When Tina S. submitted her winning haiku for this month’s 3-Day contest, she wanted to capture the emotion, purpose and perspective that is deeply personal.
“My mother is a 16-year survivor. She had two different types of breast cancer, one in each breast, at the same time,” Tina said. “It was really tough to watch. She was in so much pain, and I felt like I didn’t do enough.”
Finding the 3-Day
Three years ago, Tina was introduced to the Susan G. Komen 3-Day® and her team, Pink Soles in Motion, by one of her best friends Nadia Martin. What began as a way to get involved quickly became something much more.
At first, she didn’t fully understand what she had signed up for.
“Nadia told me it was 20 miles, and I know she said it was three days, but it didn’t click that it was 20 miles each day,” Tina said.
That realization came during her first training walk.
“Our captain asked how I felt about walking three days, and my jaw dropped,” she said. “I thought it was 20 miles total. That’s something we still laugh about.”
Since then, Tina has completed the Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day twice, but nothing could have prepared her for the emotional impact of the walk.
“It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before,” she said. “Walking alongside so many different women, all of these different stories, all of these different stages. I know what my mom went through, but this opened my eyes to so much more.”
The Meaning Behind the 3-Day Haiku
That emotional complexity is what inspired Tina’s winning haiku.
“It’s not all sunshine and roses. It’s not all Pink Bubble. There’s sadness and tears,” Tina said. “The first year I walked with Nadia, there was a photo taken where she’s crying. She had plantar fasciitis, and she had to stop because of the pain. She was devastated. It’s just so many emotions rolled into three days.”
Tina said she intentionally reflected both sorrow and hope in her poem.
“People say, ‘We walk until we find a cure,’ but the reality is more complex, and that’s what I wanted to reflect in the haiku,” she said.
Showing Up for Others
After two years of walking in Dallas/Fort Worth, Tina is continuing her 3-Day journey in new ways. This year, she will walk Day 3 in DFW and host a cheer station during the first two days.
“The cheer stations are what kept me going,” she said. “Now I want to be that support for others.”
But it’s the emotion of the 3-Day’s Closing Ceremony that continues to bring her back.
“There were women I walked with who I knew wouldn’t be there the next year,” Tina said in tears. “That’s the hardest reality. I’m grateful my mom is a survivor, but not everyone is. That’s why I keep showing up … for those people who can’t come back.”
Tina will also be walking the Tampa Bay 3-Day in 2027 and hopes to continue expanding her participation in the years to come.
“I want to experience every part of the 3-Day,” she added. “I’d love to volunteer, too.”
To learn more about the 3-Day, visit the3day.org.
