This past weekend was The 3 Day in Seattle. After the overwhelmingly positive experience I had last year, I was gung-ho to do it again and convinced two online friends to do it with me - Marlene and Rebekah. I have known Marlene and Rebekah for roughly 6 years - we met on a pregnancy forum when I was pregnant with Amiya and they were pregnant also - all of us were due in the same month. Here was a great opportunity for all of us to meet up together and do something good in the process.
I flew out Wednesday night and got into Seattle around 11 PM. Got to the hotel and crashed. The next morning I had a quiet breakfast all by myself (when's the last time that happened?) and waited to meet the others. Another online friend, Angela, lives in Seattle and very generously volunteered to pick us up from our airport hotels and drive us to the meeting place for Crew Day on Thursday.
Crew Day was ok - we were part of the (awesome) Lunch Crew. Lots of standing around between sessions and we thought it could have been shorter. But it may have been that those who volunteer for Crew are just naturally gifted men and women and we knew it all already. (Right? Right.) Anyway, it was adventurous in that I took a very hard tumble on the sidewalk whilst buying sustenance at the corner gas station and we I had to get a bit bitchy to get the hotel to send a shuttle. Other than that it was all good. They kept telling us that crewing was as hard as walking. Whatever. No way. Walking was horribly difficult. I say again, whatever. Later that evening, Angela came back to see us at our hotel and we all went to dinner - #1 regret of the week is that we weren't able to meet Amity - yet another online friend - due to a tragic shooting of a colleague and #2 regret is that we forgot to take a picture with Angela. Next time.
Day 1: Up at 3:00 to catch the 4:00 shuttle to the site where we would hop on another bus to go to the first lunch site. We were less than happy to stand around from 4 - 6 AM, but we kept reminding each other that those in the know must have done it that way for a reason, so we tried to keep our grumbling to ourselves.
Anyway, here we are - Rebekah in black, me in the middle and Marlene on the right. Don't we look chipper? It was a Western themed day for the lunch crew, so we had pink bandanas with little shamrocks on them (because the babes that brought us together were all born in March).
After that picture, we were off to empty cargo containers and set up lunch. This involved schlepping a whole lot of really, really heavy metal frames and canvas tents (the pink/silver tents below), tables, chairs, garbage containers, dry Gatorade, wet wipes, toilet paper, etc.,). And then once all of that was set up, it was time to bring out the consumables - plastic bags (seemingly millions - #1 critique of the weekend was that The 3 Day produces an incredible amount of unnecessary waste), cutlery, more wet wipes, and the food. Each day we fed approximately 3,500 people - walkers and crew. It was craziness - working from 6:30 AM until 3 PM every day - non-stop. Wet feet from the dew, chilled from the cool morning air, sweaty from the afternoon sun.
The smiles are just a wee bit less exuberant, aren't they? Yep, we were tired. Day 2. The grass was drier, so our feet didn't get quite so wet and we were a lot closer to the big
ol' truck that held all our food, so the guys (and Marlene) who were running food for us had less distance to travel. This was the hardest day for the walkers and we could tell. While most remained in really good spirits, some were cranky and we did our best just to let it roll. Day 2 is hard - your feet hurt, you most likely had a fair night of sleep at best and you know that you've got another night in a tent and another day of long walks tomorrow.
Day 2 also seemed to be the day that it really started to sink in - I teared up more times than I had on Day 1. I think the fuzzy-headed ladies who were fresh out of chemo and the signs held by men who had lost their wives at ages younger than me really slapped me in the face. Working alongside women who survived and men who were crewing because they loved these women was overwhelming at times. My voice cracked a lot when I tried to encourage the walkers and there were many times when my eyes were teary after reading the dates on the back of a shirt. It's difficult to stay nonchalant about something when it's right there in your face.
This is how we camped after Day 2. I take full responsibility for my ill-preparedness. It was cold in Seattle and after four years in Tampa, I couldn't hack it at night. After Day 1, I went to bed and got three hours of sleep tops. At some points I was afraid to fall asleep as I was so cold I didn't know if I'd wake up. (That's probably crazy talk, but in the wee small hours of the morning, the brain goes a bit wonky.) Anyway, I caved and had
Vinay reserve us a hotel room. Best. decision. ever. We got there, showered and ordered pizza.
Mmmmmm. And then we crashed.
The above is the end of Day 3. And we were trying to look tired for the picture. But when I look at the one where we're not trying to look tired - it's not much different. Behind Rebekah you can see the big containers that we had to fill. What a pain in the butt that was. There's a legend and everything - very specific, very heavy. Ugh.
Day 3 was definitely the hardest. The physical misery that so many of the walkers felt was evident everywhere. Limping, swelling, ice packs - everything was all around us. It was also the day when I (and a lot of other crew members) gave up trying to not cry when we were with the walkers. It would have been impossible to keep it in. It's impossible to describe if you haven't been part of something like this - but seeing ordinary human beings give every ounce of themselves to better society as a whole is phenomenal. It is breathtaking and awe-inspiring and especially appreciated in this time of rancorous political debate.
Some of the others on our crew:
From left to right: Meg, Judi (our Captain), a very nice lady whose name escapes me and Janet .
I'd schlep sandwiches again with these ladies any day! Judi had a really great way of being the boss without being bossy - loved her!
This is Mike, but I called him Bill a lot. He was (almost) ok with that. He was the sandwich man in our tent and he was fabulous. He always had a one-liner ready and was quick to make the walkers laugh.
This was Bill - our #1 schlepper. It was his job to keep our tent equipped with all the stuff from the truck. He did a great job and never complained (out loud) about the constant back and forth he had to do on Day 3 - we couldn't keep anything in stock.
And finally, Closing Ceremony. It was, as last year, a time to remind us all why Kleenex will always be a safe stock.
Rebekah had to leave early to catch a bus home, so Marlene and I made sure to flash her our gang sign from the field:
I'd tell you what it means, but it's just really silly and non-important. What is important is that meeting Marlene and Rebekah was just a really cool bonus to this weekend - and I can't wait to see them again. Five years of chatting via the keyboard and three days of really hard work has made for a great relationship.
This is Pat - she's a fellow Lunch Crew member, mom to Judi, our Captain, and a Survivor. On Day 3 I couldn't take being around her anymore without crying. She reminds me so much of my maternal Grandmother who passed away last year. She has that way of inhaling slightly before saying a word that starts with W that is so prevalent in that generation. She is hard-working and strong-willed. She keeps herself so gracefully and yet doesn't shy away from whispering a naughty word if it's germane to the story. Being around Pat was like getting an unexpected ticket to spending time with my Grandma again and it was really, really wonderful. We walked into holding after the walk and there was Pat in her pink t-shirt. She looked absolutely strong and beautiful. I can't wait to see her again.
Just like last year, closing ceremony was most touching in the tribute to the Survivors. Marlene and I stood there holding a shoe up in tribute while the Survivors walked in and then three women - younger than me - filed in right in front of us. Two had full heads of hair and one had less hair than our children when they were born. Her fuzzy skull was protected with a baseball cap and her body was held by her friends on either side. It's all just too much, it really is. No one should have to face this or any other cancer. No one. And yet we will. And in coming together like this, women with fuzzy-heads and flat chests are supported by friends and strangers. All together for altruistic reasons, doing what we can to celebrate life.
I remember, again, seeing Amiya sitting way up on Sherri's shoulders last year while I limped in to closing ceremony in Tampa. I don't want her ever to have to wear a pink shirt as a symbol of her health. I cannot walk away from this and so will participate again.
Some of us from Lunch Crew are talking about crewing in Boston in 2010 - please consider joining us. I promise that you'll have one of the hardest experiences of your life - I'm a believer now when I hear someone say crewing is as hard as walking - but also the best. You can't know how good it is until you try it and you can't know how good you'll feel until you're finished. And all to celebrate life. It doesn't get better.
Grandpa at the tea party Amiya and Grandma hosted while Kev napped. Please note his pinky.
I love this picture of Amiya. She's holding a bucket with 855 acorns - we counted. Mr. Bernie won the estimation contest and we're sending him cookies as his prize!
Kev and Grandpa watching the Brewers game. I love that Grandpa is going to be in charge of Kev's baseball and football education!
"'frowin wocks" was Kev's favorite activity of the entire trip. He'd still be there if we would have left him. He charged himself with the task of cleaning up the beach and he was taking it very seriously.
Can you blame me for missing it? Just look at those colors!
Amiya noshing on campfire cuisine - she's a potpie connisseur now.
Devastation. Absolute devastation when Amiya tried to climb up his slide.
Grandma taught Amiya how to walk on a fence. Thanks Grandma. 
Swinging at Lake Superior.
Amiya petting a deer at the park.
Doesn't she look fifteen?
He just looks two. If only he'd gotten the earpiece on the ear.
Super Grandma and Grandpa and the kids. Amiya especially loved spending time with them.
Seriously. 
I miss it so much.
And in a completely inappropriate yet very funny way to end our trip: Kev was peeling birch bark from this log at the campfire on the last night when all of a sudden he stopped, hunched over just a bit and got very still. And we all knew exactly what he was doing. That ended the campfire and in we went for the night. Leave it to Kev to end things in a very definite way.
