A special walk and a little of the unexpected.

Its the morning after a 13 miles walk in Healdsburg. Let me tell you about Patti.

Patti is one of my best friends but she has always been more than that to me. We have been through a lot together, this girl and I. We went to UOP together and that is where we first met. We joined the same sorority and consequentially we speak the same language. Many of our friends are the people we knew from way back when.

Patti lives in Marin. That has helped keep us closer. Through the years she has been there through it all. Through pregnancies, through births, through days of floating and sailing on foreign seas, to days of sadness over life's unexpected turns. She and I have laughed and cried over a lot of things. But when she called me telling me she had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer, we shared something else. We shared fear.

Of the many blessings I have been given in my life, one of the most precious is Patti. She is the God mother of our daughters, my dear friend and the reason I was able to move past being a Cancer victim to a Cancer survivor. Walking in the 3 day these past 4 years with Patti is a gift I treasure. And now... now we are beginning in earnest the training for the San Diego 3 day - Cathy and Patti style, in Healdsburg - and yes wine and icy beer were involved. So our 13 miles felt a little longer, a little slower and oh so much fun. 

We started with shopping.

On to sight seeing as the grapes are minutes away from harvest.

And fall has officially arrived.

A winery stop at Lambert Bridge

Past artful displays at places I wish I could call home.

By iconic landscape

Grapes of the day

Redwood trees

Day of the dead on the way...

Sharing a burger and Parmesan Truffle fries with icy beer

I cherish these walks, partly because I know she and I have been blessed with beating Cancer. We have been given the chance to live life large and long. When you survive Cancer it isn't as if everything suddenly becomes perfect and you magically have the answers. But when you survive Cancer and do it with your best friend there is a deepness that is hard to find anywhere else, that you enjoy each and every time you see them. Thanks Patti ... I truly hope we will ALWAYS walk. ALWAYS have the chance to laugh at each other ... enjoy our attitude adjustment over an icy beer at the end of the day.

LIFE isn't always fair. LIFE doesn't always give a survivor as much time as they deserve. This wonderful woman Kat recently passed away, not from the Breast Cancer that she survived but from a blood clot she suffered after the birth of her 4th child. She was a warrior and a vital part of the Young Survivors Coalition. She helped screen grant requests for funds to fight this disease that she conquered. Her death was unexpected and is felt far and wide. When you lose a light like Kat the world will always feel a little darker... but there is always a glow that is left behind.

Kat LaJacono Werner

I have clients who are researchers at UCSF. Jerone and his wife Merone do research into T-Cells and have done some incredible things. But one thing Jeroen did this week surprised me. He had seen my speech and he said,

"Seeing this, it is not difficult for Merone and for me to do the hard things at work."

Read a little about his research. THEY are the true heroes.
Jeroen - http://rooselab.ucsf.edu/Home.html

AND KNOW when you donate to Susan G Komen you help pay for the research of people like Jeroen. YOUR dollar could be THE dollar that finds the cure. TO DONATE click here...

www.the3day.org/goto/cathy