Tag Archives: Susan G. Komen 3-Day® Series

A Friend from the Past

Julie and Jordan finish off Day 2 on the Susan G. Komen San Diego 3-Day

Julie and Jordan finish off Day 2 on the Susan G. Komen San Diego 3-Day

“I can barely remember to log into Facebook,” recounts Julie Long who is participating in her 27th Susan G. Komen 3-Day® event this weekend in San Diego, with her daughter, Jordan, who is walking for the first time. “I managed to follow the instructions on The3Day.org and added the Komen 3-Day link to my Facebook page. And so begins the story of the power of Facebook and the kindness of (almost) strangers.”

A few weeks ago, Julie received an email notification that a $200 donation had been made to her 3-Day fundraising. “The name of the donor was listed, and while it sounded familiar, I wasn’t exactly sure who it was,” recalled Julie. “I went to my Participant Center in the hopes that the donor had left a message which would help me identify who it was.” The message was simple:

‘Julie, congratulations on participating in this wonderful event. I stumbled upon your site and since I have a memory of being in your 8th grade homeroom class the year you lost your mother, I know how personal a cause this must be. I am more than happy to contribute on your behalf. Keep walking, you’re making a difference! Richard P-W.’

Julie continued, “The message might not sound so extraordinary, except that the memory Richard is referring to was an announcement made by my 8th grade homeroom teacher 41 years ago. It’s a memory of a terrible day and a terrible announcement. My teacher did not realize I had returned to school, as my mother died of breast cancer over our spring break. She had not realized that I was sitting there until 32 heads turned towards the back of the room where I sat sobbing.”

The walkers on the Komen 3-Day in San Diego line up to start the route

The walkers on the San Diego 3-Day line up to start the route

Once Julie stopped crying after reading his message, she emailed Richard to thank him. He called and they spoke for several minutes. They had only spoken a handful of times over the years (as often happens with classmates), but he recounted that he had never forgotten that day over the last 41 years.

Julie and Jorden in traditional pink tutus, take on the San Diego 3-Day route on the final day of walking

Julie and Jorden, in traditional pink tutus, take on the San Diego 3-Day route on the final day of walking

“The 3-Day has given me an opportunity to share my grief and my hope with a community that is committed to finding a cure for breast cancer,” says Julie with conviction. “It is a world where the kindness of strangers is not uncommon.  My link on Facebook and my 3-Day story reminded someone of an event over 41 years ago, and turned someone who was essentially a stranger into a treasured friend.”

Say hello to Julie and Jordan today as they finish their 60 miles of walking for a cure on the San Diego 3-Day, and tell us about your miraculous fundraising stories!

“I Carry Your Heart With Me”

Poet e.e. cummings penned some of the most memorable lines in a love poem, which a close friend of mine recently read at his wedding. As an artist, my friend found the simple stanza to be worthy of the tribute that he gave to his bride of only a few hours: “i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)” While I have loved the poem myself since I first heard it, I recognized it again in visual form. I am much more accustomed to seeing the poetry of life through a lens, but the marriage of e.e. cummings’ lines met the reality of life this weekend on the Susan G. Komen 3-Day® in Arizona. The memorial of a face, obviously a loved one, was strapped to a dedicated 60-mile walker. The Komen 3-Day asks its participants to fundraise for breast cancer research in exchange for the physically demanding challenge of walking for three days and 60 miles.

Brenda carries images of her mother who passed away from breast cancer when she was 14 years old

I was enlightened suddenly by the scene that I had witnessed from Boston to Seattle and from Atlanta to Arizona. The physical reminder of a loved one who had been affected or who had passed away from breast cancer was literally being carried. It was the act of bringing that person as close as possible to themselves: not only their memory carried in the heart of the walker, but the image, the photograph, the tribute. The photograph of a person is often how we want to remember them, a powerful memoir to have on the journey that will tax them.

John walks out of Opening Ceremony on Day 1 of the Arizona 3-Day, wearing the shirt he has carried over 720 miles on Komen events this year

The walkers will often imprint t-shirts, a particularly poignant similarity to cummings’ lines: “(anywhere i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling).” The reminder of a loved one who is battling breast cancer or who has passed is often reviving to a participant on Day 2 when perhaps the heat of the desert starts to drain them emotionally.

Arizona Day 2

In the third stanza, the poet dives deeper into the relationship of his beloved by sharing with the reader “the deepest secret nobody knows” and then referring to this secret as “the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart.” After discussing why people walk the 3-Day over the past thirteen weeks, I have found that there are many “deepest secrets” that only begin to surface as someone explains their relationship to the person for whom they are walking. What they cannot or sometimes do not want to discuss is this relationship of deep love that will always be difficult to express in words.

But they carry them. They carry them deep in their hearts, and the poet finishes his work even more directly than he began: “i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)”.