Bringing up the end, Wendy, Erik and their two young children come in last at this weekend’s colon cancer 5k in Washington D.C.’s Rock Creek Park.
As I’ve been remaining in DC to participate with different cancer-related groups and events (as I also await soon-to-come word from TFA), it was a great pleasure to take part in the 5k benefit. Given the good turnout of participants, and given the fact that I by no means was displaying any WALKING ACROSS AMERICA signs nor walking with my cart, I interacted with a very small portion of fellow participants. The only reason I came to talk to Wendy & Erik is because they were pushing their daughter in the same model Chariot that I pushed for thousands of miles.
We struck up a conversation quickly, where I learned that Wendy just had surgery for stage 3 colon cancer, and is about to undergo further intense treatment as she makes her way toward better, stronger health. As we met early on in the race, and quickly established a special rapport, of many questions I asked–some of which I told her I’d understand if they were too sensitive to answer–I asked her what it’s like to be this age, the mother of small children, and suddenly learn that you have a potentially fatal disease. Her answers enlightened me as to what my mother must have experienced, having been in the exact same scenario in 1984.
The crowd cheered as they brought up the rear, coming in last. When speaking to the group after the race, as a colon cancer patient, Wendy emphasized welcoming more humor into the colon cancer world: “We need to feel free to make more butt & poop jokes as we go through this process,” she laughingly explains…
Happy I am to have more wonderful new friends across the miles!!!