Avon Breast Cancer Walk continued...
Saturday night was quite comfortable in our snug little tent. Jan put in her earplugs and went right to sleep. After walking a marathon I imagine she was a little knackered. I didn't sleep well at all, but it was okay. I lay there with no anxiety about needing to sleep; it was so relaxing.
For the first year I didn't hear anyone snoring. Loved it. Sleeping on the ground is a little uncomfortable sometimes when you're older, yet I just love it. I have a decent sleeping pad, and a wonderful sleeping bag. No reason for not sleeping. Except hearing the wind pick up, then dying down, then rain literally assaulting us, then stop, no wind, then the wind picking up again. Interesting. And we were dry and I felt safe.
When I got up once during the night to go to the bathroom I could see without using my flashlight. It was so quiet. Then I saw other figures wandering back and forth--some with flashlights, some without--but all in their sleeping clothes. I didn't see anyone's faces, but they all looked like women and my thought was that they were probably middle aged or older. We tend the be the overnight bathroom people.
Once again Jane and Deb had to be up before Jan and I. But we got up at nearly the same time because we wanted to have breakfast with them. They slept in the next tent, but they didn't sleep well either. But they had a very good reason since their sleeping bags were wet and they slept on plastic. If I'd known ahead of time I could have given them my bag and just slept on my pad. I didn't cover up anyway. But hindsight is 20/20 as they say.
Jan met some neat ladies as she walked on Sunday. She said they'll stay friends. We took tons of pictures of Jan crossing the finish line with her new buddies. Then we staged one of her crossing the line alone. We're already thinking of pictures for her next year's web page. Took photos of us three sisters in our Victory Shirts too. Plus some with Debbie.
Closing ceremonies were short. Everyone was beat. And it's always hard for me to stand still after being on my feet so much in two days. I could still walk well, but standing was difficult.
My favorite parts of closing ceremonies:
They talk about how every three minutes someone in the US gets diagnosed with breast cancer. And every three minutes during the walk, they randomly choose someone to get a huge pink ribbon around their neck that says Every Three Minutes...
This happens every three minutes even during the night because "cancer doesn't sleep." But during the night the ribbon is enclosed in a plastic bag and put in front of someone's tent.
I've gotten a ribbon each year. It's very moving to know that you're representing someone who was diagnosed.
The other thing I love about Closing Ceremonies is a video on the jumbo screen. It's just people saying thank you. Over and over again. One person after another. And you know you are helping to save lives.
I have to close on that.
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