Arizona 2010 Susan G. Komen 3 Day Walk - Survivor's Circle at Closing Ceremonies

Leaving the stage at the end of ceremonies. That is me just to the left of the flag pole.

All of the other survivors joined us on the stage - hugging and dancing at the end of the closing ceremonies. We didn't even have to talk, we just looked each other in the eye and started crying. All of us had heard the word's "it is cancer" and all of us had to tell our loved ones of the diagnosis. It is this shared experience that made all of us have to walk. We are all committed to doing all we can to make sure that someday no one else will ever have to go through what we have gone through. Lots of tears and lots of love.

There were eight of us in the Survivor's Circle. It was a huge honor to be asked to participate.

"A World Without Breast Cancer" is what the flag says.

That's me just to the left of the flag pole

Walking in with our flags - I carried the "commitment" flag

Looking up at the center flag "A World Without Breast Cancer"

Being part of the Survivor's Circle is definately one of the top five highlights of my life. It was emotional in so many ways. I was proud to be there as a survivor. I was honored to represent those who are no longer with us. I was amazed at the dedication of the other walkers and crew members. I was tickled pink to be a member of Team Grand Canyon. I was just so thankful that my parents were able to experience it with me. I was hopeful for my future as a survivor. I was and will continue to be committed to ending breast cancer.

Click Here for a picture of me from the 3 Day web site. While you are there feel free to donate to Team Grand Canyon. We hope to raise $30,000 this year so every little bit helps! So, far we have only raised $10 so we have a ways to go. Glad we have eleven months!

I'll have some more walk photos posted soon.

Rehearsal is over and I did not trip!

The weather is beautiful and it was exciting to see everything being set up. I can't wait until tomorrow.

The AZ 3 Day Walk Starts on Friday!

The walk is finally here. The seven of us have raised just over $19,500. Not quite our goal of $20,000 but close enough. The logistics have been worked out and it sounds like we will have quite a few of our friends and family cheering us on at the cheer stations. I am just so excited that I can hardly stand it that my parents are coming for Saturday and Sunday. They made us some very generous donations and were a huge help as our cooks at our fundraising BBQ.

I drive down early on Thursday morning and have to go a rehearsal of the opening and closing ceremonies that afternoon. I hope that if I am going to trip and drop my "commitment" flag, I do it at the rehearsal and not in front of the 1,200 walkers.

I will be posting pictures on facebook during the walk and will hopefully be doing some short live blogs here. My camera batteries are charging right now and I have a new phone with internet access.

This year I have a much warmer sleeping bag for the two nights in the tent so I plan on getting more sleep. I'm bringing warmer pajamas also. I was tickled last night when I was able to fit my huge sleeping bag into my duffle. Not much room for anything else but that is OK since the bag also takes up most of the 35 pounds we are allowed to bring.

I hope to at least walk more than I did last year and I'd love to complete every mile on Sunday. I have a better plan to avoid blisters this year which will make the walk much more enjoyable. I had horrible blisters on the bottom of my feet starting on the first day in 2009. It made walking the final day pretty miserable. Not this year!

Have to run to watch Conan! Nice to have him back.