Well, what a change it was for me once we got there. I am so glad we did it. We got there just as they started announcing all of the survivors. It was so neat to hear the type cancer they had and how many years they have been cancer free. It was also humbling to see the ones that were currently fighting it. A few stuck out in my mind. One women had a list a mile long of cancers. They said she beat ovarian cancer 24 years ago, breast cancer 20 years ago, liver cancer 10 years ago, lung cancer 5 years ago, and she was currently fighting another type of cancer. As she walked up to get her medal, she was crying. I just couldn't stop thinking of how many years she has spent fighting. There was another young mother that walked up with her kids to get her medal. She was young, and had on a pink scarf. She was trying to keep a smile on her face, but you could see her eyes. That is when I lost it.
They all started walking around the track and it was amazing to me to see all the types of people. Young, old, heavy, thin, some that looked sick, some that didn't. Young kids were hard to see, but I think the young mom's were the hardest for me. I kept thinking of Cindy. I felt a lot of guilt. I never got to walk with her at any of the Breast Cancer walks. I know she did it a few times, and I was never able to be there. I just wish I could go back in time and be there for her when she was going through it all.
But I am glad we went. It really struck Payton too. She cried with me and was holding me the whole time. She kept asking questions about Cindy and it was really neat for her to understand it all too. She was amazed that grandma was a survivor and thought that was so cool. She keeps asking me if she will ever get cancer, or if I will, and I just tell her probably not. We can hope.
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