I Carry Your Heart on the 3-Day

Happy New Year and welcome to 2017!

As we start another year of walking, fundraising and fighting breast cancer, it’s important to take this transitional time to look back—and look forward.

Last year, we had more than 6,500 walkers and 1,800 crew members at our seven walks. We had countless first-time walkers and even more returning veterans who walked 60 miles in sun and rain, up hills and through city streets.

All of this, every step and night spent in a pink tent, all is going towards a common purpose. It’s all adding up to one huge impact that will help Komen reach their Bold Goal: to reduce the current number of breast cancer deaths by 50% in the U.S. by 2026.

It’s important to always keep that goal in mind. It’s also important to keep those affected by breast cancer in your hearts. Survivors, families, friends, and especially those who have been lost.

A few years ago, we created a video of walkers who took part in the 3-Day in memory of a loved one lost. They carry the memory of those people in their hearts. They told us their stories, and read passages from the famous E.E. Cummings poem, [i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]. It’s a powerful message to never forget why we walk.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncbKJPkhDlU&w=560&h=315]

I know I personally am honored to be the 3-Day’s Senior Social Media Coordinator this year! I am new to the 3-Day team, but I am thrilled to be working with such an amazing community. Your dedication, positive attitude and support of each other are at the heart of our cause. Each and every one of you are the reason I love my job!

I am looking forward to getting to know and connecting with all of you throughout this season and whole year. Whether this is your first walk or you are a seasoned veteran, I am here to answer your questions, help you achieve your fundraising goals, and share all your accomplishments with our online community. Follow along with our social media channels on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube to catch all our great posts leading up to, during and after the 3-Day!

Until I can meet you at one of the upcoming 2017 3-Days, I know you all will be carrying love in your hearts, just as I carry it in mine. You will be carrying the love of those who walk alongside you, who walked before you, and in whose memory you walk.

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Burt’s Bench: Meet Burt L., 3-Day Walker

There is a bench on Day 3 of the Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day. It’s a beautiful bench, as far as benches go, with a shiny, smooth steel construction, and elegantly turned legs. It’s seated on a platform of river rocks, overlooking a fountain framed by trees. The hundreds of 3-Dayers who walk by this bench in Curtis Park may think it’s just a bench, but to 23-time participant Burt Lipshie it’s more than just a bench. This bench is the last place he talked to his cousin before she died of breast cancer.

Burt’s cousin Judy is “my dearest, sweetest cousin in the whole world. Breast cancer killed her in 2004.”

It seems like a twist of fate brought Burt to the 3-Day. “A month or so after she died, I’m sitting in my office in New York, and Judy is everywhere. She’s just everywhere. It’s a hard thing to describe.”

Burt sent an email to Judy’s daughters, saying, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m having a Judy day today.” They wrote back and said they were not surprised, because they were, too. Why were they having a “Judy day,” other than dearly missing their mom?

Their answer to him: “We think our mom is proud of us because we just signed up to walk the 3-Day.”

Burt knew immediately that he would support the 3-Day. “I told them that I would donate… and I thought about it for two days. And then, I thought, no. They can’t do this without me. I’m going to do it too.”

Just two days later, Burt was signed up for his first ever 3-Day. “I had to find some way to fight back. This is the most meaningful way to fight back.”

There was just one slight problem – the girls had already named their team “Juju’s Girls.”

“We changed the name to ‘Jujus Girls (And boy).’ We walked San Diego that year and I haven’t stopped. This is walk 23.”

What was this special woman like? Judy was “feisty.” Burt refused to tell her age, joking that he could hear Judy from heaven exclaiming, “Burt! What?! You’re telling my age?” She was the type of woman who was dying of breast cancer, but still taking care of her 91-year-old mother. Judy lived in Dallas most of her life, so Burt had plans to meet Judy at the Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day. But by then, she was too sick to do it.

Towards the very end of the 60-mile route, Burt took a break from walking. “I’m sitting on the bench and I called to see how she was doing, and we talked for about five minutes. An hour later I got the call.”

To Burt, the bench in Curtis Park isn’t just a bench. It’s a tangible memory, a place that marks the devastation of this disease. It’s a place he visits every year before he walks sixty miles in the Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day, an event that he’s raised more than $208,000 for. It’s a staggering sum that has no doubt helped countless men and women fighting breast cancer. By now, Burt is well-loved by all his fellow walkers and member of the 3-Day Crew. As Burt walks in his neon pink shoes and pink Yankees hat, walkers call out to him, “My man!” slapping high fives and posing for pictures.

The bench is symbolic to all of us, because many places in the world become like Burt’s bench, marking the last place and time you talked to somebody you love.

When Burt comes to the Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day, “It’s the first thing I do. I walk up Turtle Creek and I go up to the bench. And I sit on the bench for a little while, and I cry a little bit. And then I come back.”

Burt comes back because in this fight against breast cancer, you must always come back. You may be angry and grieving and devastated, but you must come back. Because, together, when we return to this fight, we are holding steadfast in our promise that we will never give up. And one day, Burt will sit on his bench and know that thanks to him and the help of people like you, more people like Judy will be saved.

The 2015 3-Day – Best of the Blog

If you’ve been a part of the Susan G. Komen 3-Day® in any way, you know how powerful sharing your story can be, as well as how meaningful it is to listen to the others’ stories. Our stories are what unite us together as a whole, as the Komen 3-Day community. Every week, we bring you some of those stories through the 3-Day® blog: stories that make us smile, stories that evoke emotion, stories that serve as helpful tools for achieving success on the 3-Day and stories that bring us closer together. Let’s take a look back at some of the best of the best blog posts from 2015. Whether you’re new to the 3-Day, a seasoned veteran or somewhere in between, with our wide variety of stories there’s truly something relevant to everyone. 3DAY_2016_Blog_TitleGraphics_BestoftheBlog_fp

The Community That Walks Together

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12 Things 3-Day Walkers Have to Explain to Outsiders –Let’s kick things off with this year’s most viewed blog post. There’s absolutely no other experience like participating in the 3-Day, and we’ve highlighted some of the event’s main features here (grahamwich goodness included).

The Insider’s Peek at the 3-Day Route – Part 1 (also see Part 2) -Here’s another one of our most viewed posts from 2015. The yellow brick road to the 3-Day finish line, known as the route, is the place where most walkers spend the majority of their waking hours while on the 3-Day. Maybe you’ve blazed the 3-Day trail many times or perhaps you’ll be hitting the ground walking your first event next year. Either way, get the exclusive behind-the-scenes scoop on all the detail and care that goes into planning the route (warning: hills ahead).

3-Day Training Walk Leaders Answer the Question: Why Should I Come to a Training Walk? -Walking 60 miles in 3 days is no easy feat. Even for the most athletic of us, the right kind of training isn’t something that should be overlooked. Throughout the year, our training walk leaders bring 3-Day walkers together not only to walk, but for a number of other reasons. Some of our training walk leaders explain the many benefits of attending official training events in this insightful blog post.

Participant Stories

Participant Stories

“I know she’s there.” –Anna’s Story -We see hundreds of people on every 3-Day event as extraordinary as Anna and her family. People who have endured pain that many of us can’t fathom. People who have celebrated small victories only then to be faced with indescribable losses. But people who also possess some of the strongest spirits of hope you could conceive. Tissues highly recommended while reading this story.

A Piglet Princess Makes Her 3-Day Debut -It’s all in the family. This cute and heartwarming story about how a daughter is following in her (famous) father’s footsteps, carrying on his unique 3-Day legacy in her own way, is guaranteed to brighten your day!

A Disruption of Pink – Seattle 3-Day Team GTM -When a family member was diagnosed with breast cancer last summer, one extended family decided to take action by forming a 3-Day team. What started out as the name of their high school basement band years ago, ended up becoming team GTM – a force of pink to be reckoned with.

How to Achieve Your Fundraising Goal

Fundraising

You Can Raise $2,300 in One Month -Did you know it’s possible to raise $2,300 in as little as one month? Say what?!? Find out how with this fun visual infographic.

Fundraising Strategy: Mark Your Calendars! -Of course, there are many strategies you could use to achieve your fundraising goal. We’ve got a whole section of our blog dedicated solely to fundraising tips and resources, which you can find here. Maybe your fundraising goal isn’t attainable in one month. What’s important is that you have a plan. A great strategy 3-Day coach, Eileen, shared with us involves assigning creative fundraising ideas to holidays and special events throughout the year.

How to Tell Your Story – A Guest Post by Coach Susan -Your story is very important; it is powerful and has the potential to impact others in extraordinary ways. However, at times, it can be difficult to share. One of our 3-Day coaches, Susan, gives her advice on how you can share your valuable story the way it deserves to be shared.

In Their Own Words – Featured Guest Posts

In Their Own Words

“Love will still be there…” –A Guest Post Love Story -“Cancer can’t change who you are or those qualities that you carry which someone who truly loves you will adore despite your cancer. I want that young survivor to keep hope, to keep dreaming, to not let fear take over the strength and beauty she has within her.” Rachel shares beautiful love story for the romantic and an empowering love letter to cancer survivors.

“I didn’t have to watch anymore. I could walk.” – A Guest Post -“This walk became one of the best things I could do for myself. The thing with cancer is it makes you feel helpless. You watch your mom become weak, her body a shell of what it once was…you watch. But with the 3-Day, I didn’t have to watch anymore. I could walk.” Carly opens up about her mother’s difficult battle with breast cancer, and why she, as a mother herself now, has walked eight 3-Day events.

10 Reasons to Register Today – A Guest Post by Jessica C. – 3-Day participants make sacrifices to be a part of the fight against breast cancer, but those sacrifices are not without reward. If you’ve ever considered walking the 3-Day before, we encourage you to expand your ideas on not only what you can give to the 3-Day, but what the 3-Day can give to you (and no, that’s not being selfish).

Be Prepared

3DAY_2015_Blog_EssentialTipsForTravelers

5 Essential Links to Prepare You for the 3-Day -You may want to bookmark this one for next year. We provide you with the resources you’ll need to make sure you’re ready to go for the 3-Day–from what to pack to walking hacks–all wrapped up in one short and sweet blog post.

Essential Tips for 3-Day Travelers – “It’s not just about the destination; it’s about the journey.” That journey doesn’t simply include the 3-Day itself, but also the travel and preparation it takes to get to the starting line. Travel can be stressful, but this useful guide will help you make your trip to and from the 3-Day as smooth as possible, that way, you’ll be a happy camper.

What’s in Your Pack? -As the saying goes: a good 3-Day walker is always prepared (or something along those lines). Do you have all the necessities needed to survive the 3-Day? See what essentials some of our seasoned 3-Day professionals keep in their packs.

Just For Fun

3DAY_2015_Blog_ThingsNoWalkerSaidEver

Things No 3-Day Walker Said, Ever – “We’d bet our fanny packs that there are some things you’ll never hear a Komen 3-Day walker say.” We brought out the silly side of the 3-Day in this hilarious blog post. Go ahead, have a laugh!

16 Ways to Pass the Time While Walking in the 3-Day – For 3-Day walkers, it takes about 8 hours to walk the 20-mile route each day, and even the most dazzling conversationalists sometimes run out of things to talk about during those many hours of walking. Or perhaps sometimes they just need a playful diversion. This list gives walkers some fun ways to pass the time to keep them focused on something other than how much their feet hurt or how badly they need a porta-potty.

9 Ways You Can Make Friends Through the 3-Day – On the 3-Day, we like to say “there are no strangers, just friends you haven’t met yet.” It’s no secret that we’re like one big, pink family. Learn more about the many ways in which the 3-Day is a fantastic opportunity to get to know other people and make meaningful connections.

What was your favorite post from 2015? Share in the comments below!

The 3-Day Blog

Tag Archives: inspiration

Burt’s Bench: Meet Burt L., 3-Day Walker

The 2015 3-Day – Best of the Blog