Closing Ceremonies- Spirit of Community

Hello everyone,
Well, the walks are over and I am very proud to say that the Centurians have raised over $120,000 for breast cancer research across Canada. WOW...that is a lot of money. I am proud to be associated (in a distant way) with a company out in Elmira called PIB/RWAM. There are approximately 200 people in this office who organized raffles and bake sales to raise money for breast cancer research. These raffles and bake sales were an incredible success. People worked very hard and they raised an amazing $18,000. The people in this company have a very strong sense of community. A fellow by the name of Bruce Burnham had a hand in it also. Turns out Bruce's family tree took a wrong turn some generations ago and we are actually distant cousins. Bruce's last name "Burnham" was my father's middle name. I am sure Bruce has hoped that the "distance" in distance cousin was greater but no such luck! Thank you to each and everyone of you. You overwhelmed me.
Joe Wellman is involved with an association that is called the Knights of the Priory. This priory has a very long history and is a world wide organization. They had a gala night back in May to raise money for breast cancer research. This night raised and incredible amount of money, over $14,000 to be exact. Joe and his wife Christine worked very hard to make this night a success and boy was it ever. To Joe, Christine and to the Knights of Priory and the people involved in this great organization. Thank you. You too overwhelmed me with your support.
Some of us have decided to go to the closing ceremonies and it for me it was the perfect ending to a perfect adventure. At four o'clock the last walkers came in and the volunteers, walkers, survivors and all of their friends and family headed in to the Direct Energy building at the Ex.
I would guess there must be close to 7500 people here between the spectators and the people involved in the event. The spectators are seated in the bleacher seats, the walkers and volunteers are in the middle of the lobby and they have the survivors lined up on either sides of the walls. I would guess that there were about 500 survivors all with our pink shirts on that say "LEAVE YOUR MARK. I DID"....There are women of all ages here from ages of mid 20's and up. Seeing that many pink shirts is a very powerful sight. It is very emotional and there are lots of tears. For the triumphs we just had and the feeling of strength we are celebrating, to the emptiness that in your heart for the ones we are missing. It is such a high and a very emotional low all at the same time.
The hall is very hot and I have my pink shirt around my shoulders until we have to entered the main hall. In hindsight this was great planning on my part because I was the only red shirt with BELIEVE in a sea of pink so I was able to been seen my teammates and friends.
I am at the end of the line and from in the lobby you start to hear this dull roar that gets louder and louder. Your thoughts are no longer looking inward and I look up and the roar is loud now...real loud. People are just clapping. And clapping louder. For about one minute...people just clapping feeling the excitement of the moment. Standing there...letting this noise surround me. It is not noise though...it is not just clapping....it is people coming together in this spirit that is now in the room. This spirit of community. This spirit of hope and vision. A vision that includes the belief that breast cancer will be beaten. You can feel it. It is the greatest irony that cancer has. It works so hard to beat the human spirit but in reality it unites us. It is uniting us now in this hall. You can feel the same thought...with this type of commitment, dedication and love...this disease cannot win. It is not strong enough and the clapping is only one sign of just how strong our spirit is, how strong our community is.
This is when you see the first white shirts walking towards us. Their smiles are so wide, they are clapping at us, there are so many tears, tears in their eyes, tears in ours...the survivors. These white shirts, they are the volunteers. The wonderful volunteers who give so much to us as walkers. They are never without energy, a kind word and the right words of support. If it was not for the volunteers this weekend would not happen. I think I have said it before...I would much rather walk 60 kms then stand on my feet at intersections for hours in the heat or rain. Then stand on my feet handing out food and drinks all day. In Toronto, 12oo people volunteer for one weekend in September and I bet 500 of them walked by us. It is so nice to be able to thank them and acknowledge their support.
Next comes in a sea of red. No, not my team but rather the medical team. Again, just incredible people who basically spend their weekend tending to people's feet. There are lots of sore legs and knees but I would guess the majority of ailments would be blisters and lots of them. They have tears as do we. Again, we could not do this walk without them. Thank you.
Then come in the black shirts. These black shirts represent the people who work at CauseForce. There are only 30 of them but they are a powerful force. They have so much invested in this weekend and all of the weekends. Each one of these people travelled across the country and have been at each of the cities. You can see the exhaustion in their faces but at the same time they are so elated. The energy of Toronto is just what they needed. Thank you to all the people of CauseForce. You are an incredible group of people who are very dedicated and professional people who also just happen to have huge hearts. Thank you.
Then...most fitting....Chad. Chad is leading the way into the hall with all of the blue shirts. Somewhere in the crowd his Mom is waiting for him. These blue shirts represent the walkers. The walkers who are walking for their families, friends and neighbours. Just an incredible sea of baby blue shirts. People in baby blue walking towards us and they are probably eight across. It is an incredible sight. I know my friends are in this sea, that Karen and Joseph are there and that Bev and Tina are there (Joanne's mother-in-law and sister-in-law) and that this sea, that is walking to me....walked for us....survivors...I know that in their eyes, these pink shirts also represent the ones they know who did not survive...the memories of people they hold so dear and miss so much. I know that while I am standing there clapping... I represent a memory... because I am also representing my Mom and her memory. It is an honour to represent so much.
So, as we are standing there and the noise is so loud, out from the blue sea comes Karen and Joseph. She has tears in her eyes so do I. As I am there giving her a hug, I think of all the people that have supported Pat and I. How we were not doing this alone but we have a huge wave of support that we have been riding since the first weekend in June in Ottawa. I am sure Karen and Joseph have huge support also, but just having friends walking and crewing for you makes such a difference. They did it though and I am very proud of them.
Then the next people I see from this sea of people are Bev and Tina. Joanne's in-laws. It is such an emotional moment for me. Seeing Bev and Tina just brings my whole year full circle for me. Standing here in this hall at this moment with them is perfect. It was while I was watching Joanne and her whole family that I realized that in despite of this great loss named Joanne, something was rising because of it. A sense of community. A sense of unity. This was all around me in the hall and now, it was right here in front of me. The best part of community and unity are here. I wish I could describe it better, but I can't. It is hard to put into words what the simply actions of how people go about living their daily lives, inspires you to want to do better. They just do. I will always remember it as one of the best hugs that I have ever given or better yet received.
By now I am starting to worry a little bit that I have missed my team. Maybe they walked down the right side of the hall and I was on the left. I cannot believe the amount of walkers. It is overwhelming. This sea of blue shirts just keeps coming with no end in sight. Finally, I see Tanis and Deb and the rest of the team. This beach ball that has followed me around all summer is back. It is now doubled in size! They represent to me what I did not appreciate until December 3, 2002 and that is just how lucky I am. I knew I was never alone in my fight. I had a whole group of people behind me who were my community and were unified with me in fighting my fight. Those were good hugs too!
So you must be thinking...wow...MJ is really doing a lot of thinking standing there. Truth is, this is not an exaggeration....I was standing there clapping for at least 12 minutes. I was trying to time it. There must of been at least 2,500 people who walked by me in their blue shirts. My arms were sore because of course I was clapping at each walker/volunteer who walked by me and I should of made this part of my training routine. I was bound and determined though not to stop for anyone. So as the last walker goes by in their blue shirt it is now our turn. Since I am near the end, closest to the hall where everyone is now waiting for us to enter I now watch this sea of pink shirts walk by me. Again, the sheer numbers amaze and sadden me at the same time. I estimate that there is probably close to 700 pink shirts in the room. This number does not include the ones who have already left to go home to soak their feet. I now see that we probably have as many survivors walking in Toronto and we had in some cities in Canada. As we hold hands, united by the fight we have fought, now part of a community that involves the word "cancer" we enter the hall. As we enter, the reception we receive is almost deafening. Little kids hanging over the sides of the bleachers waving to us...people giving us high five's and clapping and crying all at the same time. The emotion is so high. There in a small arena in downtown Toronto, on a Sunday afternoon in September are 7,500 people who don't know each other, celebrating together and crying together. All have a common goal...to see the end of breast cancer. Until this happens a little community will be formed each weekend in September and the people of that community will be unified in the belief that they will be making a difference. They already are.
To my Mom and Joanne who will continue to be my courage and inspiration.
With love and thanks,
M.J.