Usually not much for cheerleading, rah-rah events. Our daughter participated in a three day, sixty mile cancer walk this past weekend. Did what we could to help her. It was an emotional and moving event.

Contribute some, whatever is convenient, to fundraisers each year. Need to be solicited by someone significant. Learned something new this weekend. Need to contribute more than “is convenient”.

Watching the walkers, cheering them on, seeing them appreciate our dog because they had left theirs to do the walk, reunions with babies, husbands, families cheering along the walk. As I said, emotional and moving.

At the finish line, we watched a bunch of them come across. So many with ace bandages, knee and ankle braces, limps and shuffles, including our daughter. Almost could see the bloody footprints. But all of them cheering and yelling. 2400 walkers, 300 crew members, countless volunteer police traffic controllers, business contributors, cheerers, horn blowers. It was a big deal. And it raised 7.3 million dollars. As I said, emotional and moving.

Laura collected from friends and relatives, baked for a week to give a bake sale, held an afternoon happy hour at a city bar.

Below is her account. She and her friends Jo and Shannon were the “Walking With Winos” group and Mo is Jo's husband and was a crew member.

"I wanted to thank you all for everything that you did to help me accomplish our walk this past weekend!  It was tough!  60 miles is a really long way and I definitely feel like I really accomplished something by finishing every single mile.  Believe me, if it hadn't been for Shannon and Jo and Mo, I would have opted for the pick-up van around mile 10 every day.

For those interested, here is a recap of what the weekend was like:

Friday: We woke up at 5 I think, my parents made us breakfast and drove us to Potomac Mills.  There was a very moving opening ceremony that introduced us to survivors and reinforced in our head that this walk will be tough but nothing compared to chemo.  It was an incredibly long wait to get started and so I don't think we actually started our walk until 9.  They had pit stops every few miles so we were definitely not left wanting for food or fluids or port-a-potties.  Our route took us around the Potomac Mills area and we ended up in Occoquan and camped at the Occoquan Regional Park.  We saw Mo at the last pit stop and he lightened our load both physically and emotionally by taking our jackets that we no longer needed and by being dressed up as a prince (each pit stop had a theme and theirs was Cinderella?).  We didn't come in until about 6:00 that night!  We were appalled!  We came in 2300 out of 2400.  We immediately set up our tent, showered, ate, and went to bed (asleep by 9).  No time for relaxing at all.  Lesson learned from day 1: no need to stop at every pit stop and don't lolly-gag behind the slowpokes in front of you.

Saturday: We started walking soon after sunrise.  Our route today took us around Lorton Prison (now closed but pretty cool to walk by) and briefly into Fairfax.  At about mile 12, there was a cheering station where my parents came and brought my dog Callie.  My feet were REALLY hurting at this point but it was so great to see Mom and Dad and Callie that it definitely brightened the rest of the day.  At about mile 14, I realized I wasn't going to make it unless I had a serious change in attitude so I became the most optimistic person out there (all forced of course) and to alleviate the pain in my feet danced for a good portion of the remaining miles.  Sounds weird I know but seriously your feet can take only so much of the same repetitive movement and dancing definitely made use of different parts of my feet.  Shannon and Jo helped by singing.  I think we made quite a spectacle.  :)  We saw Mo again at the last pit stop…that day he was Fonzie for their 50's theme.  Lesson from day 2:  negativity gets you NOWHERE and being positive and silly really lightens the load and either gives your fellow walkers some enjoyment or at the least gives them something to talk about.  So it's all good!  And we came in at around 1080 so a BIG improvement from the day before AND it was about 3:00 so we had time to relax!

Sunday: We had to pack and take down our tents and board a bus to take us into Arlington.  As we sat on the bus we watched as we went on 395 (looking familiar), took King Street (looking really familiar), went into Fairlington (okay, this is getting ridiculous!), and stopped at the Fairlington Community Center where I vote and is less than half a mile from my home.  So I quickly called my parents and had my Dad walk Callie to us…the perfect start of the day!  The night's rest had alleviated a lot of my pain (for the moment) so we were able to enjoy the walk through Arlington and across Key Bridge into Georgetown.  It was about Georgetown that my feet started hurting again.  I couldn't muster up the same amount of positivity as the day before so discovered that walking really fast makes you not realize just how much your feet hurt.  That helped a lot and made the miles just whiz by.  That worked until we were 4 miles from the end.  I didn't know how I was going to make it.  So close!!!  But so far.  Then Shannon and Jo mentioned how if we finish early enough we could get wine after finishing.  OK there was the incentive I needed.  We finished (after seeing Mo dressed as the Statue of Liberty at their patriotic pit stop) at about 4 (ranked around 1200 I think) and went to the Renaissance Hotel for the use of a lovely bathroom!!!!! And to partake of a bottle (and some extra) of wine.  That made us feel good for the closing ceremonies where our lateness from drinking put us at the front of the procession into the ceremonies.  Since we were drinking we hadn't changed into the shirts that everyone else was wearing so we really stood out.  The closing ceremonies were great and life-affirming and made us cry (or was that the wine?).  We definitely realized how much we can accomplish and how much pain and effort we can stand when we have people that mean a lot to us nearby.  Oh and that wine oh so helps all the painful things in life just disappear.  :)

Thanks again for everyone's help!  I couldn't have done it without every single one of you!

Laura, Shannon, and Jo Team Walking With Winos"

Just reading it brings the lump back. When you get the opportunity, cheer, honk, contribute.

Sometimes thoughts are just too insistent to keep in. Our daughter is on a three day, 60 mile cancer walk. Deserves a post but that will have to wait.

Wouldn't it be nice if in fifty years, their version of historians and talking heads would bring up the Invasion of Iraq and say it was the stroke of genius that saved untold lives and prevented unspeakable horrors. True, the odds are not good that this will be but it is in the realm of possibility.

Said it before and will say it again, however, we should not have attacked. In the movies of my formative years, the good guy did not slap leather first. And God was on his side. I like the Twenty-fourth Psalm. Part of it says: "Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in his holy place? He who hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul to vanity nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessings of the Lord and rightiousness from the God of his salvation. He shall be shone the face of God. He shall be shown the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your heads ye gates, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord of hosts, mighty in battle." We, the attackers, do not have clean hands not a pure heart. And who is more vain? Nor more deceitful? The Lord, mighty in battle (armed warfare and economic) is against us. Thanks, Bush and Cheney, for your dirty hands and impure hearts, your vanity, your deceit. We are paying, our children and grandchildren will pay. We have a long, uphill battle and God will hide His face from us. Lots of lives and treasure.

But that is all in the past, now. We should not be there. But we are.

The dream of a democratic Iraq is a neat dream. And it is a possibility. Not likely but a possibility. But it is the problem of taking a feudal civilization and making it into a modern one. It took us over a hundred years just to settle the Articles of Confederacy vs the Constitution. The Civil War - aka War for States Rights, War of Northern Aggression - just to see if the right to secede is part of the deal. And we want to drag feudal Iraq kicking and screaming into a democracy in five years? Ten years?

Give the point to McCain on this one. The dream of stability in the region is a good one. A strong American presence in Iraq, now that we have broken it, gives some stability and security against the corruption and tribalism that is certain to obtain if we allow it. And it may take a peace-keeping force there for a long time.

A couple of points first. Please read the Blogstream Service Notice. Sorry that I made comments about this.

Also, just returned from an absolutely delightful trip around New England thanks to our Laura. More on this when we get organized.

Today sent a note to my Congresswoman about The Failure of the Century (Congress' failure). She voted against the bailout. When 80% of Americans are in favor of it (CNN poll) and a vast majority of the economic experts interviewed said we need it, how can Congress be so politically partisan and selfcentered? Anyone wish to make a contribution to my retirement fund? Not an economic expert but do not wish to live under the overpass with the homeless.

Always knew Pelosi is an idiot. And a bunch of Democratic Congressmen voted against the bill. A big minus for the Democrats.

The Republican reaction and a big bunch of Republican Congressmen voting against it is a big, big minus for the Republicans.

As for the voting checkoff list. Alvin for President. The Bull Moose Party for us! But let's get real folks, we have to live with either McCain or Obama, Republicans or Democrats. Which one will be out of the frying pan and into the fire? A slight advantage for the Democrats and Obama. The Republicans have shot themselves in the foot - or some place more painful.

A memorable day. We start a week-and-a-half tour around New England thanks to one of our daughters. Another part of our 50th wedding anniversary celebration. Look out, all you Yankees, here we come.

Could have written about Washington's Farewell Address made on this date in 1796 but already did that. Could have written about the Battle of Sharpsburg (also called the Battle of Antietam) which took place on this date in 1862. But our 50th is really significant.

Will be away from a computer (isn't that what a vacation is supposed to do?) for a while, anyway. See y'all in a bit.