6:50 Pulled into the parking lot of the Wilsonville movie theatre. Immediately choked up when I saw the people waiting to load the free shuttle buses. Was fighting tears the entire time I was on the bus. Most emotional part of the day for me. Weird.
7:25 Arrived at Portland's Race for the Cure, the third largest race in the country in numbers and the biggest per capita. Browsed through some booths. Scored some freebies. Saw a full-sized poodle dyed pink for the occasion. Saw Beckie or her twin. Still have to find out which it was.
8:00 Met with some of my team. Technically we were a team, but we participated in three different events and weren't all able to connect at the same time. Took a group photo. Chatted a bit. Filled out my "in memory of" card.
8:40 Got in line for my walk. Waited.
9:00 Started walking. Saw a memory card on the back of a woman saying that her mom died six days ago. Saw lots of families walking together in celebration of the wife/mom. Saw some men walking in memory of their wives. Saw lots of people walking in memory of their moms.
9:20 Spotted the fam, who had driven on their own later in the morning. Stopped to hug Naomi . Got my picture taken. Kept walking.
10:20 Finished walking. Found the fam. Walked to the Portland Saturday Market, which also runs on Sunday, despite the name, and bought some food. Met up with Thea and her friend. Ate together and chatted for a while.
11:30 Headed back to the shuttle bus. Brought Devon along. Ended up being the only riders. Chatted with Devon about the race, Komen, breast cancer treatments, and his need to keep the safety pins holding my bib onto my shirt. Chatted with the bus driver about what Wilsonville was like when he lived here in 1991-1992.
12:15 Arrived at home for a bathroom break and to get Silas. Tim's car still wasn't home. Headed to the church to meet Tim, who was dropping Silas off there. Let the boys head in after service was out to say their memory verses to their teacher. Went home.
1:00 Crawled into bed. Slept two hours.
3:00 Woke. Blogged. Spent the rest of the day tackling a messy house.
Once again, I want to thank everyone who supported me financially. My goal, which was a huge stretch for me, was $300 and I ended up with $345 in donations. Awesome!
I also want to publicly thank my family for coming. I didn't realize this was happening on a Sunday when I signed up, just assumed it was a Saturday event. Not the case! Due to the time of my event, I wasn't able to go to either service at church. I don't think I've ever missed church for anything other than childbirth or illness (mine or the kids'). I'm not saying that pridefully or anything, just as a piece of trivia. Needless to say, I was really bummed to miss church and had no expectation that my family would do the same.
A couple days ago, however, Tim told me they were going. Wish I'd copied his exact words, but the gist of it was that I've supported him in his things and they were all going to support me in mine. As I told him, "aw, warm fuzzies". So, there were four Ws sitting on the curb at the corner of Broadway and Morrison as I walked by. That really meant a lot to me!
One last shocking bit of news. I wore pink today. It was just a small amount and it was on the race shirt, but still ... I wore pink.
6 comments:
I'm proud of you, Bethany. For walking and for wearing pink.
I'm proud of you too Bethany for walking and for wearing pink (although I wear pink almost every day, when I'm not wearing black and white or my new favorite color, lime green, and no one ever says to me that they're proud of me wearing pink!) I've thought about your mom alot this week and how proud she would be of you.
Great job Bethany... I've done bike rides for different causes, but never in memory of someone I've known. It would make it take on such a different meaning.
I am so proud of you - and happy for you, and thrilled that you did this. I got teary reading about how Tim and the little W's supported. You are an amazing woman Bethany, so I know that your mom must have been a treasure.
Cheri
Congratulations, Bethany! I know this accomplishment means a lot to you. Thank you for sharing not only the happenings of the day but also how you felt along the way. This blog post really touched my heart.
I know what you mean, Bethany. When I pulled into the Lloyd Center parking lot and saw all the women heading to the Max, I almost wept. Had to take a deep breath and just soak it in. I thought of you a lot and am so proud of you for doing the walk and sharing with us all what was going on in your head.
~Catherine W.
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