This story is about breast cancer. I know for some it might be difficult if not impossible to read. I understand. I’m not one who likes to give or get spoilers but there are times when they are appropriate. Should you need to know any details before you make the decision to read this please contact me.

Epilogue

Friday, August 24, 2007

“Come on, guys,” Trixie said. “If you don’t hurry up, we’re going to be late.” It was almost six o’clock in the morning. She was dragging a duffle bag across the parking lot, heading to a row of large U-Haul vans looking for the one marked D.

“Trixie, we are not going to be late. Opening ceremonies don’t begin for at least another hour. It’s barely light out,” Honey said pulling her duffle bag in one hand while trying to balance a cup of coffee in the other.

“I know but we’ve been training for this event for so long. I can’t believe it’s finally here.”

The event was the Twin Cities Breast Cancer 3- Day Walk. For the next three days, the Bob-Whites would be participating in their latest service project. They would each be walking sixty miles for breast cancer research. Diana had read about the event about a year ago, right after Trixie had finished up her radiation therapy. She had been so excited about it that she convinced Mart to take her to the one in Philadelphia so they could see what it was all about and to cheer on the walkers. They were so impressed with how well the event was organized, they convinced the Bob-Whites to walk in one.

Once they decided to participate, they needed to decide which city they would walk in. They discussed walking in Philadelphia or Chicago but in the end, they decided to do the Twin Cities walk. Trixie and Jim had enjoyed the area when they had walked in the Race for the Cure the year before. Trixie had scheduled a follow -up appointment with Paul Jacobs for the day before the walk. The weekend also worked well because it was right before the official school year started. They also hoped that the weather wouldn’t be too hot.

Before they could participate, each had to raise $2,200. The dollar amount was not a problem and Matthew Wheeler had promised to match any funds raised. The students at Ten Acres Academy had joined in whole-heartedly. They had held several fundraisers to help the cause.

Drawing on the experience of the Bob-Whites, the students kicked off their fundraising efforts in early March with an ice show held on the Wheeler Lake. The students organized carnival activities, skating races, and other events. One of the highlights of the night was Trixie and Honey donning skates and skating to the music they had skated to more than twenty years ago. While they would have liked to have been able to do all of the moves they had done back then, they realized it wouldn’t be prudent to try.

An antique and art show and sale was held in April. Diana had the students make pottery items, beaded jewelry and quilted pieces to sell. In June, a bikeathon through the preserve and along Glen Road was held. It culminated with a huge picnic that was sponsored by the Sleepyside National Bank. A committee set up by the senior class ran each activity. In addition to the funds raised, it was a hands-on learning experience in organization, budgeting and team leading. When all was said and done the students raised about $6,000. The best part was the fun they had doing it.

Training for the event took advanced planning and creativity. It wasn’t something that you could just decide to do the week before the event and hope to make it. The group began training in early March. Because of the number of hours needed to properly train, everyone did something different.

Hallie had thought about participating in the event but in the end decided not to. Her and Dan’s son, Billy, would be almost a year old the weekend of the walk. She didn’t think that both she and Dan could adequately train for the event. When she found herself pregnant again in March, she knew she wouldn’t be walking.

Trixie took her training very seriously. Generally, she got up early in the morning to get her miles in. Some days she walked with Diana, but the truth was she really liked the solitude of walking by herself.

While Jim preferred walking outside, he knew that many days it would be difficult to do. He purchased treadmills for both at home and at the school. If he could get outside to walk, he usually took a student along and they would have a heart to heart talk about whatever was important. It didn’t take long for him to get used to reading reports, or answering e-mails or phone calls while he walked on the treadmill.

On days that Diana didn’t walk with Trixie, she would often walk with Mart during their lunch hour. On the weekends, they would often walk from their house out to the school depending on how far they needed to walk that day. Diana did not like to walk on a treadmill and was even known to walk in the rain.

Honey often enlisted Mickey to walk with her. She was impressed at how diligent he was. When on those days when she would have preferred to skip training, Mickey would guilt her into walking.

Dan and Brian became training partners. Years of working different shifts made it easy for both of them to work out just about any time of the day. They found they enjoyed each other’s companionable silence. While they had all been friends for years, Dan and Brian probably had the least in common. Their companionable walks forged a deeper friendship. Brian’s compassion and experience with death and dying made it tolerable for Dan to share some of the horrors he had experienced in Iraq.

When they needed to complete long walks of over fifteen miles, they often did it as a group. They would map out their route so they could take advantage of Mrs. Vanderpoel’s windmill cookies. Dan opened up Mr. Maypenny’s cabin and with the help of the older students at the Academy, served hunter’s stew. As the community became aware of the Bob-Whites endeavor, they came out in support as well.

Dan was especially touched when the Sleepyside Police Department provided a “pit stop” for them that included Captain Molinson’s famous barbeques. He finally felt like the police department didn’t resent him for what he had done with the McDaniels’ case.

Diana and her students had designed t-shirts for their team. Jim had been hesitant when Trixie suggested Bob-White Boobie Brigade as a team name. Diana explained that names like Dudes for Boobs and the Bra Busters were common, appropriate and acceptable names for this event. A few forlorn looks from Trixie, and Jim was convinced the name was not scandalous.

After they loaded their luggage into the appropriate U-Haul, they headed toward the main stage area. All around them were teams. Some of them were decked out in outlandish matching outfits and others were just wearing workout clothes. Of course, the majority of the walkers sported some sort of pink clothing. There were large groups of people and then there were people who appeared to be walking all by themselves. Everyone was abuzz with activity and excitement, and everyone was friendly. People were asking where they were from, why they were walking, how long they had trained.

The reasons people walked were varied. Some were walking because they were survivors or even going through chemotherapy or radiation treatments. They might only walk to the first pit stop. Others were walking for loved ones they had lost in the battle against this awful disease. And still there were others who had walked just to see if they could physically walk sixty miles in three days. Whatever their reasons, they approached the challenge with enthusiasm.

The Bob-Whites milled around talking about this and that. Honey was calling her parents to check on her kids. They had considered having the kids spend the weekend in Minneapolis with their grandparents visiting the Mall of America, the Minnesota Zoo, attending a Twins Baseball game and taking in the Minnesota State Fair. The logistics seemed to be difficult, so they decided instead to stay in Sleepyside. Mart and Brian were giving each other a hard time, talking smack about who would be the first person to get blisters. Dan had decided to place a call to Hallie to check on how she was doing. It would be difficult to call during the walk.

Jim noticed that Trixie had gotten quiet all of a sudden. He pulled her aside, wrapped his arms around her and asked, “Everything okay?”

Trixie embraced her husband. “All of a sudden it just overwhelmed me. I can’t believe all of these people sacrificed so much to walk in this event. Can you imagine all of the time that was put into the fund raising and training? I’m in awe.”

The holding area for the opening ceremonies was filling up. Only those who were actually walking in the event were allowed in this area. At seven thirty, the opening ceremonies began. Jenae, the master of ceremonies for the weekend’s events welcomed everyone and gave a rousing pep talk. When several breast cancer survivors carried in flags that gave reasons why people walked, tears flowed down Trixie’s, Di’s and Honey’s cheeks. Trixie looked over at her husband and noticed that he brushed something out of his eyes as well.

Instead of having a moment of silence to honor those who had been challenged by this awful disease, Jenae asked participants to shout out their names. Chills ran down Trixie’s spine as she heard each of the Bob-Whites call out her name. Then silently, one by one, each of them came up behind her and gave her a hug until they were all engulfed in a huge group hug.

Shortly after that the walkers began the end of their journey, the actual walk. Slowly 3,000 walkers made their way through the holding area and onto the course. It was slow walking to the first pit stop, about three miles from the beginning of the route. Everyone had started at the same time, and all were excited about the event. The Bob-Whites had decided early on that they would start to walk as a group, but it would be unrealistic for all of them to stick together the entire time.

Mart and Diana were power walkers who liked to get their miles in without resting a lot at the pit stops and at lunch. Honey preferred a more leisurely pace and to take a long break at lunch. Jim and Trixie weren’t sure how they were going to walk. Dan was going to just play it by ear.

The first few miles were filled with good-natured ribbing and lots of teasing. There were other teams that passed the group, many with colorful names and shirts to match.

“Look,” said Mart. “I think I found my favorite team name.” The group looked over at a group whose t-shirts said “Saving Second Base.”

Dan chuckled. “Why do I suddenly want to sing "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights"?” he said.

Diana, Honey and Trixie all broke out with, “Do you love me? Will you love me forever? Do you need me? Will you never leave me? Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life…”

The three giggled some more. Finally, Trixie said, “Man, does that bring back memories. Even though that song is older than the hills, they used to play it every Friday night at the Stone’s Throw when we were in college. We all thought it was so cool.”

The conversation waned and ebbed for the next hour or so. They all made sure they drank plenty of water and kept hydrated. By the time they reached the first pit stop, the girls had to pee badly. They had each drunk both of the water bottles they carried in fanny packs. The lines to the porta-potties were about twenty deep.

“I sure hope this isn’t the case for every pit stop,” Trixie said. “I’ll never make it.”

As they waited, they talked with other walkers. The guys decided they’d better go now as well while they had the chance.

The pitstop was decorated with a fifties theme. All of the workers did their best to cheer everyone on. The Bob-Whites got some food to eat and filled their water bottles with Gatorade and water.

For the next leg, the walkers were a little better spread out. Dan was setting the pace, with Mart and Diana right up there with him. Trixie and Honey were walking together. They spoke about all of the people that were walking. Brian and Jim brought up the rear. The two didn’t let on, but they were keeping an eye on Trixie. Despite all of the training, Trixie still had moments where she tired out easily. They had walked a couple more miles when they came upon a walker who was alone.

“How’s it going?” Dan asked. He adjusted his pace to match hers.

The walker looked up and she said, “Okay. Of course we haven’t even walked five miles yet.”

The group introduced themselves.

“I’m Carrie,” the walker said.

Are you from around this area?” Diana asked. The Bob-Whites closed ranks so that they could get in on the conversation.

“I live in Wisconsin about sixty miles east of the Twin Cities,” she replied. “What about you guys?”

“We’re from just outside of New York City,” Mart volunteered.

“Wow, that’s a ways to come for a walk isn’t it?”

They were approaching another pit stop. Brian interrupted the conversation to ask, “Does anyone need to sit down for a little bit or are we going to keep going?”

“Diana and I are going to pick up the pace,” Mart said. “We walk best if we keep plugging along.”

“That’s fine,” Jim replied. “We knew that we probably wouldn’t walk the entire walk together.”

The rest of the Bob-Whites nodded in agreement. Dan decided to walk with Mart and Di.

“Would you like to walk with us for awhile?” Honey asked Carrie. They had reached the pit stop. Immediately, the group headed to the porta-potties. The lines were noticeably shorter than the first stop.

As they headed to them Carrie replied, “I’d love to walk with you. It will definitely make the day go faster.”

After everyone had used the facilities, they headed over to the hydration station and food tent. Trixie and Di discovered the peanut butter and jelly graham cracker sandwiches, which were heavenly. “We have to find these for the kids. They’d make great after school snacks,” Trixie said.

“That is if we don’t eat them first,” Diana said.

As they left the pit stop, Diana, Mart and Dan took off at a faster pace, while the rest walked at a more leisurely pace.

Honey, Carrie, and Trixie walked in front of Brian and Jim.

The three gals continued the conversation they had started before entering the pit stop.

Trixie asked Carrie, “Are you walking alone or part of a team?”

Carrie replied, “Well, I’m just a team of one. I decided to do this and just signed up and raised the money. I did all of my training by myself so I knew it wouldn’t bother me.”

“Wow, that takes a lot of courage,” Honey said. “You must have someone important you are walking for.”

“No, not really,” she said.

Trixie was shocked. She couldn’t imagine walking the event by yourself, especially if you weren’t walking for someone in particular. “Really?” she asked.

Carrie looked a little embarrassed. “Well, I read about this and thought it would be cool to do. I’m not very athletic, and I wondered if I could walk sixty miles without dying. So I set about training and raising money.”

Honey was also surprised that someone would walk the event just for the sake of doing it. “You’re really just doing it for the event?”

Carrie paused, trying to put into words why she was so driven to walk in this event. “It’s really hard to explain. When I listen to all of these people talk about walking for a loved one who has survived breast cancer or for someone who lost the battle, I almost feel guilty for the reasons I’m walking. I’ve known people who have had breast cancer. Who hasn’t? I’ve been fortunate to not have a loved one stricken by the disease, no one who really hit home. When I started this journey, I was doing it for selfish reasons, to see if I could do it, but my reasons changed drastically after the opening ceremonies. Now I’m doing it for all of the walkers.”

Brian and Jim were close enough to the girls to hear their conversation. “I wouldn’t call it selfish,” Brian said. “It took a lot of sacrifice to train for this event and you had to somehow earn the $2,200 to participate. It’s going for a great cause.”

“I guess you’re right,” Carrie agreed. “I take it you guys are a team.”

Jim chuckled to himself and said, “In more ways than one. Brian, Trixie and Mart are siblings, as are Honey and I. We’re just one big happy family.”

“So how’d you come up with your team name?” Carrie asked.

“We all lived near each other outside of a little town in Westchester County, New York,” Honey explained. “When we were in high school we formed a club called the Bob-Whites, and we’ve remained best of friends for twenty years.”

“Wow. That’s a long time and you never fought or anything?” Carrie was shocked that a group like that would stay that close for that amount of time

All four of the Bob-Whites chuckled. “I wouldn’t say that,” Trixie replied. “But we survived. It helps that most of us are related to at least one other member of the club. We’re all married to one another. The only one who isn’t is Dan, and he married Brian’s and my cousin Hallie.”

“So are you just doing this because you like to do these kinds of things?” Carrie inquired.

Trixie paused a little embarrassed, “No, I finished treatments for breast cancer about a year ago. Diana read about these events and we decided to do this as a group.”

“Wow, I never would have guessed,” Carrie commented. “You’re a survivor though.”

“Survive is the operative word there. It wasn’t a piece of cake. I don’t think I’ve puked as much as I did after one round of chemo. There were days when I thought the cure was worse than the cancer. Thank goodness I have great friends and family. They helped so much.” Jim moved up next to Trixie and put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a hug.

“But you’re cancer-free now?” Carrie asked.

“For now,” Trixie said. “I have to go every six months for a check-up, but so far it’s been good news.”

The conversation continued. Carrie appeared genuinely interested in learning about the school Jim had founded and how all of them helped out in different ways. She was surprised when she learned that Trixie, Honey and Dan had their own private investigation firm.

Suddenly Trixie dropped back from the group. Jim immediately was concerned and dropped back to walk with her. Brian was about to drop back as well but Jim waved him back.

“How are you doing?” Jim asked. Concern was written all over his face.

“I’m doing okay physically. I’m just so overwhelmed by this entire event. All of these people walking for one reason. It’s so amazing.” Trixie wiped the tears away from her eyes. Jim stopped, pulled her off to the side of the path, and into his embrace.

“I know. Everyone has some sort of story. They’re walking to celebrate their victory over this horrible disease or they’re walking to remember a loved one that has passed away, with the hopes that no one else has to go through something like this.” He placed a quick kiss on her forehead and gently wiped the tears that had fallen down her cheeks.

“Yes, and then there are those that are walking to see if they can do it. I bet by the end of the weekend they will be the ones who are affected the most,” Trixie observed. They started walking again. They didn’t push to catch up with Brian, Honey and Carrie but kept them within their sight.

“I wonder how far ahead Mart, Diana and Dan are,” Jim said. “Maybe we’ll see them at the lunch stop.”

While Trixie and Jim hadn’t really picked up their pace, they had closed the gap between Brian, Honey and Carrie. Trixie suspected that the doctor and older brother in Brian was concerned that Trixie could be overdoing it. While she would never let on, he knew that Trixie still showed some signs of weakness due to her radiation and chemotherapy treatments.

The group steadfastly continued to walk. The conversation would wane for a few minutes and then someone would think of something else to say. Carrie easily fit in with them.

As they approached the lunch pit stop, Carrie said, “I’m going to quickly grab lunch and head out. If I sit down I might never get up.”

“Are you sure?” Honey asked. “You are more than welcome to eat with us.”

Carrie assured them that she would be just fine. They exchanged tent locations and made plans to meet up with each other when they reached camp.

They reached the lunch pit stop and were surprised to see different dance groups entertaining the walkers. They got their lunch and sat down in the grass. Trixie and Honey both took off their shoes and socks to air out their feet.

Honey looked up at Brian and said, “Could you please go over and get some blister supplies at the medical tent? I think I’m getting a hot spot and don’t want to get a full-blown blister.”

Ever the doctor, Brian gently took Honey’s feet in his hands and looked them over. “I can see where your sock is rubbing the ball of your foot. Does anyone else need anything?”

For now, Jim’s and Trixie’s feet were fine. Brian got up and walked over to the self-service area. He was very polite when the staff asked if he needed any advice on how to handle blisters. As he walked back, he noticed a walker hobbling into the medical tent. He was amazed that people would not train properly for an event like this.

They finished their lunch, got their feet fixed up and then headed out onto the trail. That afternoon they walked through residential areas. All of them were amazed at the number of people who would sit outside their homes to cheer the walkers on.

At the organized cheer stations hundreds of people lined up to cheer on the walkers. Some of them brought candy and freezies to share with the walkers. Others had signs. The four of them could not make it through these long sections without getting tears in their eyes.

They had just about gotten to the end of the cheering section when they heard a Bob, bob white whistle. Looking up they were surprised to see Cap and Knut Belden and their families.

“What are you guys doing here?” Trixie asked, giving everyone a huge hug. They stepped off of the course so that they weren’t holding up traffic.

Cap and his family lived up near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area where he worked for the park service. Knut still lived in Idaho and worked with his father in his silver mine.

“Knut’s family was coming in for a visit and decided to fly into the Twin Cities instead of Duluth. We drove down to pick him up and decided to come and cheer you on before we head home,” explained Gloria. Brian was shaking his cousins’ hands.

“We saw Mart, Diana and Dan about an hour ago,” Knut said. They were booking pretty fast but they did stop and visit for a few minutes.”

“Those three are speed demons when it comes to walking. They just like to get their miles under their belt so they can rest without having to worry about getting back on the trail.” Jim said.

They visited for several minutes and then decided they’d better get on their way. The walkers wanted to keep moving and their personal cheering section had awhile to go before they would be in northern Minnesota tonight.

The rest of the day’s walk was rather uneventful. At each pit stop, Brian insisted that Honey take the time to remove her shoes and socks and check her hot spots. Trixie teased Brian about his caution but deep down she appreciated his concern. In fact, they all checked their feet for blisters at each stop.

At the last pit stop, they had to wait for a bus to pick them up and head back to the campsite. They later learned that due to the collapse of the 35W bridge, they had to re-route the walk at the last minute or they couldn’t get back to the campsite without walking over 25 miles.

As the two couples got off the bus at the campsite, they saw Mart, Diana, and Dan waiting for them at the check-in gate cheering on all of the walkers. They all embraced in a group hug.

“We got all of our bags from the truck and also got the tents up,” said Mart.

Trixie’s eyes twinkled as she said, “You mean to tell me you managed to get four tents up without help from Mr. Woodsman here?” She gave Jim an affectionate hug.

“It was a dirty job, but somebody had to do it,” Dan said. “We managed, but it took some help from the local Boy Scout troop.”

They headed toward their tent location. Dan had found out earlier in the week that the person assigned to be his tent mate was from the area and had elected to go home and sleep in his own bed every night. They still had to blow up their air mattresses. The guys determined they would be better at that task and the gals didn’t argue with them. When they had their beds put together they decided to head over to the showers. They were all some of the early walkers in, so the line wasn’t very long.

They got cleaned up and headed over to the meal line. After they finished eating, they decided to head back into the check-in gate and cheer walkers as they came into camp. At about seven thirty the last walkers were heading into camp.

The last walker was a young man who carried a lot of weight. You could tell that his feet were covered with blisters and he could barely walk, but he made his way through the throngs of people cheering him on. They cheered him like he had won an Olympic gold medal in the marathon. The man led the way to the camp flagpole followed by all of the route crew and other walkers who were cheering him on. The walker then raised the 3 Day Flag to signal that all walkers were home safely.

The rest of the evening was spent watching the preliminary round of 3 Day Idol, a karaoke competition. They also wrote postcards to all of their kids that the Walk organizers sent out.

Nine o’clock was lights out and none of the Bob Whites argued about it.

Jim and Trixie had brought a queen-size air mattress so they could snuggle close to one another. For several minutes, they talked about the events of the day, but it wasn’t long before they were sound asleep.

The next morning Mart was the first to wake up. They had all decided the previous night to try and get on the course as soon as possible. Like they had done all of their lives, they didn’t want to put off the work that had to be done. It wasn’t long before all of the Bob-Whites were moving around.

“I can’t believe how sore my muscles are,” said Diana as she poked her head out of the tent. “We all followed the recommended training schedule and then some.”

Honey agreed. “I just hope that once we get moving and limbered up, I won’t feel so sore.”

Everyone dressed for the day. Honey and Trixie left their walking shoes off and headed to breakfast in their flip flops. After they had eaten, they wanted to go to the first aid area and get some moleskin for the small blisters they’d gotten the day before.

The girls felt much better after their first cup of coffee for the day. Brian and Jim wouldn’t admit it, but they appreciated the effects of the caffeine as well.

Despite wanting to leave his medical degree at home for the weekend, Brian couldn’t. He wasn’t satisfied until he had supervised the treatment of his wife’s and sister’s blisters.

Soon the group was on the route again. It would be a longer day to walk than yesterday, almost 23 miles. For the first few miles, they all stuck together. At the first pit stop, they decided to split off again. They walked on walking paths and through neighborhoods. The afternoon was particularly long as they walked through a rather industrial area that didn’t have a lot of scenery to admire. The saving grace was the pit stop in that area had a Grey’s Anatomy theme. They even had a life-size cutout of Dr. McDreamy that walkers could have their picture taken with.

By the time they got back to the camp that evening, Trixie’s blister had gotten worse. After she had taken her shower, Brian took her back to the medical area and bandaged it up as best he could. As much as he wanted to recommend that she not walk the next day or only walk from the lunch stop to the finish, he knew he couldn’t. This event meant too much to Trixie.

Trixie tried to stay off her feet as much as she could for the rest of the evening. After they finished eating dinner, they stayed in the main tent for the evening entertainment. After the 3 Day Idol finals, she was ready for bed. Her muscles had tensed up and she stumbled as she stood up.

“You okay, Trix?” Jim asked. He was quick to put an arm around her to steady her.

“I think so. I just sat too long in one spot,” she replied. “I think I just need to call it a night.”

Mart, Diana and Dan stayed for the dance that had just started. The others weren’t sure where they found the energy to even think about dancing.

As they walked back to their tents, Trixie leaned heavily on Jim the entire way. Once again, it didn’t take long for Trixie to fall asleep that night.

The final day of the walk turned out to be perfect. There was a light breeze and despite being August, the high for the day was about 75 degrees. Everyone seemed to be rejuvenated knowing that it would be a shorter course today, as well as it being the last day. The Bob-Whites had decided that they would walk the last day together as a team.

Everyone got up and ate right away. Brian helped get the girls’ blisters bandaged up well. Then they packed up their bags, took down their tents and hauled everything to the appropriate U-Haul. The walk that day took them through St. Paul past the capital and up Summit Avenue. They enjoyed looking at the old mansions that lined the street. Many of them had statuary that flanked the entrances to their homes. Several owners had tied pink ribbons around the necks of them to honor the walkers.

When they left the lunch pit stop, there was a noticeable change in the attitude with the walkers. They knew they had almost met their goals. The route took the walkers into Minneapolis and along the Mississippi River. They walked through a residential area and approached a footbridge.

Trixie gasped as they started across the bridge. The six-lane highway below it was devoid of any traffic and it looked like a war zone. Pavement broken up, barrier wall all around and some heavy equipment parked for the weekend. As they got to the middle of the bridge, the group stopped and looked south to the Mississippi River. In front of them were the remains of the 35W bridge collapse. All that could be seen of the bridge was the end of a section of the collapsed bridge deck leaning against an abutment.

The group stopped and offered silent prayers to all those who had lost their lives or been injured in the terrible tragedy. They began walking, but for several minutes no one said anything. They had been so affected by what they had seen.

When they entered the last pit stop, they had decided they were just going to use the porta-potties, fill up their water bottles and get going. They were waylaid by the pit stop crew handing out bras of all shapes, sizes and colors. Tradition is to walk the last leg of the race with a bra on the outside of their shirts.

Trixie and Honey were both shocked when Jim and Brian each grabbed red bras adorned with sequins and put them on. They shamed Dan and Mart to join them. They even allowed the girls to take pictures of all of them dolled up.

“I guess I’d better give up ever wanting to run for office,” Dan quipped. “If that picture should get in the wrong hands, I’ll never live it down.”

The last leg of the walk was about two miles. With each step, the excitement mounted. The closing ceremonies were at Boom Island. As they crossed the old wooden truss bridge into the park, they could hear people cheering the walkers into the holding area. As they rounded the corner, Trixie was surprised when she saw her parents, Matt and Maddie Wheeler, Ed and Caroline Lynch, Hallie and all of their children standing with signs cheering on their parents.

Trixie was overcome by emotion. She went up and hugged her kids, then she gave everyone else an individual hug. “How did you guys get here?” she asked. “I know your plane couldn’t hold all of you.”

“There are some benefits to having more money than you know what to do with,” Matt Wheeler said with a twinkle in his eye. “I’ve been considering buying a second plane, and wanted to take it for a test drive. There’s enough room between the two planes for all of us to fly back to New York tonight.”

The group talked for a few more minutes. Then Jim said, “We have a little more to walk before we’re done. Why don’t you go find a spot near where the closing ceremonies are going to be? When we’re done checking in, we’ll come out and visit for a few minutes before we have to be back for the closing ceremonies.”

The Bob-Whites crossed the finish line walking arm-in-arm. After they were checked in, they went up to get their victory t-shirts. Breast cancer survivors received a pink long-sleeved shirt with the Breast Cancer 3 Day logo on the front and the logo for 2007 on the back. Walkers received a white one and crew members received grey ones.

After they had their shirts, the group went out to visit with their families for about an hour. When it got close to three thirty, they headed back to the holding area to cheer the final walkers on. The walkers went wild when the man who had been the last walker the first day came in with ice bags taped onto his feet so he could finish the walk.

After the last walker had come in, the walkers were directed to line up. Survivors were lined up separately. Walkers were lined up eight abreast and linked arms. When the time came for the opening ceremonies to start, the crew members were called to line the walk between the holding area and the closing ceremony area. As the walkers came through, the crew applauded the walkers. The walkers made a huge circle around a raised platform. When they were all in place, the crew filled in an area in front of the walkers. As they walked in, a huge wave of cheers went up in appreciation for all that the crew had done to make the event a fun and safe one.

When the walkers and the crew were in place, the survivors walked in. By this time, Trixie was totally overwhelmed with emotion not only from the event, but for all that she and her family had endured over the last twenty months. As the survivors entered, all of the walkers and crew members kneeled down on their very sore knees, removed a shoe and held it up to honor the survivors. When Trixie saw this, she gave up trying to control her emotions, and sobbed uncontrollably.

She cried for all that she had gone through, she cried for those who had not survived, but most of all, she cried because she knew that she had made it. Suddenly, her head turned. In the distance, she heard the distinct sound of bob, bob white. Placing her fingers to her lips, she returned the call.

 

 

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