Risin' up, back on the street, Did my time, took my chances

I'm blessed. I got to spend three long, glorious days chasing three amazing people around Everette and Seattle. My walkers did it! All three walked the 60 miles in what was, at times, blistering heat. But they prevailed. They did not let it stop them.

This year I got to experience the 3 Day as an observer. I think I actually cried more. In fact, I'm tearing up now as I think about seeing my walkers crest a hill to the first cheering station. The overwhelming feeling of being part of something so huge. Something so great. And something so worthwhile

As I sit and struggle with how to explain the 3 Day I thought the perhaps some excerpts from the closing and opening ceremonies speech best said what I felt.

Read them and embrace the spirit. But first...watch the video of our trip.

One woman honors her best friend. Another woman dedicates the next three days to her daughter and her daughter’s generation. Another woman who could be any of us, has pledged the miles to come to the years that await her. Out of a deep belief that the power to end breast cancer forever lies within her reach.

This is the moment where individuals who perhaps as recently as only hours ago stood and dared to face breast cancer alone now stand united. A remarkable community of heroes. This is what the end of breast cancer looks like. Because the 1 in 8 women who will develop breast cancer is one too many.

Now, and for the Generations to come. Every lifetime is precious, And what could be a more poignant reminder than the experience of a survivor? I ask you now to turn your attention to eight such heroes, who this morning take the first steps of a new journey. Hand in hand, they surround an empty circle, A living symbol for the millions of women and men around the world...whose lives have been lost to breast cancer.

Closing
They don’t think about it. They just respond. And that is what you have done so powerfully. Faced with a disease that has no respect for human life, you didn’t ask questions...You responded with a display of courage that has no respect for this disease. Asked to submit, you would not submit.Asked to surrender, the white flag was nowhere to be seen.

It is no overstatement to say that you have achieved greatness in the last three days and for your efforts the world will not be the same. Each of you has your own hero. Your own reason for walking. Many of them are no longer with us. But many of them are.

One word of warning: It will look different out there. Tomorrow, when you cross an intersection you’re probably not going to get a round of applause. When you walk into your office odds are there’s not going to be a little girl there with a painted sign that says “Thank You.” Odds are, random acts of hugging will be the exception rather than the rule. Don’t be alarmed. If we’ve learned anything this last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, it’s that goodness is our natural condition and it only takes two aching feet, two creaking knees and one mortal enemy to bring it out!

Now we ask you, as we did on Friday morning, to turn your attention to a very special group of people—our Survivors. On Friday, we used the Survivors Circle to remember all those we have lost to breast cancer. We used it to remember a time when we walked with them. We used it to hold stories of our endurance under the most trying of circumstances. This afternoon, we widen the bond to include the loved ones and friends and even strangers whose lives will be spared because we cared. On Friday, the Survivors left carrying eight flags representing eight facets of their radiant existence. This afternoon, we salute them for sharing their light with us these last three days. In the Survivors Circle, and in the spirit of all our survivors, we see that life really is a great adventure to be savored and explored. And in the end, to be lived.