Here I go about September again, but this time more specifically September 2001. The 11th of that September taught me that a random Tuesday can be the day that changes your life forever. The 28th taught me that life must go forward. That happiness and the ability to look forward can return, if even for an instant with the passage of time. I have had to relearn those lessons since 2010. The difference was that in 2001 the lesson was global whereas in 2010 it was personal. There it is again, irony, like a giant cartoon 2x4 to the head. Tomorrow is September 11th, never again to be a random Tuesday or any other random day of the week. I suspect the phone will ring as it did in 2001 and most 9/11's since with that familiar voice on the other end...I suspect there will be white puffy clouds and a hint of chill in the air (ok so the forecast is for 95 and humid but you get my point) ...yet as familiar as these things will seem the day will be anything but random. It will be the day that forever changed life as we know it. It will be the day that brought us a mere 17 days later, to make the toast that will be forever etched in my mind...In loving memory of those we lost..in grateful tribute to those that serve...we will raise our glasses and celebrate life tonite... Those words rang true in 2001 and serve now to remind me to recall not only what we lost, 411 souls who perished running in to the towers, and 2585 more who perished trying to escape the towers, the Pentagon and a plane in PA and a sense of security and innocence we should never fully regain. But now thanks to the passing years it is the last line that seems the most important . Celebrate and appreciate what we have. The passage of time and change are inevitable but only they can truly dull the pain of our losses, dry our tears and eventually allow us to look forward instead of back.

So Abby won't have to... Part 6

So Abby won’t have to … Part Six

To  each other and about 6000 kindred spirits we are  NYBlue for Pink.  To the rest of you we are Loretta, Mairead, Vicki, Jill & MJ.  Come October, we will for the sixth time, walk 39.3 miles …together as part of the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  If you   haven’t tried it, walking the streets of NYC for 39.3 miles has its challenges.  Among them are curbs, cobblestones, crowds, hills and cracks (not to mention the occasional snake or dead rat).  The Avon Walk staff does a great job of taking care of us despite those obstacles.  They even offer sweep vans to take you forward if you can’t make it on your own.  As we walk we are constantly reminded that each of us has arrived there by a different path but it is the same thing that propels us…hope. what a powerful motivator.  So powerful that we press forward no matter how painful those steps may be “because blisters are better than chemo”.  So powerful that we push and guide each other through those obstacles to put breast cancer on warning that we will keep walking because, “being swept is not an option” (even if they ask twice).  Hope keeps us moving together, so our daughters… so Abby, won’t have to, so that those we have lost and those who survive can live on through our efforts.  We walk so that someday breast cancer can be simply a cobblestone, a crowd, a hill or a curb, easily overcome with the help of some very special people.  We will continue to walk because we, Loretta, Mairead, Jill, Vicki and MJ, truly believe that being swept should never be an option.  That is why we are NYBlue for Pink and that is why we walk. 

Each of the past five years some incarnation of the monster has pushed me down my path to the Avon Walk. I spent the last few months waiting for the monster to push me, only to realize that this year my motivation was not to be found in my rear view mirror but rather ahead of me on my path. This year rather than being pushed, I was being pulled.  Pulled forward by the sea of pink hope that is the    Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.   What a difference a year…or five… can make.  In my case, the difference between looking back with trepidation and moving forward with hope for the future.  Your generosity and support give me the opportunity to walk and to make hope tangible…if even just for a weekend.  For that, I will be forever grateful.

 

Be Well and Get Screened,

 

MJ & NYBlue for Pink

So Abby won't have to... Part 6

So Abby won’t have to … Part Six

To  each other and about 6000 kindred spirits we are  NYBlue for Pink.  To the rest of you we are Loretta, Mairead, Vicki, Jill & MJ.  Come October, we will for the sixth time, walk 39.3 miles …together as part of the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  If you   haven’t tried it, walking the streets of NYC for 39.3 miles has its challenges.  Among them are curbs, cobblestones, crowds, hills and cracks (not to mention the occasional snake or dead rat).  The Avon Walk staff does a great job of taking care of us despite those obstacles.  They even offer sweep vans to take you forward if you can’t make it on your own.  As we walk we are constantly reminded that each of us has arrived there by a different path but it is the same thing that propels us…hope. what a powerful motivator.  So powerful that we press forward no matter how painful those steps may be “because blisters are better than chemo”.  So powerful that we push and guide each other through those obstacles to put breast cancer on warning that we will keep walking because, “being swept is not an option” (even if they ask twice).  Hope keeps us moving together, so our daughters… so Abby, won’t have to, so that those we have lost and those who survive can live on through our efforts.  We walk so that someday breast cancer can be simply a cobblestone, a crowd, a hill or a curb, easily overcome with the help of some very special people.  We will continue to walk because we, Loretta, Mairead, Jill, Vicki and MJ, truly believe that being swept should never be an option.  That is why we are NYBlue for Pink and that is why we walk. 

Each of the past five years some incarnation of the monster has pushed me down my path to the Avon Walk. I spent the last few months waiting for the monster to push me, only to realize that this year my motivation was not to be found in my rear view mirror but rather ahead of me on my path. This year rather than being pushed, I was being pulled.  Pulled forward by the sea of pink hope that is the    Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.   What a difference a year…or five… can make.  In my case, the difference between looking back with trepidation and moving forward with hope for the future.  Your generosity and support give me the opportunity to walk and to make hope tangible…if even just for a weekend.  For that, I will be forever grateful.

 

Be Well and Get Screened,

 

MJ & NYBlue for Pink