On November 1st, that’s exactly what we did…walk with a purpose…when we joined our very first Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure held here in Austin.  A total of 20,000 participants joined the race.  Some ran and walked  the 5-K , and some, like we did, walked the Family Mile.

When breast cancer touches one’s family like it did mine, one will not be able to help thinking and breathing pink.  Since it was my very own Mom who was affected and then survived the disease, we have practically been living pink.  As far as we know, my Mom was the first in our family to have been afflicted with breast cancer.  And I can’t ignore the fact that I am at risk of getting it…but I won’t get it. ;)  You can understand why finding a cure and raising awareness has become a passion.  I dream, like millions of other people, of a world free from breast cancer…or any cancer for that matter.

I can’t seem to find the right words to describe how I felt being among people who share the same passion (more passionate even!)…people who understood.  It was surreal.  It was touching. I wanted to hug  every woman who was wearing a pink shirt with the words “I Hope. I Believe. I Survive”.  They are the survivors.  More so, I wanted to hug those who were in the race in the memory of a loved one.  Truth is, I wanted to hug everybody!

I am proud to have walked that mile.  Actually, we walked more as we had to park the car 1.5 miles away from the race’s venue.  I am prouder even of my daughter, who, in spite of a halloween party the night before, turned out to be such a trooper.  I doubt if she understood what that race was for.  She had a different purpose as we thought there was going to be a makeover booth for little girls, like I’ve seen in other states.  My bad. :D  We did get her some other rewards.

It was a fun, not to mention memorable morning!  We are definitely doing this again next year. November 7th, 2010 has been marked!

Allow me to relive the race with you via these two video slideshows.  There are two because at Animoto, I can only have a 30-second video with more or less 15 photos.  Instead of upgrading, I decided to just make two videos.  The first has photos of ourselves and the second, my favorite pics from the race.  To everyone who helped our team reach our fund raising goal, thank you oh so much!  It was a pleasure walking on your behalf.  And to everyone who supported us one way or another, thank you!

The Fingerprints of God. I couldn’t have chosen a better music, for the perfect photos. Thank you, God!