My Life On The DD List

Soooo, yeah…..I completely forgot to post this blog about 8 months ago.  I don’t know what I was thinkin’….apparently I wasn’t!  I was going to delete it, but I thought why not post it anyway, right? 

Hello!  Well, it’s been two weeks since the Philadelphia Breast Cancer 3 Day so I’ve had some time to reflect.  I’m not sure if you’ve read my previous blog regding STUFF, but if you have, here’s a funny.  I didn’t need most of it.  Why?  Because we couldn’t camp.  We didn’t relocate.  Actually, we didn’t leave the hotel we were booked into on Thursday!  There were two, yes TWO, noreasters clamping down on the Philadelphia metropolitan area and well, that’s where we were supposed to walk.  But we hopped on a plane, checked into the hotel and waited for word on whether Opening Ceremonies/Day One was going to happen.   Well, later that evening we were informed that Day One AND Day Two were cancelled.  Bummer.  Instantly, word got around the hotel and walkers and crew gathered in the lobby.  It was like a big pajama party!  We all expressed our disappointment, but we made a plan.  Lets walk ANYWAY!  Great!  Lets go!

The next morning, we dressed in three layers, met in the lobby, piled into our respective cars and did a caravan to the Philadelphia Art Museum.  We donned our rain gear, put on our gloves, hoisted our back packs over our shoulders and off we went!  We walked the loop that takes you from the famous art museum around “boat house row” down Kelly Drive and around Fairmount Park.  It was cold.  It was raining.  It was the nicest walk I’ve taken in a long time.  The air was cold and crisp.  It smelled like rain and leaves.  It kept us all going.  We were met, half way around, by one of the walkers family members.  They set up, what we called, Stop and Go A…….they had water, coffee, donuts and a first aid kit.  That was SO sweet of them.  Such a great support!  While we were walking, our very own Sweep Car came down the road, tooting it’s horn decked out in pink balloons and pink ribbon decals.  It was my mom and our friend Eileen.  They were giving out stickers and stuff to all of us….and tried to make it fun for us as well. 

The next day, Saturday, we decided to walk indoors at the local mall.  So we walked around…and around…and around.  Up to the third floor, back down to the first.  Passing Godiva Chocolatier over and over and over again.  Do you know how hard it was to NOT indulge in a dozen chocolates?!  Godiva.  My favorite. *sigh*  But I digress.  So we decided we were hungry so we all decided to go in to Ruby Tuesdays.  We thought since we were in the mood to have fun and were not technically on event, some of us ordered an afternoon libation to get the party started.  The merry-go-round operator was giving out free rides to 3 Day walkers and….well……lets just say the merry-go-round wouldn’t be the same.  I could swear I heard my horse groan.

Day 3.  Rain.  Wind. However, the event opened the route.  We had a mini opening ceremony at Fairmount Park and off we went!  We walked through the wind and the rain and it was SO much fun!  I know, sounds strange to say.  But we were finally out on the route walking.  Officially.  Yes, I was cold and it was raining.  No, I was not miserable.  We walked through the streets of historic Philadelphia and through the zoo.  No animals were outside.  Can you blame them really?  Lets face it, if I weren’t there to fight breast cancer, I would have been in my nice warm dry hotel room! 

There was ONE lone animal out braving the elements.  I swear I think he did it for us.  Just sittin’ up on his perch very matter of factly.  It was a Red Panda.  Here he is to the right.  Cute lil’ bugger isn’t he?  Kinda looks like a cross between a raccoon and a koala right?  So he was out there, I called him George.  It was awfully nice of him to be out there cheering on the walkers. 

So as we walked through the streets of Philadelphia and toward the Navy Yard, I was happy to know that so many walkers decided to either come back to brave the element or, like us, stayed to finish what we went there to do.  I think that although we couldn’t walk for the first two days of our 3 Day adventure, our journey led us to meet the most wonderful people.  It allowed us time to truly bond with our fellow walkers and each of us were able to share “why we walk”.

Well that’s it for now.  Stay tuned.  Our petition delivery will be the next journey we take to help families who have been affected by breast cancer!