THREE DAY WALK
Last Friday morning I met with nearly 3,000 other ladies and a few gentlemen to take part in the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk. We walked 60 miles in three days, camped on baseball fields on a hill somewhere in Kirkland, ate highly refined carbohydrates, nursed numerous foot injuries, got sunburns, became intimately familiar with port-a-potties and did alot of talking and thinking about why we were doing this enormous amount of walking.
My tentmate, the next Newbery winner, walked in celebration of her friend Mary, a breast cancer survivor. I walked in memory of Aaron's mother, Sue Bitney, who passed away about six years ago after a long battle with cancer.
The whole weekend was very emotional. There was lots of fun. But definitely I did alot of thinking. Especially of what it would be like to lose a parent or a friend for such an assinine reason as a disease or a poorly managed nation. I did lose my grandfather, who was like a father to me, before his time, I think, and our family hasn't been the same since. I imagine all the spouses who lost their soulmates and all the sons and daughter who lost their mothers--everyone feels that same void.
There's no easy answer or fix to fill that void, however. But my goal has been to keep my grandfather's spirit--his humor, his habits, his compassion alive in me and find ways to celebrate that in every season and through the kinds of books I hope to make for kids. My grandfather was great with kids and I haven't found a better bedtime story reader yet.
So I hope Aaron and I can find ways to celebrate his mother and my grandfather in the coming years. Walking 60 miles seems like a strange thing to do. But I'd walk to the ends of the earth to show the people I love how much I care and 60 miles seems like a nice gesture. And 60 miles is nothing if it gets us one step closer to finding a cure for breast cancer.
I'm not normally on a soapbox so forgive this burst:
If there is a cause close to your heart what are you waiting for? Find a way to get involved and help make some positive things happen in this world of ours.
