My dear friend L spent the last nine months walking, preparing herself for the Breast Cancer 3-Day, held this past weekend. She was the very symbol of struggle and determination, walking so much that at one point she broke her foot, just from all the walking.

But she didn’t let it stop her. She got her boot and her physical therapy, and she kept working out even when she couldn’t walk. Then as soon as she was able, she started walking again. She raised her money, she trained and trained, and the excitement mounted as the day drew near.

She started her 60-mile walk on the morning of Friday November 6. She made it through a whole day of walking, exhausted and footsore. She was camping out Friday night when her body told her she needed to stop. Sick and vomitting Friday night and all day Saturday, she had to nurse herself back to health, while her fellow walkers walked on. But she was back on the road Sunday, determined to finish what she started.

This grueling walk is meant to symbolize a struggle, a fight, determination to defeat death, disease and hardship. It was 3000 people walking strong, leaning on each other, for life. I just don’t know how anyone’s struggle could have been more symbolic than my L’s, that she would start strong, then get sick, then come out strong in the end.

Linster, you are my hero.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 9:17 pm and is filed under road tripping, sweetness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.