Bustin Loose For Breast Cancer Run October 2011

The Run for Breast Cancer this year was extra poingent to me.  Not only was I going to cheer the amazing people at the race on for a good cause, but it was also to honor & in memory of some very special family members as well.  

My mother is an 8 yr survivor of stage 4 breast cancer.  Her sister, my wonderful Aunty Judy, was a 26 year survivor of Hodgekins Lymphoma.  My father died last year of pancreatic cancer and his brother, my wonderful uncle Nat, died of Lung/Brain Cancer - they passed within months of each other.  So it was in honor & in loving memory this fight for those with Cancer, I went to attend.  I ended up going alone and I'm sort of glad that I did, because there was a large number of tears shed.  

The race began and I thought of all my loved ones, survivors and those who lost their battles.  It was hard to hold my camera straight at the start line as the tears started streaming down my face again.  There was a great turn out and all I could think is how do you thank so many great people for coming out and showing their support for finding a cure to something so many of your loved ones have had to fight.  

I heard my friends Judy & Ricochet in my head then.  I couldn't run due to my poor health, but, I could capture the memories from the run for those running in memory & support of THEIR loved ones.  Photography is a family wide hobby.  My father had an old Canon with all the lenses; my mother has the same camera as I do, and my brother has a Canon & a Nikon.  It was a great way to not only say thank you to all of the great folk running, but also a great tribute to my parents.  I know my dad was smiling down on me as I shot photo after photo trying to capture it all.  I have no doubt he would have enjoyed being there at the run & the beautiful location too - which is one of my favorite spots to shoot at.  

I took around 800 photos and tried to capture as many of the great folk there as I could.  Then, just before I left, I went and sat on the grass by the lake & fountains and watched the last of the runners coming in, and people mingling after the race was done.  It was a great time to sit and remember those I was there for, as I watched the pink rose petals float across the water.  It was a tearful morning but it was an amazingly beautiful one too.  Thank you so much to the organizers, the runners, the vendors and everyone who was there to show their support!  

I'm going to close this blog post with two things: 

one is a ton of love & gratitude to my father, mother, aunt & uncle for

all the amazing things they've taught me. 

and second is with a poem read by one of the pastors at the end  of the run.  

A little something we should all remember......

I read of a man who stood to speak

At the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
And spoke of the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth
And now only those who loved her
Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,
The cars, the house, the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard;
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
To consider what’s true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect
And more often wear a smile,
Remembering that this special dash
Might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is being read
With your life’s actions to rehash
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?

- Linda Ellis