Celebrating Charlotte!

I'm hot, sweaty and tired, but in a great way! I have just walked the Komen Race for the Cure with my friend Charlotte and her 'Charlotte's Web' ... and we have the T-shirts to prove it!

When I met Charlotte, our sons were in the same first grade class. With her background in PR and mine in advertising, we hit it off right away, and breakfast soon followed. Over croissants and scrambled eggs, we began sharing the background of our lives, as new friends do. She was up front and upbeat in telling me of her diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer several years earlier. Already as 'survivor,' she was confident and optimistic ... and she made sure that I was not 'too busy' multi-tasking to get regular mammograms myself.

Now our kids are heading off to middle school, and Charlotte's celebrating a BIG anniversary... 10 years since her surgery! To mark the occasion, she planned to do the Komen Race and generously opened the invitation to us to join her. Anyone who's met Charlotte will tell you that the first thing you notice about her is her smile. And today, that smile was bigger than ever.

But it wasn't until she crossed the finish line in the lane especially marked for Survivors, received a beautiful single long-stemmed rose, and stood embraced by her husband Jim, that the truly major significance of this event really struck me. We all stood there watching with tears in our eyes as a volunteer snapped a picture of them together, capturing in a moment, the true essence of life. 10 years. A full decade. Time of waiting. Watching. Living. I was so proud to be there with her.

As we moved on through the crowd for a much needed bottle of water and the requisite t-shirt, I was struck by so many groups like our own. Groups of (mostly) women who walked in matching t-shirts of their own - all colors, shapes and sizes with fun names, corporate logos and serious messages. Women who support each other every day in so many ways. Mothers, daughters, aunts, cousins, BFF's as the kids say. Carving out a few hours out of their lives on a very early Saturday spring morning, coming together to create a force of thousands to make a difference in the lives of so many.

I have always loved that saying: "I am but one, but I am one," and one plus one plus one plus one...all add up to women making an incredible, powerful difference in one life after another.

Thank you, Charlotte for including me in your invitation. And thanks for each and every one of you who walked today and all the other days to make a difference.

Now I'm back home and it's time to do Saturday laundry. I've got to wash the gorgeous pink t-shirt that today became the most fashionable item in my wardrobe!