Press On

I have this quote by Calvin Coolidge on my wall and read it frequently:

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”

I live my life this way.

Cate

Bonding

Being part of the SGK 3-Day for the Cure is more than raising money to fight cancer, it's a bonding experience.  I am part of a huge movement of incredible people who all have the same goal.  Save lives.

When I was training and then when I walked last year I heard so many stories.  Some were the same as mine: I am doing this because I can and everyone deserves a life time.  But others were harder to tell. But they shared them with me.  Each time I realized how lucky I was to meet this person, to become friends with someone else who cared, cared about the future enough to walk miles and miles, not just the 60 together but the hundreds of training miles.

I cry a lot normally - I wear my heart on my sleeve - so I cried a lot during the training walks and at the actual event (not big sobs just the tears that slip out of the corner of my eyes). But at the end of the walk when we held up our shoes I was crying with joy.  We had raised a lot of money, raised a lot of awareness and bonded with so many people.

Last week I went to a training walk and met some new amazing women, women who will walk hundreds of miles and raise thousands of dollars.  How amazing to be part of that.

Cate

I love technology

When I was growing up we had 5 exchange students.  Because of technology 35 years later I am still able to keep in touch with two of them.  It's amazing that I can just chat with Arlene or Regina,  I know what their kids are up to and they know about mine.  Arlene even donated to me for the 3Day, from Abu Dhabi!  Thank you Lu!!

I am so amazed at how easy it's becoming to stay in touch.

Take care,
Cate

Walking together

Sunday I walked 7 miles with Jody and Shellie, my two walking partners.  Jody walked in the Chicago 3-day last year with me and Shell was going to but had other commitments that weekend.  So we've been walking and talking together for more than a year now.  It is amazing how we can find so much to talk about every time we walk.  I look forward to our time together every Sunday. 


Training and fund raising has me thinking about why I'm doing this.  I know we are losing my sister in law - she has ovarian cancer - to a different disease than breast cancer, but it feels like if I can help move research in one way forward maybe it will help research in all areas of cancer. 


I'm extremely grateful to the people that have already donated!  As I send out emails to people I get many replies that tell me they too have lost someone to cancer.  I'm thinking about how I can honor them in my walk.  Some people wear ribbons or shirts with the names.  I'll have to think about it some more.


Thanks for reading.


Cate

First Donations

I sent out emails to many of my contacts over the last couple days and I've already had 2 people donate!   Thank you Aunt Shirl and Chris.  You guys are awesome.

I haven't been doing much training.  Mostly because I'm so busy, I just need to set the time aside and do it.

2009 Chicago walk

Here I am at the end of the 2009 walk in Chicago.  It was an amazing experience.

Started fundraising

I'm starting to gear up for walking in November in San Diego.  I just started this weekend fundraising to get to $2,400.  I haven't joined a team yet, and I'm not sure if I will.  I love being part of a team but I know I can do this on my own and meet a lot of great people on the walk.