Originally I wanted to walk in the actual event, but I had registered too late, and was not able to register, so instead I chose to volunteer, and I have never made a better decision in my life.

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Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Image by akirsa via Flickr

Breast cancer awareness
Image by AslanMedia via Flickr

Waking up before the sun had even risen; I almost decided to stay in bed that day.  I questioned myself multiple times as I washed my face and put on comfy clothes.  Walking down the metro, not a soul in sight, I questioned myself even more.  Getting onto the metro my eyelids seemed to dominate any movement my eyes wanted to do.  For 9 stops we were the only ones on the metro.  I was ready to turn back, or just ride the metro for the day, sleeping.  But as we got closer and closer to the Smithsonian stop, more and more women and children alike, followed by a few men, boarded the metro, and we rode together.  I had no idea what to expect, maybe a few hundred people, but nothing more than I had already seen at the Mall before.

I was wrong.

Walking up the escalator I was greeted by thousands and thousands of women, men, and children, already preparing for the race, for what must have been hours.  Walking up and seeing everyone so excited to be there, changed my perspective completely, and made me glad that I had not slept in.  Walking around, we received volunteer t-shirts, and were given our posts at the end of the race.

Looking around and seeing how everyone was so excited, gave me the goose bumps, and made me excited to be there, and volunteering.

Originally I wanted to walk in the actual event, but I had registered too late, and was not able to register, so instead I chose to volunteer, and I have never made a better decision in my life.

Our job was to stand at the end of the race, and for the first 10 minutes, we cheered the people who ran across the finish line and congratulated them on their success.  I got high-fives, and people thanking me for volunteering, I saw mothers and daughters running, and I saw wives and husbands running together, I saw families that moved down three generations walking together, celebrating one of their family members triumph to beat breast cancer, and I also saw many people walking with signs for women who did not beat breast cancer, or people whose family members were currently fighting breast cancer.

Breast cancer survivors wore pink t-shirts, while all other racers/walkers wore white t-shirts and volunteers wore blue t-shirts.  There were people walking through that finish line with pink t-shirts that looked like any other mom or grandma walking down the street.  Imagining these people in hospital beds only shortly ago, dramatically changed the way that I look at people.  You never know a person, and the story behind them until you take a step back and listen to them, and get to know them.  If I had seen any of these women on the street, I would never have known that they are some of the strongest women out there.  They may not have run for president of the united states, or cured a disease, or even be well known, but they have helped to make strides in breast cancer, and they have beat one of the worst type of cancers out there.  That makes them my hero.

The emotions that were rushing through me as I watched thousands and thousands and people walk through the finish line, cannot be expressed in words.  The emotions running through my body even as I write this, and think about the emotions I felt, all rush back through me.

That event changed the way that I look at the world.  That event changed the way I look at family.  That even changed me.  I have walked in about a dozen walks, whether it was for Autism, AIDS, Breast Cancer, or any of the other causes that have sponsored walks around my area at home, but I have never been impacted the way that I was volunteering.  Having people thanking me for volunteering when they had gone through the struggle of their life meant the world to me.

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