While there are lots of needed and significant causes,. they don't all "mesh" with everyone. Having had cancer twice and being athletic, I, of course, lend a voluntary hand and donate to causes, groups like the American Cancer Society and Challenged Athletes Foundation. But I just realized a connection with Walk With Sally - a week ago, late at night.
When I was invited to speak at the Pink Party for Walk With Sally, held at The Deck in Hermosa Beach on Thursday, October 23, 2014, I excitedly accepted. Like all talks, I prepared with bullet points on notecards and in my Iphone. But not until I was laying in bed the night before this event did I realize how significant Walk With Sally is - to me.
You see, I've always been "the strong one". I have visited kids with cancer in hospitals since I was a teenager. I've shared my personal hurdles after amputation, the challenges of radiation and chemotherapy as a 15 year old, the scare of being diagnosed with breast cancer years later. But I've been the strong one - always. Right?
No. I realized, when pondering the specifics of my talk to Walk With Sally guests the night before, that I needed its help AND know many more people who would have benefited from WWS 33 years ago.
When I started visiting kids with cancer, their parents and sisters and brothers needed me - sometimes, more than the kid with cancer. They needed Walk With Sally's help. When my mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1994, I had a very difficult time. Seeing my mother going through cancer, experiencing the chemo, getting sick, losing her hair - the whole thing - was tough for me. I needed Walk With Sally then.
So, what a neat realization. Walk With Sally means more to me now than I previously thought. And I changed my speech entirely, when I was laying in bed the night before the Pink Party. Thank God for Nick Arquette's founding of Walk With Sally. Its helpful arms reach out to so many "other victims", who are in need. www.walkwithsally.org. #smiles #positive #cancer #cure #speakswithasmile #kids @walkwithsally #inspiration