In the pink

It was a cloudy Saturday morning. Shortly after 8:30 we heard the crack of the gun.



Then we stepped over the Start Line for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.



You know from my earlier blogs that my friend, Roberta, was diagnosed with breast cancer last June. After a lumpectomy, chemo, and radiation there she is on the left, pretty in pink, and with a new hairdo that is growing out of her own head again (yeah!). On the right in the black cap is her younger sister, Mary.



Roberta and Mary have an older sister, Pam, who lives out of state. Roberta and Mary let me pretend I'm the fourth sister. On more than one occasion I've been mistaken for Mary which is OK because Mary is cute and we have glasses that are almost identical. I wore my pink raincoat; it's so adorable (thank you, Lyna Lee).



A while back I wrote about colored ribbons. Roberta is sporting a single pink ribbon because this is her first year as a survivor. In twenty years, she'll have twenty ribbons on her cap!



We walked in the Family Fun Walk. It was a leisurely 1-mile stroll around a shopping mall in Rogers, Arkansas.



There were lots of people.



There were lots of un-people, too!



This dog is just adorable. He was dressed for the Bark Walk. I think I heard that there were something like 700 dogs who participated. In addition, there was a 5-K run.



Mary and Roberta have picked up the pace here. Note the boa cuffs and ring.



This year's motto was "pink goes green." There's Roberta victoriously approaching the Finish Line. I like it that all five lights have turned green to give her the go-ahead.

The Ozark Race for the Cure this year raised about $900,000 and that's just in our neck of the woods.

Something became very clear to me during this race. In recent years I've had a friend diagnosed with multiple myeloma, another with adenocarcinoma, Bill with stage 0 melanoma, and Roberta with breast cancer. The guys--Bill, Bill, and Bob--with the other types of cancer don't have the same grass roots support for their forms of cancer as do the women who have had breast cancer. And do you know why? Women get things done!

As a post-script, my Bill is just fine. The mole was removed and the skin around it was clear. We return tomorrow for our quarterly skin checks. Bob, who had multiple myeloma, is also doing well and is cancer-free. My other friend, Bill, is currently in hospice. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.