I know, I know, it's been awhile yet again... I never know where the time goes, I suppose this means I'm having fun!?! But I digress...
When I signed up for a second time to run a marathon with "Joints in Motion" I took back to this blog space and told you that I would regale you with stories of those I've met along the way who have inspired me to tackle this fundraising and training task yet again. I hope to ok some of these anecdotes with them in the coming weeks and months, however, for now I thought I'd share with you a weekend I experienced with them. These three ladies have shown me what it really takes to be a strong woman and face the curveballs (Rheumatiod Athrirtis in their case) life tends to throw our way with grace, humour, and most special to me - candor.
The Jingle Bell Walk for Arthritis was on November 20th 2011 and Katherine and I had done this the year before I ran the Cayman Marathon to support the Arthritis Society and wanted to do it again. Katherine, as many of you know, is my Arthritis hero and the person I ran the Cayman Marathon for and whom I will be running in honour of yet again in the Bahamas in January 2013. The master plan for the Caymans was for Katherine to be there too but that didn't work out as planned. While I was in the Caymans I had the opportunity to meet two very special women. Andrea and Heather both live with Rheumatoid Arthritis, and were diagnosed a couple of years before Katherine was. I knew while I was in the Caymans that I had to find some way to get Katherine in touch with these ladies after seeing the immediate bond they shared in truly "knowing" what the other was going through. While I love and am grateful that Katherine feels that she can share her struggles, embarassing side effects and feelings of extreme frustration about her disease with me, as much as I try, I really don't have a clue what she's going through. Andrea and Heather know it all too well and so I decided to invite the two of them over to Vancouver to join Katherine and I for the Jingle Bell walk. I had no idea what I was about to get myself into...
I picked both Andrea and Heather up from the ferry on Saturday morning and had a whole bunch of items on my list of things we could do that afternoon - evening to catch up before doing the walk and meeting Katherine the next morning. Just a side note, before I get any further keep in mind that I was not spending my time with 85-90 year old ladies... Andrea is in her late 20's and Heather is in her mid 30's... The first hiccup in my master plan for the weekend came when we got to my car, nothing that "able bodied" Lisa would even consider but - my Mazda, though normal height, is actually quite low and even though they both tried their best to disguise it, it was hard for them not only to get into my car but even harder to get out of my car!
So we head to the first stop on the list - the Arcteryx outlet! We're all outdoorsy types and I heard a rumour that they had ridiculous deals so off we went. An hour of driving later we were in North Van and both Andrea and Heather's legs needed some coaxing to get out of the car after sitting for that long - again, not something I considered... While walking around in the outlet Heather commented about hearing a clicking sound... Andrea says with a smile on her face as always, "oh that's my hip, it makes that sound when I'm tired and not walking correctly". That's right, late 20's and has already had a hip replacement and more recently a shoulder replacement! This woman is amazing!
Back in the not-so-low rider car we go - let's be honest, I brought them over for a couple days of torture! Off to grab a coffee and walk along the trails in Port Moody to show them my "hood". We get our coffees in the coffee shop and I suggested we sit for a bit to eat our pastries and then walk with our coffees. This is where they both do a scan of the shop and all the available chairs to seek out chairs that they would be able to get out of... Again, not something I would even fathom having to think about when going for coffee with friends! After finishing our pastries we head out for the km walk to the pier and back which was nice but I could tell it a bit much to walk that far and then get back into - yup, you guessed it, my not-so-low rider for more driving.
A couple more stops that day and then off to my parents for the night to crash. Well if you ask them I think they did quite enjoy sharing the double bed and chatting about their struggles well into the night but again, it was a double bed shared with two amazing women who had to talk themselves into getting out of it to start their day in the morning. I know this part as I heard them both discussing it. I admit that I have to talk myself out of bed in the morning sometimes too, but it's just a mental battle about wanting to stay cozy, not a pep-talk that though it's going to hurt my joints to get out of bed, it's better for them to move as much pain as that will cause!
Off to the walk we went on Sunday morning and I had the pleasure of introducing the ladies to Katherine. They shared an instant bond over a disease that has taken their bodies and severely aged them and made them seriously consider the best way of doing even the smallest "easiest" task. I am so happy that they were both able to make it over to meet Katherine and visit me - as much torture as I put them through! Thank you Andrea and Heather for an "eye opening" weekend, letting me into your world (though you probably didn't realize it at the time) and for being two incredible resources and avenues of support for Katherine. I am forever grateful to you both!
I hope this small snippet of my weekend has given all of you some insight into why I am raising money to try and find relief for those that live with this disease. As promised, I have finally written and posted my donation page - it details some of the struggles Katherine has gone through since becoming a Mom and is well worth the read! The link to my personal page is at the top right of this blog, just click on the donate now button and it will direct you to my page. Thank you all for your continued support - I wouldn't be able to accomplish this goal a second time without you all!
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