Stay Anchored in Hope

Well, my journey has reached the end. It was amazing.

First off, I have to say that completing my 120-mile journey to save breasts was not the only amazing thing I managed to accomplish today. Today, at the second Cheering Station, I took out the ring I’d carried for nearly 60 miles, dropped down on one knee and proposed to my awesome and spectacular soulmate, Mary. Of course, she said yes. I had Justyce take pictures for posterity, as she knew that I was going to do it and had somehow kept the secret for almost two weeks. Mary *knew* I was going to ask eventually (c’mon, she did move out here to be with me, it’s not a real shocker!), and I had already asked her parents for permission to do so, which they granted. Just for the record, we’re planning an August 2010 wedding, the weekend after I walk the Michigan 3-Day for the Cure, which is the weekend after I walk the Chicago 3-Day for the Cure. August 21, 2010 is the big day. At least that’s the hope right now, we’ll find out shortly if the Navy disagrees with our plans…

Again, in all honesty, I took a sweep van today. Today I bypassed 1.5 miles between a cheering station and lunch. But, it was the significance of the 1.5 miles that are what made me take the sweep van and skip them-it was the hill coming up Juan Street. It’s a pretty brutal hill, and although we trained on it (Thanks Roxanne!), with my blisters, there was no way I would have been able to hobble up it. No chance. The blisters I had that started in Arizona have morphed into something pretty gnarly, and my feet were in a lot of pain (particularly my left one). I went to lunch, then had Nurse Shelly dress my blisters. She had to pop a couple, lance a couple off, and dress several. AGAIN, I learned that if I just go to the Medical Tent and let them do their thing, that everything feels better. I learned that last year, at least I thought I did, but then because of the not-great experience I had in Arizona with their Medical Tent (twice they told me to come back later, despite not even being busy), I had been taking care of them all weekend on my own, and I was in a lot of pain. Once Nurse Shelly took care of my blisters, I had a spring in my step and was rarin’ to go all the way to the finish line.

It was another beautiful walk today. Not quite the beach walk, but a beautiful walk none-the-less. We walked a great deal in Ocean Beach, which was where we trained. Essentially I’d walked the entire route before in training. The only rough part was a few-mile stretch where there’s no sweep van access, no real cheering, and just walking along a water basin. But, again, I’d trained on that, so it wasn’t too bad to be honest.

Shortly into my day, I came across a woman holding up the 60 Mile Men calendar (to a random month). I told her to change it to December, and she saw my sash and realized it was me and was very happy, had her picture taken with me (holding the calendar) and everything. It seems she’s a friend of one of my teammates (Karen K.) and Karen had bought the calendar for her (I’d autographed it as well). She was so excited she gave me a beer. As a matter of fact, I think today I had the most alcohol during the walk that I’ve ever had. I had that beer, beer from the Titty Tavern, some vodka/lemonade shots, a mimosa with Kimberly and Marissa (dollar mimosa’s) and probably another beer or two (not full beers, other than the one Jill gave me). It helped make the day go well.

So, today I wore the booby hat that Karen (from work) had made me. It was a big hit, I kept getting told “nice rack”. I also, for a little while, carried around the flag that honored my donors and the Breast Cancer victims on it. I say for a little bit, because it was in my Camelbak, and shortly after I’d got it (from Mary), I lost it. I have no idea where it went. I’ve emailed the event coordinators to see if anyone turned it back in. Mary spent a lot of time on that, I’m disappointed I lost it so quickly. She says she’s not, but I would rather have it back anyway. I also wore my “Boobies make me smile” shirt. For me, this was my “tame” day out of the six days.

The cheering stations today were the greatest. By far. There were so many people out, whether it was at actual cheering stations or just along the route, it was very easy to keep going and keep your spirits high. I swear the Balboa Park cheering station stretched a mile and a half. Anyway, other than finally proposing to Mary, the fact that the girls both got to be there at the cheering stations all day meant a lot to me.

I didn’t get my typical pictures at the end…I didn’t get a picture of my badge with all the buttons and pins that I’d gotten on this walk, I didn’t get the pic of me just past the finish line in the shirt/outfit I was wearing when I crossed it (I typically do that and then do my pic by the Day 3 sign in my Victory shirt), and I didn’t get my typical “shoe-high-in-the-air” pic. Why? Well, because I didn’t put all my buttons/pins on my badge, that’s why I didn’t get that one. For the first pic in front of the Day 3 sign, it was because I couldn’t find the sign easily (they moved it from last year) so I ended up changing first. And, I didn’t get to do the shoe thing, because I was on-stage holding the “My Sister” flag again. I didn’t even walk the “Victory Mile” because I was already backstage. It was very interesting to see things from the spectator angle (the mass of nearly 4000 walkers coming in, which took probably 20 minutes) and from stage instead of in front of it in the crowd.

I’m going to end this now, finally (no more daily “wrapups” from me!) and just say that although I’m in a lot of pain (my left foot is killing me, I relish the experience I just had and really, truly believe that I have made a difference in the world.

I do have to say that this has likely been the best year of my life, and since we’re in the week of Thanksgiving, I’ll say that I’m thankful for my fiancee Mary and all the support she has shown in the past few weeks, hell, few months (with the training walks and all the money I spent for items for the 3-Day). I would not have had such a wonderful time if it wasn’t for her love and support. Oh yeah, and I love my future wifey.