Life lessons

Wow - September arrived and is rushing by...we are just about at the mid-point of the month already.  This past weekend was a busy one.  We attended "Lobsterfest" 2010 with some of my "BFFs" on a day that was picture perfect.  So picture perfect you could not help but compare it the day 9 years earlier that changed all of us forever.  The sky was that same picture perfect blue; not a cloud in sight.  We reflected on our lives and toasted to the fact we were together and we were healthy: it was a wonderful day. 

Today, I walked 3.1 miles in Central Park with 24,000 other people all somehow impacted by breast cancer.  I was one of 1,600 survivors.  Unfortunately I was "alone" - my husband had to work and my mom was off on a long planned vacation.  Since I was team captain for my employer's corporate team, I needed to get into the city early so got up in the dark, ate breakfast, donned my best pink finery and hit the road.  I admit to feeling very sad as a drove in to NYC.  Sure, I was going to be walking with  my co-workers and seeing a post from my friend Lauren in the early morning hours made me smile; but I could not kick the blues even though surrounded by a sea of pink. 

I gathered with other folks from the team and it was then I started to feel a bit better.  Two co-workers were walking "just because" and both of them were fairly new to the company.  I  walked with a small group and I enjoyed talking to all of them.  The rain held out until the end and only lasted a few minutes. I decided to stop of at the survivor village.   Out of the blue a fellow survivor walked up to me and asked if I was by myself.  When I said, yes, I was there by myself, she said, "So am I" - she hugged me and said, "Aren't we lucky?" 

Those few words snapped me out of my funk and I realized, yes, we were lucky.  We were there, we were walking, we had made it through and were able to say we were survivors.  As I looked out at the sea of people walking past me - so many with the words "In Memory of..." scribed on their shirt along with a name it caused me to take pause.  I was in the park today- pink hair and all -  thanks to those who may have not been with me today but were with me when I needed them most.  Lucky indeed.