Day of Hope #53
Saturday May 13, 2017
Goal: Celebrate Hope for Cancer
Quote: “Every single bad day is better than no day at all.” - Deanna Wehrung, cancer survivor
Today is all about hope! Hope for some is different than for others. Today I celebrate those that ‘Hope’ they are cancer free. No matter how bad you think your life is it can always be worse. Life is a gift, and we need to be thankful for each day we get.
It's amazing how a day can go by so fast when you’re not paying attention. When you savor every moment and are present for the whole twenty-four hours that day can seem so long, and you don't want it to end. Today was one of those days.
I kicked off the Day of Hope with the Race for A Cure. This race is the Susan G. Komen race, which is a Breast Cancer organization in the U.S. They focus on patient navigation and advocacy. They provide resources for those with breast cancer. Every year they do a 5K race/walk for fundraising to help find a cure. It celebrates the survivors and honors those that have lost their battle with the disease. It also gives family and friends the opportunity to support those they know that have been affected by cancer. It’s such a humbling walk and really makes you appreciate life and memories of those lost.
Thousands of people show up. It starts off with a Survivor walk where everyone that has survived breast cancer walks around the block. There is a moment of silence and then everyone cheers. So humbling, makes me tear up even now writing about it. It really touches the heart. This year I am with two dear friends that are survivors. They are something special for sure.
Next everyone lines up for the 5K race. Thousands of people lined up ready to show support. You can see the color pink for miles and miles. It’s a fun walk and everyone has a great time. We always go to lunch after to celebrate and catch up with everyone in our group. This year we went for a great lunch and drinks to The Meridian Village and a restaurant called Twigs.
After lunch we said our goodbyes and my friend Idgie and I then went looking at lots of shops. We stopped to try the healthy Cinnabon store for healthy cinnamon rolls. I still don't believe it, but they tasted amazing. We found Hope Avenue which was very fitting. Then we went to wine tasting around the world. All different wines from all over. I liked Australia the best. We checked out the water wonders which are great sprays of water timed to music and all different colors.
The final stop was to the movie theater for popcorn and a great movie of hope, and one of my favorite Disney movies, Beauty and The Beast. This showing was the live-action version. An enchantress disguised as an old beggar woman arrives at a castle during a ball and offers the host, a selfish and unkind prince, an enchanted rose if he shelters her from a storm. When he scornfully declines, she reveals her true form and transforms him into a beast and his servants into household objects before erasing them and the castle from the memories of their loved ones and the other villagers in nearby Villeneuve. Unless he learns to love someone and earn that person's love before the last petal falls, he will remain a beast permanently and the servants will become inanimate objects. Several years later he meets Belle.
It’s such a great story about love and being humble and kind. It’s also about how not everything is as it seems to the eye. Hope and belief can and will win. It was a wonderful Day of Hope and another Best Day Ever with gal pal Idgie.
My lesson of hope: Life can change in a matter of seconds from a diagnosis or routine scan. Please get your mammograms and take care of your health, it could actually save your life and the lives of others around you. If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything. Also, let love in from all avenues in your life and see what happens.
