BARBARA JO KIRSHBAUM

2009 AVON WALK FOR BREAST CANCER

Avon Walk for Breast Cancer---Boston-----May 16-17, 2009------2500 participants; $5.6 m raised ----walked 92,683 steps

I have been home just long enough to get the duffle bags upstairs, empty out the dirty clothes, separate the laundry and get the laundry started. That appears to be the routine.....though I must admit that before we arrived home Bob stopped for an In n Out Hamburger ( I think you can only appreciate that craving if you live in California)!

We arrived in Boston on Thursday in the late afternoon. As usual, I was already tired since we had gotten up at 3 am our time to catch a 7 am flight. I do like ordering room service when we get in like that.......a perk I really do appreciate. The next morning we met our friend Richard. He is a brother of one of my dearest friends in CA and we meet every year, usually for dinner, but this time it was for breakfast. The funny thing is that we do not see each other during the year, but just pick up where we all left off from the following year. It is quite special to have those kinds of relationships.......and I am fortunate to have a few like that. Actually I have a lot of 'walk' friends that we just pick up from the last time we were together. I love you all.

On Fri. during the registration time, which is also a time that I sell Ronda's jewelry, I saw David and Jessica. David is the man who began the concept of the Youth Crew for the 3Day in Boston, and it is now part of the Avon walks in every city. His daughter Jessica, was 9 when I met her in 2002 when she spoke at one of the walks. I remember being so incredibly impressed by her and I still am! She is graduating high school soon and is planning on spending time in Israel. What a gal! She is our future!

Also I saw Patricia from No. CA. I met her last year in NY when her dentist, who is a walker from SF, introduced us. She was doing her 6th walk in Boston and was doing this for her sister, who died with ovarian cancer. She felt that walking for breast cancer was the closest thing. Pat, you are making such a difference.

I walked all day on Sat and Sun with Meagan, who I wrote about in DC. She is so mature that I sometimes forget that I am talking to a 17 yr. old, well, almost 18 (the day after the Chicago walk). We paced ourselves really well and got into camp about 5:30. I was pain free, and am always grateful for that......just tired after 26 miles......and why not?! It was overcast some of the day and we were waiting for possible rain.......but no rain. The campsite was at the Reebok corporate campus, and it was totally impressive. What a place to work......a running track, a gym, basketball court, soccer field, preschool area, cafeteria, and what looked like acres of property........Bob and I were very impressed. Reebok is the 'big' sponsor20of the Avon Walks and they also have a store on site that they allowed the walkers to shop in (at a discount). Though I didn't buy anything I thought that was great. Thank you Reebok for all that you are doing in the fight against breast cancer.

Bob had a cold when we left for Boston, which seemed to lift by Sat. However, it did not get in the way of 'signage' at all. And Sun, by the way, he had to put every sign in a plastic sleeve, because it rained most of the day, but the 'signs' were preserved and readable regardless. Go Bob! You are my hero.

Much of the walk was through residential areas, which wasn't bad at all....just not my favorite. However, the architecture and the age of the homes is so different than what I am used to that it was fun to look at all of the homes. Some were painted in extremely creative colors, which made it interesting to look at.

Sun was a good walking day (I am referring to my feet/body), even though it rained most of the day.......I felt tired, but was pain free.....Here it is Mon. afternoon, (all drugs would have worn off by now!), and I am feeling no pain. That inspires me to keep walking.......I do not take it for granted and am very grateful.

I got a kick out of seeing Matt. He is part of the 'motocrew' acting as a crossing guard to protect us. I think there were 35 men and women doing that job with motorcycles. Matt is usually wearing a huge black afro. style wig on Sat. mornings, and he remembers me year after year, so I always get a big hug and hello.

The Men With Heart in their very bright yellow shirts were there also. Several were walking and several were on the crew, but Scott (their leader) had sent them an email that they were to hug me if they saw me, because Scott was off on a business meeting. I know he felt bad because he has never missed an Avon event in Boston. Anyway, the fun part for me was getting all those hugs for 2 days. I walked with Jack, who is part of the team.....he walks because his wife is a survivor, and he has been walking since 2002. He manages to raise a huge amount of money in about 10 days.......I should find out what that trick is!!

Meagan and I spoke with Kathy Dillon. She was walking with her friend Donna. Kathy is the survivor who has taken my ribbon heart logo and made it into a tattoo on her left arm. She says she 'wears her heart on her sleeve'. She and Donna met in the hospital when they were both having surgery for breast cancer and have remained good friends for 9 years. That is such a great story. We ran into them several times during the day on Sat.

My friend Richard, who is doing his 26th walk, found me on Fri. selling pins. He always buys several pins and gives them away. His usual job on a walk is to work in incident20response, so he is very 'behind' the scenes, but he is such a dear man. Since he is planning to walk the Rocky Mtn. walk this year and will have to be fundraising he bought a lot of pins to give to his bigger donors. I always look forward to seeing him.

And now I will tell you about Beshara. I met him in Houston and haven't spent any time with him until this weekend. He is doing all 9 Avon walks as part of the motocrew in every city. In addition, he is actually riding his motorcycle to almost all of the cities. He is from Lebanon and came to the US when he was 18 yrs/old not speaking any English. He told me that when he was a young man he lost his girl friend to breast cancer, and 4 yrs. ago his aunt was diagnosed at 34 yrs. old......he said that there are many kinds of cancers in his family and he has been very affected by it. He is also involved with events for diabetes and other charities. Beshara said that he loved being around the Avon walks, and that it is very satisfying being involved. It is a pleasure to know a man like this......who is about making the world a better place and making such a difference. Besides all of those good things......he is also tall and handsome! I look forward to all of the hugs whenever he sees me on the route for the rest of the walk season!

I think I have 'blah, blah, blahhed' (one of our pink signs) enough, so will close for now.

Besides reminding you about mammograms and self exams, I will take this opportunity to ask, that if you are not a walker/fundraiser, to consider making a donation to the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer or the Breast Cancer 3Day by going to 'donate' on my website.

Thank you for reading my journal.

Hugs,