Team Buring Raises Over $1,000 for Komen for the Cure!

What a day!!!!  I am still very emotional just thinking about it!

First of all, a HUGE thanks to Team Buring (pictured above - L to R Bottom Row -- Charley and Ethel Hoffman (My Amazing In-Laws), Me, and Bill Lampe (Brother-In-Law/Shauna's husband) // L to R Top Row -- Steve Hoffman (my hubby), Jake Lampe (nephew), Sharon Stuard (sister), Lisa Donnelly (friend/"sista" from birth), and Shauna Buring (sister). 

Second of all, an ENORMOUS THANKS to all those that donated to the cause!  At this time, we have raised $1,075!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Which is pretty darn amazing considering we didn't even start until Thursday!  Donations are accepted through October 31, so it's not too late! :-)

Over 18,000 participants for the day (over 700 of those are Survivors)!  You can ask any of us girls in the group....it was emotional to say the least.  As I had mentioned, my plastic surgeon had instructed me not to walk (with drains just out) so Steve (my "co-survivor" and "rock") hung with me while the rest of the Team enjoyed a beautiful morning walk of 3.1 miles!  You may think Steve got the easy duty, however, given my emotional state he actually ended up with quite the challenge. :-) 

As we waited at the Finish Line, we saw my breast surgeon!  (see picture below)  Clearly, I am a survivor due to her skill in manually detecting the lump that started it all.  I have been seeing her for about 9 years and grown comfortable with her very direct style.  So it only seemed fitting that she told me "you could have walked it" and told Steve "what's your excuse?". 

We all crossed the Finish Line together (they said it was okay for me to cross the finish line since I was only 45 days post surgery) and again....very emotional.  I will just say, the volunteers who make this race and fundraising event (over $1M was raised in total) happen are amazing! 

After the race there was an official Survivor Celebration that took place inside Great American Ball Park (GABP).  The survivors sat together, were honored and then filed onto the field for a group picture.  We spelled out "hope" with a ribbon outline above it (I'll post the picture once it is published).  Funny comment - of course most of you know me very well and that I am a fairly organized and methodical person.  So the first thing my sisters said to me when we rejoined was "were you going crazy that they couldn't organize the picture any more efficiently?!"  To which I said "YES!"  So just imagine about 500 people filing onto the baseball field (not in single file of course) and being loosely guided to stand on these ropes that spelled something (but we didn't even know what at that time).  It all works out in the end but I really think I could have shaved about 10 minutes off the exercise with a little instruction and discipline.  :-)

At this point, I know you are thinking...."I want to do that next year with Team Buring!"  Well, you can!  I'll let you know when and where and we will strive to grow our Team and have even more fun celebrating, walking and crying together than we did this year! 

To cap the event, we had our own private celebration / luncheon (thanks to Steve) at Rock Bottom Brewery!  Our friends James, Carrie and Quin joined us (they had walked in honor of Tracy who lost her battle with breast cancer this past year) and it was great to catch up with them!  It was very enjoyable and certainly a memorable day for me!  To think I am at a 45 days survivor status (actually not really officially a survivor for five years I think but what the heck else are you supposed to call yourself?) is quite amazing.  My nap was a great one yesterday and my 12 hours of sleep even better!  Taking it very easy today!

Again, thanks to all!  Each and every one of you are helping me get through every day and to continue to heal and grow in all ways!