Getting ready for the honor walk!
Friday night was the Pink vs White game which is senior tradition amongst four of the Catholic High Schools in Louisville. The Pink team is Assumption High School (girls high school which happens to where I attended high school and taught) and St. Xavier (boys school). The White team is Sacred Heart (girls school) and Trinity (boy school were Tristan attends). The four schools come together for a football game where the girls play flag football and the boys are the dance teams that preform at half time. The game is great, but the boys dancing is the most entertaining. All participants have to be seniors, so this is something that the kids look forward to all 4 years. This is not just for fun, but it is a fundraiser for Norton Cancer Institute and Gilda’s Club in Louisville. The have raised over $350,000 since this event started several years back. A very special part of the night is that anyone participating as a dancer or player can escort any cancer survivors the know onto the field before the game starts. Tristan escorted both Todd and I in the survivors walk. As we are standing on the field they pray, not only for the safety of the players and blessing our time together, but they also pray for all the survivors on the field…those that are cancer free, those of us still in treatment, and those that have passed from cancer. It was beautiful and so inspirational being surrounded by others affected by cancer. Not just those of us being honored, but also all these high school seniors that have had cancer touch their young lives.
On the field with the students and the cancer honorees, I looked around and saw a friend from grade school who I reconnected with when our boys started grade school together as a breast cancer survivor. Not only was she there, but her two beautiful sisters where escorted on the field as well as breast cancer survivors. These three sisters are amazing and truly an inspiration. I also looked over and saw my late friend Elizabeth’s, husband and two young daughters. Behind us was the mother of one of sorority sisters. My sorority sister and her husband who are both cancer survivors were escorted by their twin son and daughter that played and danced. It was humbling. How did so many of us get here? Why is Tristan or our friends with the twins having to escort both parents who have had cancer?
The girls played hard, and the boys danced their buns off. It was truly amazing to watch four rival schools come together for a greater cause. It was also a reunion of sorts for all of us that attended these Catholic high schools. I saw classmates from grade school I hadn’t seen in years, girls I graduated high school with, and girls I taught while teaching at Assumption. There is something very special about the Catholic school community in Louisville. The mom and teacher in me loved seeing the dance teams composed of boys from every social group. It seems that most of these kids that started their freshman year with groups from grade school or labeled as nerds, athletes, popular, etc. have finally matured and let most of that go.
I wore white because Tristan was a member of the white team (and white is the color for lung cancer), but in my heart I really wanted to wear pink for my Assumption roots. In the end it didn’t really matter. Team white ended up winning the football game and both boys dance teams did well, but I am a little partial to the white dance team. Probably because the 6 foot 3 inch, curly headed, full red beard man child has my entire heart!
Look at those moves!
He may almost be 19 and a man child, but he will always be my baby!
Some of Tristan’s good buddies!
The next day was also a good day. It really wasn’t “cancer” related, but yet is was. Prior to my cancer diagnosis I was an avid runner. There was a group of moms that I would run with 3-6 times a week. We were really crazy and would run at 5 am no matter the temperature. We ran more mini marathons together than I can count. Our favorite was the Kentucky Derby Festival mini marathon. The Derby and the 2 weeks leading up to the Derby are packed with Derby events, one of the oldest being this race. Well, in January I started getting the emails that registration was open. I deleted them quickly, sad because lung cancer took running minis away from me. I can still run, but with a janky, radiated lung it is very hard to get my breathing into a good rhythm. It is also hard on my back where I have bone mets and a bulging disc so I have pretty much hung up my running shoes. Well, one day in February I got yet another email about registration and I thought…Lung cancer cannot stop me from participating in an event I love. One of my running group buddies posted on facebook that same day about how much she missed our group and running the mini. I commented, half way joking, that I would be willing to give it a try if we could walk most of it. She was game. In true Leah fashion, I made a training scheduled and we started. Well, life is busy and we had kid activities, basketball tournaments that were out of town, spring break ate up 2 weekends, then Maxwell got sick and I couldn’t really leave him. Long story short we “trained” very loosely. As the date approached and the weather was looking questionable, the lack of training made us a bit nervous, and the price had gone up to $150…so we decided, screw that we will do our own mini somewhere else. We recruited another former running buddy last minute and agreed to meet at Egg Lawn and walk a park near us with 100 miles of paved trail.
We met that morning at 7:00 am, and I told them the only requirement was to bring lots of words. We started walking and talking, ran into so people we knew who were walking in a 5K for Pancreatic Cancer so we crashed the walk and walked with them for a while and enjoyed a couple water stops, then it was walk, walk, walk. I will admit I am directionally challenged and I won’t speak for the others, but I think it was safe to say we had no plan and half the time no idea where we were. I do know we made it to Taylorsville, Kentucky which is the county passed Jefferson where we started. None the less. We got our 13.1 miles in, talked the entire time, had the best weather we could ask for, and generally had a great time. It was the slowest mini we have ever done, but it was the least expensive and stressful!
Proof!
At the end of the “race” I told the girls I had a surprise for them. My mom helped me clean out my closet a few days before and I came across all my old race medals. I ended up throwing them in a bag for Goodwill. I am constantly looking at things now like, if I die is anyone going to wants these?, if not it is a pitch. Thanks cancer! Well as I was lacing my shoes to head to meet the girls I had a thought. I dug 3 of the medals out of the bag, each medal I chose had been one we had trained for and ran together. I told them I unfortunately didn’t bring foil blankets, bananas, chocolate milk, or bagels, but that I had something better. I opened my trunk and presented each of us with a medal. They were all different and from 2014, 2015, and 2016. We asked a random lady in the parking lot to take out race finish picture. I am sure she thought we were crazy! What I am most proud of is that I have taken care of my body/health in the 4 years and 4 moths since my stage IV, terminal lung cancer diagnosis that I could go out and walk 13.1 miles without really training. That is something that most average Americans cannot do. That is a F you cancer! That is a win!
Proud finishers that have now decided we are going to do this once a month! so if anyone is looking for a very chatty 13.1 mile walk on a Saturday morning let me know!
Your are such an inspiration. I love you so much! ❤️🤍
I love all of this! I am so glad you participated in the event that has meant so much to you. Keep pushing back Leah!! You are making a difference.