|
Visitors since August 2000
|
| |
| |
| |
|
anne
My name is Anne Pickford, and I am honored to be the
newest (and youngest) member of the Cheerios. My mom is Pat
Pickford. I am 21 years old and a senior at Santa Clara University
studing French and Elementary Education. I was on the crew of the
SF '00 walk as a Sweeper and decided that I wanted to walk in the SF '01
walk. I walk for my mom, a breast cancer survivor, who is my hero
and my best friend. I hope to walk in the SF '02 walk as well.
|
|
bev
I chose to
walk the Avon 3 Day 60 mile walk because I needed motivation to start
exercising. I tried to
recruit my husband and my friends to join me on the walk but no one else
was interested. Although I
am reluctant to meet new people I showed up at my first training walk in
Los Gatos in March at what seemed like the ungodly
(and dark) hour of 6:45 am and had an absolutely fabulous first
training walk. I was amazed
that first day how easy it was to talk to people and how quickly the
time passed as we got to know each other.
I tried a
variety of training walks at various locations (my goal was to find
walks with pretty locations) and I’ve ended up with so many new
friends. I am honored to be
part of the Cheerios but I also have other friends from the 3 Day Walk
that I continue to meet for walks.
My tent mate, Joan Martel and I led walks from PacBell Park (Bay
Bridge) in SF, down the SF embarcadero, across the Golden Gate Bridge,
down into Sausalito and over to Tiburon.
I have to tell you that standing on the waterfront in Tiburon and
looking back at the Bay Bridge just blows your mind away.
The thought that you have actually covered that much difference
is an absolute high. I hope
to be able to lead more walks from SF to Tiburon.
The 3 Day
Walk was the most emotional experience of my life.
It was hard, my knees hurt and sleeping on the ground was
uncomfortable but I tears came to my eyes every time I heard someone
cheering for us and I cried every time I read a sign that thanks us for
walking in someone’s memory. I
was honored to walk one of the hardest parts of the walk with a
wonderful woman, Nan, who had only been out of chemotherapy for two
months. Standing at the top
of Hillcrest Blvd and having my picture taken next to Nan with her
beautiful bald head was the highlight of the walk for me.
|
jane
I’m Jane
Creech and my friend (?!) Lisa got me into this “experience”.
I casually asked her in March '00, how her ’99 LA 3Day was
and next thing I knew, I was hiking Mission Peak with her “for fun”!
Seriously, training for and completing the 3Day for me was an
initial 4+months “process” that continues through to today.
There’s not a day that passes that I don’t feel
“redefined” by the reflection time training afforded me, the friends
I met and made, the true sense of community of the event itself, and the
vivid lifelong memories I have of the entire experience.
For me and my family (because you DO experience this with your
family) it has been a milestone that divides time: before and after the
’00 SF3Day. It has even
had an impact in how I work with my clients in the team consulting work
I do. I look forward to helping you with
your own 3Day “experience” along with the rest of the Cheerios.
|
joann
Hello - I am Joann
Munch and I signed up for the 3-Day on a whim. I had no idea what I
was getting into, and didn't know any other person who was dong this.
All I knew is that I wanted to do something special and different for the
summer. I was turning 40, had lost my mother and her mother to
breast cancer. My life changed in incredible ways for the better
during training walks, meeting all sorts of great women, and the walk
itself. We, the Cheerios, have become an amazing and diverse
collection of women. Just 6 weeks after the walk, I myself was
diagnosed with Breast Cancer. My fellow Cheerios became my support
group, and my life has changed yet again. We hope that our site and
our great memories along with words of encouragement help you reach your
personal goals for the walk. Walk on .............
|
karen
My name is Karen Ehlebracht. I am a
medical social worker, 37 years old, and I live with a boyfriend of 4
years and two cats. I moved to California from Indiana just over 4 years
ago. Three years ago, my mother died from inflammatory breast cancer and I
took care of her at home with my father and Hospice for 8 weeks prior to
her passing. My aunt also died from cancer and my grandmother is still
surviving following a radical mastectomy from breast cancer in the 60's.
Not great genetics! When I heard about the Avon 3-day walk on the radio, I
called to join. I knew it would help with my healing and give me a
positive outlet for my personal fears of getting breast cancer. I signed
up by myself; I didn't have many friends here even through I've lived here
for a few years, there didn't seem to be an easy way to make the type of
really close friends that I had back in Indiana.
I was brave (for me, anyway), and called
to be a training walk leader for one walk on the Shoreline trail since I
live two blocks off it, and had a great time meting lots of great women
who were really "into this walk." Then I went to the Expo in San
Mateo and met Marcia and found out she also wanted to walk more on the
Shoreline trail. We set a date for the next weekend and she brought along
Susie Q and then in some magic way I was bonded to joining this great
group of women who became the Cheerios. I never, ever would have guessed
I'd become so close to these women who are all so different from myself.
Now, they are like a family and we are bonded by our experiences that we
share(d) together. I learn from all of them and I'm sure you will too. I
hope that this site is helpful to you and that maybe I can at some time
provide you with an answer or support.
|
lisa
SF '01 was my three-peat walk (after LA '99 and SF '00). I learned about the '99
walk through Shape Magazine, and took a chance signing up, since I
didn't know a soul who was involved. I trained with just 2
other women that I eventually found in the Bay Area, and when the program added a local site,
I immediately became a training walk leader so I could help others have
a great 3-day experience too. Many people know me as
"lisa3day.com" - I guess I'm the techno-cheerio of this crowd! My
website is... you guessed it: www.lisa3day.com.
Now, my entire family is involved,
including my 13-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter, parents and sister Sharon (see "support
teams"). When I'm not walking or designing websites, I
try to capture my feelings in writing. I wrote the following after SF '00. It pretty well
sums up what was going on in my head and heart.
I
walk and I hike and I become very well-acquainted with the foot
products aisle at Long’s, I endure insufferable hours training
alternately in the glaring sun and the blustery, windy rain; shin
splints and blisters and an unplanned appendectomy, and suddenly there
I am, on the road with my 2,999 new best friends, participating in the
most amazing and incredible and awe-inspiring and mind-blowing event
of my life, and WHAM, it hits me – this is what it’s all about;
it’s the big time, baby, and suddenly, I'm sucked in, and the rest
of the world, including my crazy job, and mountains of laundry back
home and bills to pay and cats to feed and kids to taxi melt rapidly
and completely into the background noise - and I realize that life as
I know it will never be the same again: I will live to survive the
training, the tears, the exhilaration, the whining, the limping, the
exhaustion, the miracle, and the refusal to come down from the clouds
for weeks afterwards.
Inexplicable.
In addition to walking, of course
many of us got into the roadside cheerleader gig, and I attended both
LA'00 and Seattle'01 -- a real treat to be on the "other
side" of the walk! I'm looking forward to our next "road
trip" to San Diego'02 in April -- I attended college there and know
the beach route will be wonderful!
|
mary ann
(aka "ma")
I'm Susie-Q's partner, that is domestic not business
partner. Since folks like us cannot get married we call ourselves domestic
partners instead of wife. Of course, some couples do use the term wife but
I digress...My birth name is MaryAnn. Susie-Q shortened that to MA (that's
not ma like mother but my initial: "M A"). When Susie-Q told me
about her commitment to the 3-Day walk in the year 2000, I became her
full-time cheerleader and supporter, which ultimately resulted in a yellow
Cheerio shirt. I'm a bit quieter than Susie-Q and prefer to work behind
the scenes filling water bottles and gathering extra clothes walkers want
to get rid of. Behind every good woman there's another good woman --
that's me!
|
marcia
Hi! I decided to walk because I wanted to meet people.
I had just moved here from Illinois and needed to make more friends.
I knew no one with breast cancer (or even cancer for that matter) but am
truly grateful now that I got involved with such an amazing cause. Being a
Cheerio and meeting the wonderful people through training literally
changed my life. I have a real sense of accomplishment. I have
confidence. I can do anything! When people used to ask me why
I did the walk, I said, "to meet people." Now I say,
"because I can." I think others look at me and think it's
easy because I'm young (29), but training was just as difficult for me as
it was for anyone else. I just brought my own energy to help keep us
going! I'm hoping to walk in Chicago
2002!
|
|
pat
My name is Pat Pickford and I am
so proud to be one of the Cheerios!
I am a five-year (almost) breast cancer survivor with a fabulous
husband (Steve) and a wonderful daughter (Anne, 21 yrs.) and we live in
San Carlos. When the first
ad for the Avon walk came out in the SF Chronicle in the fall of 2000, I knew this
was an event I needed to participate in.
There was a time during my treatments that I could not walk
around the block, much less contemplate ever walking 6 miles…12 miles
or 60 miles!! This was a
personal challenge to prove that I had indeed survived and thrived in
spite of the challenges of this disease.
Choosing to do the Avon walk will change your life too.
Everyone in the Cheerios group helped me through my journey.
I hope this site and these tips will help you and inspire you as
well.
|
sharon
I’m
Sharon Barowsky, Cheerio and Walker Stalker!
In 1999, my sister Lisa Stambaugh (aka WebDiva,
aka www.lisa3day.com ) told me
she was training for the LA Avon Breast Cancer 3Day 60 Mile Walk.
I thought, WOW!
It takes a lot of determination and resolve to make such a
commitment; something I didn’t think I had.
So, what did I do?
The easy thing:
I wrote a check and sponsored her.
After she completed the walk I read the story she had to share.
I was overwhelmed and knew I had to do more for the next walk
than write a check. With Lisa’s sights set on the SF ‘00 Walk I
decided to join her on the journey, not as a walker but as a volunteer.
I knew I needed to do something from the heart.
I needed to show the walkers that, as a potential victim of this
dreaded disease (as all women are), I held a deep appreciation for their
dedication to the fight.
I asked myself “Self, how can you show 3000 strangers your
appreciation?”
The obvious answer was by being there every step of the way.
So that’s what I did.
I appeared repeatedly along the 3Day walk route cheering,
applauding, and showing my support!
Will I do it again?
Absolutely!
This year also found me along the SF ’01, Boulder CO ’01 and
Seattle '01 walk
routes.
I may not have the drive or fortitude to walk 60 miles but I
certainly have an energy and enthusiasm that I will share with others.
|
sherry
In
January 2000 I saw an ad for the Avon Breast Cancer 3 Day walk and I knew
this was a challenge I wanted to take on.
After having survived the unwanted challenges of dealing with my
breast cancer diagnosis (6years ago, November 15, 2001) I wanted to thrive by
meeting a challenge of my own choosing.
There were days I had to question my sanity for having signed up
for this…no more sleeping in on weekends for me!
I went on as many scheduled training walks as I could in order to
meet people and pick-up as many tips as possible. Several of us began to
develop a very special bond….sharing our laughter, fears, dreams,
training tips, and Luna bars (of course). The
Cheerios are who I want to have with me in the best of times and in the
worst of times.
By walking and raising money to fight breast cancer I hope to help
eradicate this disease.
Breast
cancer is not all that defines me.
I am 55, married for many years to my husband Bob, have a
34-year-old daughter (Colleen) and welcomed my first precious grandson,
Jackson in May, 2001 (the
official Cheerio Grandbaby).
I play
catcher on a co-ed softball team, love to garden, am an avid woman’s
basketball fan, work part-time at Crate and Barrel in Palo Alto.
My biggest challenge at the moment is trying to squeeze 48 hours of
things to do (trying to live life to its fullest) into a 24 hour day.
I and many of the Cheerios have registered to crew the SF 2002 3-Day
event, and look forward to another year of incredible experiences. Join in the adventure….catch the wind.
|
susieQ
I did the Avon 3-Day SF2000 for me and other people.
I had 3 goals Jan 2000, stop expanding (lose weight), be able to touch my
toes (still cannot but can touch just below my knees) and walk 60 miles
for breast cancer. I started training in Feb and on my first walk, I only
knew 2 people. Well, now I know so many more and thru a real
commitment, more friendships have developed. I thought the walking
would be easier than raising the money eh!!! How wrong I was, the
money was easy, eh!!!!!! My feet for the first couple of months did
not know what had hit them but thru daily walks, we made it thru our first
3-Day 60 mile walk. The walk was just a wonderful experience, meeting so
many people. To see the smiles on their faces after they had
completed one day of the walk, or having someone help them put their tent
up for them, will be cherished for many, many moons. I also walked SF
2001, and cheered Seattle 2001.
Cheerio eh!!!!!!
|
|
|
