Race for the Cure 2006

Today was a very special day in our lives. All five of us participated in the festivities for the Race for the Cure in our home town. The event was in some ways overwhelming but entirely enjoyable. We woke up early and headed downtown to the baseball stadium for a "Team Melinda" picture. Our middle M cried when we had to load up in the minivan to head out because he "wanted to go on a walk." We explained to him that we had to drive first and then walk - guess that is what you get for waking him up early (in all seriousness, the kids were excellent all morning). I'm not exactly sure how many people were on Team Melinda but it had to be at least measured in dozens. Several men, women, and children from our church were there along with family (Melinda's brother Mike and sister-in-law Nikki and aunts Meg and Louise) and several of my co-workers. It was humbling to see how many people were willing to sacrifice their Saturday morning to show their support for Melinda and our family.

Many of us wore T-shirts that were made especially for Team Melinda (generally over long-sleeved shirts or sweatshirts to keep warm during the chilly morning). The front of the shirts had a pink ribbon wrapped around a white cross with the words "We Walk with His Hope" written on the ribbon. On the back the shirts had a touching note that made Melinda cry when she first heard it, "Melinda: 30, wife, mother of three: ages 5, 3, & 8 months. They need her. She needs a cure. We walk for them. We also walk for our sisters who are survivors and an inspiration to us all: JoAnn, Ann, Virginia, Judy & Freeda". Melinda wore a pink survivor shirt and hat.

Our town set a new record for participants with over 13,000 runners and walkers. Our family walked together in the one mile fun walk - we finished in just under 40 minutes and only had to stop for a porta-potty one time which may be some sort of record (we are still researching the record books on that one). It was amazing to see the thousands of people that made it out to support breast cancer survivors and research. Melinda's favorite thing on the walk was a survivor who had a note pinned to the back of her shirt. It said "In Celebration of: Me". The walk was chaotic but exciting and encouraging to our family. There were hundreds of volunteers along the course of the race cheering us on. My favorite was the Scottish band in kilts - tough guys since it was cool for most of the morning. At the end of the "race" Melinda and the other survivors were shuttled into a separate finish line and handed a pink rose.

After the race we returned to the baseball stadium and our two oldest M's (and Melinda) got to run around the bases of the infield. Our oldest M did her best to try to pass as many other 5-6 year olds as she could. Our middle M, running with Melinda, just enjoyed getting to stretch his legs a bit (especially since he rode on my shoulders for about .95 miles of the fun walk). Both of the kids had huge smiles on their faces and were given a gift bag from McDonald's that included a coupon for a free ice cream cone. After lunch at a local BBQ joint our daughter asked if she could redeem her coupon at Marble Slab Creamery - it was cute.

The morning was capped off with all the survivors coming down on the field around the infield grass for some special awards and bonding time. It seemed like there were hundreds of survivors, which again was encouraging. All of the women formed a giant huddle on and around the pitcher's mound and yelled "Cure!" at the same time. Then they funneled off of the field and were each handed a gift bag which included an apron (Melinda's first). Melinda remained on the field for several extra minutes talking and taking pictures with her group of young survivors (the two pictures that are currently at the top of the page show Melinda with her new group).

Hopefully there will be more pictures to come.