3-Day Recaps

I wrote a bunch of posts recapping each day of my 3-day experience on my other blog.  You can find them here:

Day 1:
Friday, August 3 - Day 1 - And we're off!!!


Day 2:
Saturday, August 4 - Day 2 - "One Bad Day"


Night 2:
It was a dark and stormy night


Day 3:
Sunday, August 5 - Day 3 - The End of the Journey

It was an emotional, awe-inspiring, overwhelming, faith-in-humanity-restoring 3 days. And even after writing, all these blog posts about it, I'm still trying to process the experience.  It’s kind of funny, because if you look back at the first post I wrote not long after the event, I said I didn’t think I’d do it again.  But now, only 3 weeks later, I’m thinking that I might want to.  Maybe not for a couple of years, but I think I just might want to do it again….  We shall see.

Melissa's Random Thoughts: Komen 3-Day Day 1 Recap

Melissa's Random Thoughts: Komen 3-Day Day 1 Recap: Friday, August 3, Day 1: The day started bright and early. Ok, that’s a lie. It wasn’t bright; it was still dark, since Becca and I had ...

Amazed by the support

On Sunday, I finished the Cleveland 3 Day.  I have so many thoughts and emotions and feelings running through my head, that it's taking me a while to get them straightened out into any kind of a coherent pattern. 

But one of things that stood out above all the rest was the awesome support that I received.  Support from my family.  Support from my friends.  Support from other walkers. Support from the crew.  All sources you'd expect.  What totally floored me was the support from the total strangers.  The random house along the route with popsicles.  The random post on twitter telling me to hang in there...  Support came from all sides.

Here is a sample of some of the cyber support I received:

 

Rambling thoughts at about 36 hours before the walk and a THANK YOU.

In about 36 hours I will be standing at the start of what I think will be an amazing, life changing adventure.  I'm still not entirely sure what I've gotten myself into - all the internet research, youtube videos, and twitter accounts in the world can't prepare you for reality or compare to the experience of being there.  And being "there" is where I will be on Friday morning - The opening ceremony of the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure.

I've checked and double checked my bag (and am resisting the urge to triple check) to make sure I've got everything I need packed and ready.  It's all in there

I've checked and double checked my heart and my brain to make sure I'm doing this for all the right reasons.  This is not about me setting some personal mileage record and being all badass for walking 60 miles.  No.  This is for my friends and family and all our loved ones who have struggled with, fought, won the battle or lost the battle with breast cancer.  This is about hope and faith that a future without this disease can exist - No, that a future without this disease WILL exist.

One thing I haven't done enough of lately is say "THANK YOU".  There are many of you out there who have given donations to help make that future possible, and regretably, I've been very remiss in acknowledging those gifts. I've got some more personal things planned to show my gratitude to each of you after the walk.  But until then, I would like to take this moment to say a very heartfelt thank you to my donors:

• Jenny Tully
• James Atkins
• Jennifer Cook
• Heidi Zimmerman
• Jeff Bish
• Carrie Schwarz
• Lynn Fielder
• Barb Bosley
• Sima Button
• Linda Kriebel
• Ann Henderson
• Connie Meeker
• Katie Nichols
• Susan Schwarz
• Steve Fowler
• Becca Pietrusinski
• eBay customers who purchased books
• Village Realty OBX
• Commercial Insurance

And it's not just the financial contributions from the above named people and businesses that have made this journey possible. The personal friendships and love and support from the majority of those names have been even more invaluable in getting me there.  Words cannot express the gratitude I feel towards all of you.  A simple "thank you", while seemingly inadequate, will have to suffice for the time being.

And now that I'm feeling sufficiently sappy, I think it's time to step away before I start to cry and go triple check that bag...