Photo Hunt Saturday--Theme: Party

Click the logo to visit TnChick, who sponsors the hunt.

I am not much of a party animal, but if you think of a party in the sense of a celebration, the most significant party I have attended in recent months was the celebration at the end of the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk last September in Seattle. The entire three days was a celebration of life from the opening ceremonies in the wee hours of Friday, to the pit stops, to the pink tent city which was home for two nights, from the supporters who helped kept us going those sixty miles, to the sweep vans who picked us up when we couldn't.

Needless to say, when over two thousand people walk 60 miles to get to a party, everyone does not arrive at the same time. But this party could not start early. This is the holding area where those of us who arrived before the start time waited till all was ready.

You may notice that though most everyone is wearing their party shirt, some of those shirts are in pink. Those are the breast cancer survivors who walked. Other walkers' celebratory shirts were white, while support crew sported gray shirts. You don't see crew shirts here, as crew members were still out providing support for walkers and getting things ready for the party.

As we entered the stadium for the party, some carried official banners and others their own celebratory banners. Rachel and I carried a windsock with pictures of my mother and sister, whose losing battles with breast cancer inspired our team name, The Janes for Jane and Ann.

Here come the party-goers into the stadium. Talk about a loud party! You can see a hint of the crowd of spectators in the stands. We tried calling all the cell phones of the family to let them know where we were on the floor of the stadium, but they couldn't hear their rings.

Some party goers had met their family members outside the holding area while waiting, and had already had hugs, kisses, and gifts of flowers. Waving the flowers in celebration probably seems sensible, but you may be wondering about the shoes.

The thing with the shoes was a big surprise to me at the time, too. There had been some hard to hear announcements as we were getting ready to leave the holding area, so I may have missed it. I was not ready with my shoe loose, and had to scramble to participate. After all the walkers and crew had entered the stadium, the crowd was silent as the survivor walkers marched in. The raised shoes were a tribute to those walkers who were themselves survivors of this dread disease.

I think this was probably the biggest party I have ever been to.
It was hard work to get an invitation, months of training and fundraising, but I am working toward attending again this coming September.

Perhaps you remember my hat? If you don't, you can read about it here. If you or someone dear to you has fought breast cancer, I would be proud to add their name to those on my hat. Please share them in the comments. I will continue to wear my hat as I train and participate in future 3-Day walks this year and hopefully in years to come.

My new walking shoes have a breast cancer pink ribbon on the tongue. You see them at the top of the sidebar of my blog every day. I am wearing them for training walks and hopefully will not have worn them out by September. You can click them here or click below them on the sidebar any time if you would like to donate to fight breast cancer through sponsoring my walk. All donations benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust.

If you click the 3 Day label below, it will take you to my other posts about last year's 3 Day Walk experience.