The last day of the 3 day is bitter sweet you are happy because your pain will soon be over but you know that for many the fight continues. There is a weird mix of joy and sorrow as people share their stories with you. That is a big part of the event. As you walk people ask why you are walking and the stories are both heart warming and breaking at the same time. The hardest part for me was when my wife started crying after she saw a woman with a shirt that said ” I miss my mom.” Their interaction between this woman and my wife was simply a tear filled, almost inaudible “I miss mine too.”
Turnabout is fair play. My wife loves getting photos of the doctors working on me during the 3 day. She has even gone so far as to add in extra medical props for the picture. So Finally, Wonder Woman got a blister.
If you are not a fan of pink I would avoid the 3 Day. It is everywhere.
After 60 miles filled with laughter, tears and blisters we made it to our final destination: the closing ceremony at Turner field in Atlanta! This is always emotional.
This is always the coolest part of the event for me. Many of the women on the walk are survivors. Some were still weak from chemo but they walked. These women have a special place in the 3 Day. As they come into the closing ceremony they are surrounded by the rest of us and as a tribute each walker removes a shoe and raises it in their honor. This might even make producer Zach cry. For me water works are a given in this moment. We had 220 breast cancer survivors walking. Sadly, many of them were my age, and had once faced that fear of leaving their children far too early in life.
I did not have my video camera on the walk this year and I am a loser and only have the iPhone 3g not 3gs with video so, here is a little of the shoe ceremony from my last walk.
This year in Atlanta alone 2,200 people raised over 5.6 million dollars and since it's inception the 3 Day has given over 1.9 billion to fund breast cancer research and education. It really does go to show what a few motivated peopel can do when they set their mind or feet to it.
