2 October 2015

It's just after midnight here, which means it's 3 am in Philadelphia...in an hour or so walkers will be rolling out of bed, wondering why morning burns, and crew members will already be up and on their way to opening ceremonies or the pit stops and grab-n-go stops where they'll be working.

The Pink Slips for 2015...Jenn, Beth, Sandra, and Jenna...these ladies totally rock. Send 'em some safe walk mojo!*

My first walk started five years ago today; it both seems like much longer ago, and not that many years. That year I walked with Blogger Babes for Boobies, invited to give it a whirl by Roberta, who is owned by the Grate Jeter Harris Hizself. I never would have imagined what deciding to give it a shot would bring me.

I didn't have a clue.

It turned out to be so much more than blisters and pink hair, and a willingness to do fairly odd things to raise money, things that surprised even me, It's more than the money raised (and y'all...your willingness to donate and bribe me to wear spandex and dye my hair and flounce around San Francisco and ride a bike through the outlet mall while head to tow pink spandex and a cape has raised over $15,000.Go you.) and in a way it's more than the good being done with that money.

When Roberta invited me to join her team, it was a door creaking open--one I would have been too shy to knock upon on my own--and on the other side were people I never would have otherwise met, and people I have come to love.

I don't say that easily or lightly, not ever. I'm often taken aback when people who are not family say it to me, even though it makes me smile.

But these ladies? The women I have walked with and gotten to know better on Facebook? Blogger Babes and Pink Slips?

I love these women.

I am a bit sad I won't be there with the four walking as the Pink Slips this weekend, but I'm more excited for them--I'm pretty sure there's some booze being shared--and I want nothing more than for this walk to be spectacular.

This is the weather they're facing. Heavy rains and wind tomorrow, more rain and wind Saturday, and they might catch a break on the last day...as long as the hurricane heading for the east coast doesn't get much bigger and push further inland.

So give the walkers a little mojo, well wishes, or prayer that this weekend is fun and uneventful, and a little extra for my team mates, because I don't think anyone brought any floaties with them.

And Roberta...one day we're going to be in the same place at the same time, and I owe you a big sloppy hug, because without you I never would have met all these amazingly cool people.

Pink Slips...NO BROKEN BONES AND NO ONE GETS SICK THIS YEAR!!! I'll cheer you on from here, and maybe I'll even go walk a few miles.

*I totally stole this picture from Beth's FB page.