Friday, July 27, 2012

Day 1: 19.6 miles

Today's walk started off as the sun rose and tried to break through the clouds. It never did. Luckily I was able to finish the walk before the rains started at three o'clock. One surprise today was stopping in at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Natick where I served for several years. It was great to be greeted by Pat's warm smile. I made a new sign for the back of pack and hit the road. The stories are amazing. One woman, walking her 11th, was diagnosed after walking her third.  She walks onward. Her small cookie business enabled her to support the walks with tips to beat cancer, expand prevention  and make "pink" cookies.  She walked fast - enabled us to finish early. She had a long list of people she walked for - in memory of and to support. Lead on. Lead on.

Day 1: 19.6 miles

Today's walk started off as the sun rose and tried to break through
the clouds. It never did. Luckily I was able to finish the walk before
the rains started at three o'clock. One surprise today was stopping in
at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Natick where I served for several
years. It was great to be greeted by Pat's warm smile. I made a new
sign for the back of pack and hit the road.

The stories are amazing. One woman, walking her 11th, was diagnosed
after walking her third. She walks onward. Her small cookie business
enabled her to support the walks with tips to beat cancer, expand
prevention and make "pink" cookies. She walked fast - enabled us to
finish early. She had a long list of people she walked for - in memory
of and to support. Lead on. Lead on.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Day Before: Walking the walk again?


Here I go again. I will be literally walking the walk for the next three days. Well actually, here we go again. I am walking with Greg again this year. Hard to believe that our first 3Day walk for Breast Cancer was twelve years ago.  Over these years I have come to know more woman who have died from breast cancer. And I have gotten to know many more woman who have been diagnosed or are breast cancer survivors. Amazing stories each time. Amazing woman, each and every one of them. I do not know what it is like to wake up every day and wonder if “it is back”. I do not have exams every six months to see if I am clear.  Like anyone living with or the possibility of a terminal diagnosis, each person I have met has an amazing capacity to keep living life all the while caring for their bodies. Most of the women I know has access to health care (they have health insurance), thanks God. A few do not.

I am inspired by the woman who everyday make the choice“ I will NOT live my life in fear or  I WILL live my life in hope”. Rabbi Kushner reminds us that bad things do happen to good people every day. The question of faith is how do people/we respond to bad things. People of faith are defined by their actions/reactions to regular life events (cancer, car accidents, war, illness, unemployment, etc). I have come to believe (and agree with Kushner) that God does not cause suffering in our lives/world. God loves you – God loves all people – God loves all creation too much. God gives us the strength, resources and companionship to respond.

Tomorrow, when Greg and I set off to walk for three days with thousands of woman (and a few men), I will look to them hope, inspiration, strength, mind over pain to walk the walk as my body will inevitably fail me.

I choose hope today. Will you?

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Day 7- Synopsis

Hey y'all (southern lingo haha) today was a great last day of mission work. A big group of us went to an animal shelter to walk dogs, clean the cages, and play with and feed all of the animals. The organization was very grateful for all of our hard work. It's hard to believe that they do it all on their own! The other small group of us went to do some demolition! This included dry-walling and woodworking. It was a nice end to the working day, and the trip as a whole. We had dinner and then listened to Pete's lecture about hurricane Katrina and the city of New Orleans. Next, we went to the frequently visited Yogurt Land to get some dessert, although some of us chose to get ice cream across the street. We finished with a nice compline service featuring some music by Alex, Eliza R, Sarah, Matt R, and Craig. We are scheduled to leave tomorrow morning around 10:00 and we will be on our way back to MA. We are all very thankful for all of our wonderful experiences here!

Monday, July 2, 2012

Day 7- doggies who want a home

Day 7- Walking the pups!

Day 7- cleaning out crates

Day 7- cute cats!

Day 7- Animal Shelter

Day 6- Synopsis

Today was a great sabbath. We all had a lot of fun! First, we went to the church service in the previous Walgreens as we watched a couple of our St. D's members contribute in the choir. Mark also helping the vicor with the service and prayer. We met a lot of very hostile, nice people and went straight to lunch. From the lunch, we went to the aquarium which was awesome and interactive. After a couple hours of entertainment in the aquarium, we walked around a little, got a snack, and drove back to the apartment. Dinner was at a place called Cheescake Bistro which was very yummy!! Hopefully we will be rested up for our last day of hard work at the worksites. Well keep you posted!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Day 6- Church Service in the previous Walgreens

Day 5- the facility that provides kids some fun, education, and comfort

Day 5- at dinner!

Day 5- the new 20 ft tall wall

Day 5- on the boardwalk in front of the Mississippi River

Day 5- Synopsis

Hi all! Today was a very fun, relaxing day. First, early in the morning we went and got beignets at Café Du Monde. Then we broke up into small groups and toured some of the streets for the morning. One group shopped in a couple of shops and walked along the boardwalk, while the other group walked around as well. We had a quick bite to eat for lunch and headed back to the apartments where we met Koné, our tour guide for the afternoon. Koné shared lots of interesting information about New Orleans. First, he told us that around 130,000-140,000 people are still missing after Katrina, which is 1/3 of its original population. He added that around 90% truly want to come home. They have managed to get back the majority of the evacuates. Also, the cost of living has gone up 2.5 times since hurricane Katrina. He shared with us that 2/3 of medical facilities still haven't been opened since Katrina, and this area has the 2nd to worst medical health facilities in the United States. Another shocking fact is that 90% of the schools have not been opened since Katrina and 40% of young people (age 18 and under) did not have a guardian in their life after the hurricane came. Koné brought us around to the different districts in town and showed us both the devastation and rebuilding of the city. After the tour we went out to dinner at a yummy place called Sassafras and came back for some games and compline. It was an overall great day and we can't wait for our second fun day tomorrow!