walk on

"what do we live for if not to make life less difficult for each other?" (george eliot)

today was the shore walk to raise funds for fred hutchinson's cancer survivor program. good cause to say the least. one that is very personal to me. i have benefited directly from the program and continue to do so through the support they provide.

we had 24 people that made up our team - "alli's peeps" - this year, go team!!! as it was last year, it was a great time with great people. we got lucky and had blue skies which made for a beautiful morning to do our walk. thank you seattle for the kind weather, we appreciated it.
our team raised over $2000 for fred hutch which i think is pretty awesome.

it feels so good to be walking with a sea of people who all support cancer survivors. it gives me hope that people will continue to rally to fight cancer for as long as it takes.

some of my friends had tribute patches for me, which i really appreciate it. i wore my tribute patch for my friend jim who i walked in memory of, and i wore it in support of greta in new jersey who is about to finish up her year of interferon treatments (yay!!!) and shannon in colorado who like me will have her next rounds of scans this summer.

i really miss jim, but i could feel that he was happy watching me walk knowing his name was on my arm the entire way.

i love having my family and friends walk with me. it is so fun to see them having a good time, laughing along the way, and i really appreciate them being willing to rally for a 6:45am meet time. i am so lucky to be loved by so many, and i remember that everyday - but these special days are a sweet reminder.

i am already looking forward to the walk next year. "alli's peeps" will be back in force next june. i plan for the team to be an annual event. i decided last year that if the day should come that i am not here to walk, i want the team to walk on. don't get me wrong - i plan to be here for many, many more shore walks. but it is also true that i have thought about how i would want to the team to continue to do it without me if that is the way life turns out. as long as there is a need to raise funds to support cancer research and survivors, i want them to keep walking.

a good day. some more healing. a lot of love. can't ask for more than that on a sunny sunday in june. or any other day of the year.

thank you to all who walked. thank you to all who donated. thank you to all who sent us good thoughts.

xoxo.