Hello Everyone!
Well, Avon Walk 2005 has come and gone. It was just as great as last year, but better. There were more family and friends around this time! Let me start from the beginning. . .
First for the statistics. I raised a total of $2535! The walk this year had over 2400 walkers and hundreds of crew. All told, The Chicago Avon Walk raised over 5.2 million dollars! More money is still coming in, too! I had 0 sunburn, 0 blown knees, and 3 blisters(darn rain). I think I win the most unusual blister award, too. It was under my toenail!
For those of you that did not check my web page, both of my parents were on the crew this year. Mom did medical crew at a couple of different Rest Stops and Dad was on water/ice crew at the Wellness Village. He also was a finish line cheerleader for about 2 hours on Sunday. It was awesome having them around – seeing them throughout the day. We also ended up having our tents near each other which was cool.
My goal for this walk was to complete the entire thing again, but in better time. I did it! I shaved atleast an hour off my time on both days. Because I did it so much quicker on Saturday, Paul and the girls (Miss Jen, Audrey, and Maddy) all got to hang out with us in the Wellness Village for a bit. On Sunday, I figured, “why rush?”, so I hung out with them at the lunch stop for over an hour. The weather during the walk was not as delightful. For pretty much the entire weekend the sun was set to melt. OH MY GOD! The last mile of the entire walk was the hardest. It was right along the lake, with no shade, no wind, and VERY hot! I had to keep telling myself not to give into the heat. But it was worth it. There at the finish line was my entire cheering section rooting for me! For those of you in the Chicago area that remember a down pour on Saturday, yes, I was walking in that too. That torrential down-pour with high winds, thunder, and lightning. Yes, I was in it. Fortunately, I was about 2 miles out from where my mom was – she got hailed on!
There was one VERY cool part of this year’s walk. The Avon Foundation has, during these walks, a thing called a “Connection Ribbon.” This is a Pink Ribbon (almost like a beauty pagent sash) that says “Every Three Minutes.” The ribbon represents the fact every 3 minutes another person is diagnosed with breast cancer. For every 3 minutes during the entirity of the walk, these ribbons are handed out to walkers and crew. All Day and All night because cancer never sleeps. There are only 672 ribbons passed out all weekend. My mom, dad, and myself all got one this year. My dad received one while working. I received one while explaining to Miss Jen what my dad’s ribbon meant. My mom woke up to find one outside her tent. It was touching for all of us to receive one.
Now everything is said and done. My muscles and feet are feeling good and blisters have healed. I am extremely thankful of everyone that has helped me through all this. My parents are signed up to crew next year. I am going to walk again, but haven’t registered yet. (That’s right! I’ll be back for more donations again next year!) My mom and I are also thinking of going out to crew the Denver walk next year. Watch out Desiree! Here we come!
Thanks again to everyone! You all Rock!
Mrs. Bixby (Not Her Real Name)
P.S. To those of you that want to see pic’s or have been promised pic’s, it is going to be a little bit. My camera apparrently did not like the rain and humidity and the pictures are a little hazy. You will get some! Don’t Despair! 