Race for the Cure St. Louis

Did my first Race for the Cure with these ladies a few weeks ago.

It was very humbling, to me, as a survivor, to see this....

a sea of people all walking for the same purpose - to raise money for breast cancer research.

I'm forever grateful to them.

For giving up a Saturday morning to help those of us who have been on the receiving end of "You have breast cancer".

I don't know all the details about how much money goes where.

I think they said 75% of what was raised here in St. Louis stays here in St. Louis.

I'm certain, though, that if it were not for organizations and events like this, that the breast cancer research would not be as advanced as it is.

Which would have left us with a much different outlook last May when we first heard those words.

So, THANK YOU to any of you who have ever been a part of this or any other event like it!

The bubble bus. 

 Never seen anything like it. 

 It was supposed to mark the halfway point.  

I think their GPS was off, cause we were almost to the finish line by this point.

Either way, we were happy to see it cause it was starting to get pretty warm by this time.

Loved the view leading up to the finish line.

We saw lots of tutu-wearing guys supporting their girls (wives, moms, sisters, daughters, etc.)

Lots of love here.

This guy definitely gets best supporting male in my book.

I don't know if he was there for a certain person or just supportive in general, but he definitely took it to a new level!

There was a special "survivor" finish area marked by this banner.  I'm glad Larenda's mom was there with me cause I don't know that I would have seen it.

She had told me that last year some of the Rams cheerleaders were there to greet them and that they were able to take pictures with them.

We all kind of thought that the Rams football players would have been a better choice, and look what was waiting for us in the survivors' area.....

Yep, someone else must have thought that was a good idea too.

Unfortunately, we watch college football at our house and I have no idea who these guys are.

But they were so nice and fun to take a picture with!

I can't quite put my finger on the emotion that I have about this shirt.

For some reason I feel that I will never part with it.

It's almost as if I earned it, like it's a prize.  An accomplishment.

But it's difficult to earn something that you really had no choice in trying to earn.

To me, it's just something that God gave us to deal with, to teach us, to bless us, to bring us closer to him.  So I really don't feel that I've "done" anything.

Except that it was a long hard journey.

And with a lot of help I was allowed to survive it.

Maybe it's like a reward or a diploma.

Maybe this shirt just symbolizes the end of that part of the journey for me and the beginning of the next part.

Or maybe it's none of that mush and it just reminds me of a fun day with these ladies.

Regardless, I'm happy to have it.

P.S.  If you ever have an urge to take a tour on the MetroLink.......we're your gals!!