No, there weren’t literally roses on our path. Its too late in the season for that and most of the early afternoon was spent on the rec trail again. This time, though, I didn’t let the lack of interesting scenery and monotony of the path get to me so much. I started talking with people, with others who were walking alone. I started by making sure they were doing ok and just kind of chatted – is this your first walk, why are you doing this, where are you from, etc. I met some very wonderful people that I would have never met had I remained in my previous funk. This pleased me greatly and gave me strength.
I walked for a bit with a young girl named Colleen. She was part of a team I’d seen off and on all weekend but she was walking alone. Most of the team was ahead of her. She, too, was walking at her own pace. I estimated her age to be mid to late 20’s, about the same age as my daughter. She was a breast cancer survivor and between surgeries which is why her pace was slower than her companions. I only walked with her for about 15 min or so but in that short time, I came to greatly admire her. Here was this very young woman who should have been focusing on planning her life and her future and instead most of her energy had been focused on simply saving her life. And here she was, still very much in the middle of her fight, and she was walking to raise money and awareness to help other women who were or would be on that same journey. Wow.
There were women, and a handful of men, of all ages, sizes, ethnic origins, etc. The entire weekend was a really neat people watching experience. There was this one lady that I kept seeing on the route. She was walking a bit slower than the average walker, like I was. I estimated her age to be maybe late 60’s. She had a walking stick in her right hand and wore a big shawl all weekend. On the shawl, in big hand written letters, it said Auntie Aggie. Surrounding that message were probably 30 or so pink ribbons loops, each one pinned on by hand. Sat afternoon I decided to ask about Auntie Aggie.
The lady’s name is Sandy and she is from Ontario. (I assumed Ontario, Canada, of course but just recently remembered that there is a city named Ontario in southern California so I could have been wrong in that assumption.) Auntie Aggie never had children of her own so she doted on her nieces and nephews. Sandy told me of some of her childhood memories of Auntie Aggie, of her battle with breast cancer and how Auntie Aggie had lost her battle just 3 years ago. Sandy was walking for the first time and was alone, like me. I was impressed with her quiet determination as she made her way along the path in honor of her favorite aunt.
At the next pit stop, when I went to the medical tent to reapply the moleskin on my blistered feet, across the way I saw Linda, the medic who helped me on Fri afternoon. I yelled hey Linda! She yelled back Hi Lori! I said Guess what, Linda? I peed at every pit stop today! She said I’m so proud of you! I said I knew you would be. I don’t think I focused this much on bodily functions since I was potty trained as a toddler. :D
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