enough to try a faster pace. People of all ages, races, and backgrounds gathered together under baby blue skies and balmy-but-not-unbearable temperatures. So where is Ms. Cornelius? Here? Nooooooo.... These are people who actually "RUN." They probably could have completed the course twice before I finished...
... and although I greatly admire the panache of this fella, I can only imagine the shin splints the Storm Trooper will have tomorrow. And that Dark Lord of the Sith? I probably sounded like him as I wheezed my way around the course. "Foooossshhh. Fooossshhhh. I find your lack of faith disturbing..."
I am somewhere down here. Can't see me? Well, fine, here's a picture of Ms. Ten Minute Mile Herself:
Fear the Turtle-- YES, fear her. The Turtle will grind away until she finishes every step of that damn 3.1 mile course, and then walk another two miles back to her car. It ain't pretty.Please, everyone, male and female, promise you will know your body. Do a self-exam at least once a month, every month.
Don't make the Turtle come after you.
posted by "Ms. Cornelius" @ 8:30 PM
7 Comments:
Nice post. We've always contributed through various sources, and The Missus gets checked regularly.
I've lost some dear friends to breast cancer; the cure can't come soon enough.
Although breast cancer has not run in my family (Colon cancer and skin cancer are big concerns, genetically speaking), that means nothing.
I am glad The Missus stays on top of it. I get my first mammogram this summer. Woo-hoo! It rocks being a grown-up.
Great job on the race, no matter where/when you finished. I would walk for my Grandmother, Aunt, friend's mom, and the moms of several of my students... only two of the students' moms are still alive.
Yay!! You did it! It doesn't matter when you finished...you finished and that's what's important.
It's amazing just how many people are affected by this disease. I'm doing the Breast Cancer 3Day in October (shameless plug: http://www.the3day.org/Dallas06/jmartinez), and every single one of my supporters has a story to tell. It's heartbreaking.
I walk to make sure that people know that men get breast cancer too. My dad is a survivor.
I once heard a man speak who had survived breast cancer. I always talk to my male students about this too when it comes up.
I hope for nothing but continued health for your dad, jess.
i would kill for a 10-min mile pace! nice job for a great cause!
Well, Jeanne just made me feel better. It's just that--- I used to be fast!
This is an incredibly worthy cause. Please try to support the search for a cure any way you can.
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