This past week- end I put on my walking shoes and my youngest son and I, joined my good friend Kelly to participate in the 2008 Susan G. Koman, "Race for the Cure". The fundrasing event for breast cancer here in Portland, Oregon is one of the largest on the West Coast. We hopped the Max train and headed down to the Waterfront in downtown Portland to join a literal "sea of caring humanity" that either walked or ran the 1K or 5K races. It was quite an emotional experience reading each of the pink 'In Memory Of' or "In Celebration Of" signs each participant pins to the back of their shirts with the names of loved ones and friends who have either lost a battle with breast cancer, are in the courageous battle to heal or are living as a survivor. We walked the 5K in memory of a dear friend who lost her battle and several other dear ones who are in process of healing from or fighting the disease. I was overcome at the creativity of the different groups that participated and their enthusiastic spirits! At every turn there was a rainbow of emotions that were being expressed...joy, grief, happiness tears...all amidst the celebration of laughter, dancing, friendship and music!
And what would the event be without the delightful and upscale restroom experience of the "Honey Bucket"!!!
The fundraising for "Race for the Cure" is still going on for another few weeks and I wanted to find a way I might be able to contribute with a little fundraiser of my own. This collage of mine "Breathe Hope", always reminds me of my friends who are facing breast cancer. For the next two weeks I would love to offer this piece as a fundraiser for the "Race for the Cure". Any sale of this work as a mounted art card ($5.99), greeting card ($4.25) or 5X7 ($8.99) print will go directly towards the fight to find a cure for breast cancer. You can either purchase the print in my store on Ebay, Etsy, my website or directly from my blog by contacting me personally. My deepest appreciation if you are able to join in!
I also wanted to share a charm style ornament I recently finshed to contribute to another beautiful event called, "Ties the Bind- Artists United to Fight Ovarian Cancer". If you follow the link you will be blessed to see a vast array of heartfelt work that has been created and contributed by a huge group of mixed media artists. You can also read more about the cause and how you might be able to help support the research and fundraising for this special cause as well!
And now for the finale to our weekend...rocking out at the Journey/Heart/Cheap Trick Concert at the Clark County Ampitheatre!!! Somewhere inside this calm, conservative appearing gal there is a rocker chick trying to find her way out (haha)! For my oldest sons 19th birthday we took him, his brothers and his good buddy to a concert that was "totally sick" (that means really cool in teen speak!)! Talk about a blast from the 80's past. It was quite a de'ja'vu to the days when my hubby and I were dating in high school...but now we had all these grown kids standing next to us jamming to these great Journey songs too! They confirmed what we always knew all along when they exclaimed, "Mom and Dad you guys had the greatest classic rock songs ever in your day!!!" I don't think any of us had any voices left by the end of the night!
