BARBARA JO KIRSHBAUM

2004 AVON WALK FOR BREAST CANCER

SF--July 10-11, 2004

Evaluation of the walk---my feet and body came through ok, so if you have been reading my entries, you know that the walk was great! In addition to that, the weather was great walking weather--it was mostly clear, bright and cool. For me, the neatest part was crossing the Golden Gate Bridge 2 times in one day--my, what a lot of tourists there were, besides walkers. The second time across was at the end of Sat. at about 23 miles and I couldn't understand where all of my energy came from. I had a real spirit in my step and was just energized.

The whole SF walk was through great areas---yea for the logistics team! My daughter Ronda and her husband Chris came up to support my participation in the SF walk. Ronda is the one that makes the bracelets so it was fun selling them with her and Chris helped Bob put up the pink signs. By the way, the favorite sign seems to be the one that says "Blah, blah, blah"! I had many special moments of reconnecting with staff and walkers from previous events.
A particular highlight was having a friend from my area, Marilou, a recent survivor and one of my inspirations, and her family walk in this event. And they are already talking about the NY walk next year. Go Marilou!

A young woman came up to me at lunch and said, "I have been looking for you because I wanted to meet you and say thank you for your inspiration". She was crying and she said that she checks my website weekly. You cannot imagine what that felt like--I do not think about, like most of us, the influence we may have on other people’s lives. It reminded me that I must remember to tell others the positive influence that they have had/have in my life. It was a very touching and uplifting feeling. I must now begin seriously preparing for my next walking adventure--which begins in 16 days. 5 back to back weekends in Boston, NY, DC, MI and Chicago. Yikes!
So far, I have raised over $115,000 for the Avon Foundation and for the Breast Cancer 3 Day. I will continue fundraising until Oct.

Thank you for being a part of my life and I would love to hear from you.
Take good care of yourself. Keep walking!

--
Barbara Jo
Team California
"I walk because I can't walk away"