Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are. ~Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha
Tomorrow I will be running in my eighth Susan G. Komen Race in Raleigh, NC. Last year I brought Josh along for the race and he nearly killed me when it was all said and done. However this year, he has been training with a running club twice a week....so he is ready to race tomorrow. Not real thrilled about the humidity and heat we may face, but I figured that pales in comparison to what cancer patients fight daily, for whom we are racing for.
If you have never had the opportunity to participate in such an event...I encourage you to do so. Not only is the experience a physical challenge....but it is an emotional circus! You see survivors, patients, friends and families of patients and survivors and neighbors lined along the streets cheering you on. It is really an amazing feeling to be a part of something so much bigger than yourself.
When you stop and look around, it dawns on you that this idea (pink ribbons, breast cancer awareness, races, fundraising) started with a promise between two sisters over 31 years ago. Nancy Brinker assured her sister, Susan G. Komen, that she would find a cure. She would not allow other women young (Susan was 36 when she died) and old to suffer as she did. And so became the Susan G. Komen Foundation. If you would like to learn more about this story, check out the book written by Nancy Brinker about the organization and her special relationship with her sister, that will debut in September.
I look forward to the day that there is a cure for breast cancer and cancer as a whole. I am confident it will happen in my lifetime. Until then...we must continue to fight one day at a time. So the next time you see a product with the Susan G. Komen logo on it or you have someone who wishes to be sponsored...but it and give them anything you can. In the end....every single penny makes a difference.
JAR
Love to all my friends and family who have succumbed to cancer, to those who are fighting and those yet to fight! I am so proud of each of you and rest assure....I will keep walking and spreading the word for a cure!
In memory of:
Josephine Ruggieri
Dorothy Kirk
Jerry Sides
Mary Llloyd Kirk
In honor of:
Linnea Weddington
Mrs. Trexler
Matthew Ruggieri
Larry Gildea
Jeffrey Weddington
