It's Hard To Find Words ...

... to say what the incredible support and generosity of friends and family mean to me! Thanks SO MUCH to all who participated, donated, sent notes of encouragement, and sent thoughts of hope and good wishes through the cosmos. I hardly know what to say. I'm so amazed and grateful!

It was one year ago today that I was sitting in that chemo chair for the last time. I've come a long way since then. Maybe not as far as I had hoped by now, but still a long way. I must say that I'm so envious of everyone's hair. I really can't wait until next year at this time when I expect I'll have more normal hair, more normal body weight, and more normal flexibility and joints. That's my goal ... a little more reasonable, I think, than earlier expectations. I've learned that this cancer business takes a lot longer to get through than one ever expects.

Look at my pals (angels/ho's) in the above photo who cheerily (at least they acted cheery) got up so early on a Sunday morning to gather at my house for breakfast and then walk the walk. I saw some other homies on the walk, too. A little shout out to Claire, Catie, Wanda, Ken and Pat. What awesomely beautiful weather for such an event! It was perfect! I wish I hadn't dressed so warmly, but when you get up before the sun, who would think it could get so warm??! Thanks, Gail, for organizing the team and gathering all our lovely pink angel accessories! Thanks everyone, for all your contributions to the day! And for being simply the best!

Here's who we could round up for the team photo before the walk. We would have really lost each other in that huge crowd if not for the helium balloons Carol thought to bring! They floated just above the crowd!

And here are my angels who missed the team photo.

And, if you recall, last year Peggy walked the whole 5 k in high heeled boots. I'm glad to see she at least wore sneakers this year. Hey! Wait a minute! Sneakers with ... HEELS! Oh, yes she DID! And she (and my Mom, too) seriously outpaced me. They were way ahead. In fact, they were so far ahead, they wouldn't even have realized that a bunch of us opted for the shortcut and finished at 2.5 k. When that fork in the road came where you could choose to wind it up or continue, I'm glad someone took the decision out of my hands and led us back to the building. By then my feet and hips were feeling a little cooked. I was so ready to sit down by the time we actually got back to the building. While I'm a little disappointed that I didn't do the whole 5 k, I'm mostly just interested to note my limitations at this point. Next year I expect I'll be able to go the whole distance easily. But not in heels. NEVER in heels! Crazy, Peggy! Crazy WONDERFUL, HILARIOUS Peggy, that is!

I'm not sure how much our team raised for breast cancer research at this point. I'll post the amount later when I know.

Mom and Debbie kept up a much faster pace than me. My theory is that it has something to do with the rhythm set by the movement of their jaws ... all that talking. Fast talking! They were clipping right along! They also walked farther. And then, when we got home and Kevin and I were ready to crash (and mostly did), Mom continued to busy herself with running up and down stairs doing laundry before hitting the road back to Kyle. If I can eventually match the energy and strength my Mom has, I'll be glad!

Kevin and I had big naps this afternoon. It was pretty special to have Kevin join me for the walk, too. He looks better in pink than I do!

It's Hard To Find Words ...