Dare to be outrageous

More from my altered book of me from Tam’s class.  When I started this book, I went through my parents old photo albums looking for pictures to copy and use.  I came across this one of me and my decorated, tin foil covered bike.  I remember decorating the bike and riding it in a parade in the small town we lived in at the time.  I was so proud of how we spiffed up the bike!  I get to decorate up my bike doing crazy things twice a year now as part of the route safety teams for 2 of the 3-Day for the Cure Breast Cancer Walks.  We decorate as pirates in Cleveland and I have a magical pink treasure chest I strap on the back along with a pirate flag, decorated bras and whatever else catches my eye.  In Michigan we are the Pink Panthers and my bike gets decorated with as many Pinkies as I can attach (and of course includes a few bras too!).  I even made a pink panther bike helmet cover and a pink panther bra that I wore this year!  It is fun to see the walkers perk up and laugh as they discover all the things on my bike.  Sometimes that one little smile can change the course of their day and that is worth pedaling around all the extra weight of the decorations.

This spread is all about embracing the unusual and loving it.  One of the quotes I have on there says “Life isn’t about finding yourself.  Life is about creating yourself.”  I believe it is a quote from George Bernard Shaw.  I love this as it reminds me that we can go beyond what seems like our limits and really do anything that we set out to do.  It goes right along with the feelings of the last post on not letting others decide what you can or should be.  I choose to be unusual, remarkable in my own way and no one else will ever be the exact same.  Isn’t that amazing?  We are all one of a kind and bring so many special qualities to this world.  We are all irreplaceable and that is incredible!  So I challenge each of you to do something you’ve always wanted to do, but were held back from for some reason.  Be outrageous and enjoy every moment of it!

Love, Kindness and Compassion

I was on another Susan G Komen 3-Day for the Cure event this past weekend. I cannot express how meaningful these events are and how firmly I believe in what they support and do for the community and breast cancer research and detection.

On Saturday night, while we were dancing, this beautiful rainbow appeared over our camp. To me it was like a sign from all of those we have lost to breast cancer. I think they were trying to tell us how proud they are of what we're doing, and that even though they may not physically be with us, they continue to be with us on the 3-Day walk.

I had someone ask me how this past weekends event went and I honestly think it was my favorite one out of the 12 I have participated in over the years. Well, that got me wondering why. At first, I really wasn't sure why myself. I just knew I had a great time with my teammates, and the walkers. But that always is true. So what made this one stand out as my favorite? It surely wasn't the 90+ degrees and high humidity. It also wasn't due to no problems. We had a few bicycle repairs that were necessary throughout the weekend. So why? I think it was because last year was so overly emotional for me after losing my Grandfather the night before the event started, and these people, these teammates and walkers were a tremendous support system for me during that time. They showed me the true love and compassion that people have for each other. Some of the support came from people I'd never met before, and wouldn't have recognized if they were there this year. Some support touched me in a way I'll never forget. Being able to be back in this community, without the raw pain of loss, allowed me to recognize the love they had shared and then let me share that same love with others over this event. This community of people represents the very best in humankind. They are out there year round fundraising and training so that someday none of us will suffer another loss to cancer. They are there with smiles and laughter even though their feet are covered in blisters and each step is excrutiating. They are up at an ungodly hour so we can all have a hot breakfast to start our hard day off in a great way. They are massaging sweaty bodies to give someone a bit of relief. They are cleaning up after someone so they don't have to take those few extra steps after a long day of walking. They are making you laugh on every street corner. They, both walkers and crew, are everyday heros.

Our Michigan Route Safety Bicyclists have a tradition. We go out for breakfast away from camp on Saturday morning. This started as a fluke one year when we were passing a place known for their potato pancakes and we had some time before our designated spots to work. It continues because it allows us to reconnect with each other and also get to know our new members in a little bit quieter environment than the 3 day breakfast. While we were dining this year, we had the most amazing waitress. Before we were finished with our meal she came up and pointed out her vehicle. She asked us to please go out and each take a hat she had in the back. They were breast cancer ball hats with fiber optic lights in the ribbon. She just gave them to us! She was hoping to get off her shift in time to go out and cheer for the walkers, and giving us these hats was a way she could contribute to the event. She also offered to help us come up with some things to sell as fundraisers for next years event. She displayed the type of kindness one encounters throughout a 3 day event.

On Day 1, I stopped where a boy was passing out cups of lemonade. I thanked him for taking time out of his summer day to support the walkers and the adult that was with him told me that he knows the value of what we are doing. He has already lost his mother to this dreadful disease. He had to have been under 9 years old. I cried as I rode away from them.

I saw survivors in their yards with signs of thanks, I saw young and old passing out treats and cold water through the weekend. I saw almost an entire block in Dearborn with the best decorated lawns and sprinklers and people cheering. I saw a cheering station in Plymouth that was so crowded, I couldn't find my sister. I saw a walker who had just lost her Dad on Tuesday who was still walking.

I saw love, kindness and compassion everywhere! I hope that someday there will not be a need for the Breast Cancer walks, but until that day I will continue to participate in these events.