Tutu's, Hearts and Hugs

The walk was called the Albany Pink Walk in Albany, Georgia, my hometown, and we were representing our childhood friend as Team Darla. The walk was a 5k – which is 2.97 miles; I panted 2.50 of those miles. It wasn’t a race, just a long, strolling, walk with hundreds of other people on several of the main travelled roads. I had no earthly idea what the exact route was for the trek, what roads it would involve; I was soon to find out.

The official beginning time of the walk was 10am and it was a cool, cloudy, and breezy morning. As we all begin walking, you could see nothing but pink for miles behind and ahead of us. About the time I was thinking how nice of a day it was for walking, I realized where our route was taking us, on a Saturday morning; one of the main roads that will take all shoppers to the Albany Mall. Horns began to honk, people were hollering out of car windows, and I was praying; that no one would see my big behind walking in a tutu. I mean I wish I had a picture to show you, but you all can imagine a circus elephant with a pink tutu wrapped around its waist can’t you? Well, that’s pretty darn close to the reality of it all.

We had a big group of girls, some walked faster than others and some slower, so as you can imagine, we began to drift apart and separate. I won’t make you guess which group I was in, I’ll just tell you the girls in MY group were all talking about water and thirsting to death but not wanting to drink for fear of having to use one of the strategically placed port-o-potties along our route, and wondering out loud where all the medics were that we heard would be following the crowd around, and if anyone would notice if we took a short-cut through the woods instead of taking the last of the trail to the finish line.

We did not cheat, we finished. Truthfully because “our cause”, Darla, called someone’s cell phone

during the last part of the walk, threatening to get out of bed to come help us. Nothing quite like that kind of guilt trip to get you to the finish line.

Another good weekend, full of love, laughter, and wonderful women. The following words carry great value because the message is important: I believe at my age, not only is my physical health important, so is my mental health. I’m re-learning that life is just as much about friends as it is family. It has to be a mixture of it all, because I’m more than just a mother and a wife. I used to be just a girl, and some days, I am still, just a woman. A woman who vows to be there for others, surrounded by childhood friends who are doing the same; walking our hearts out for another childhood friend, doing whatever it takes to find a cure.