ms walk 08- washington dc & the cure crew

it's that time of year again! the famous (& growing) ms walk in washington dc, where the cure crew has been hard at work, dominating the annual event on all fronts. we want to grow into a triple threat, and not to be blatantly cocky, but i think we are well on the way. in '07, we were recognized as being the biggest fundraisers in the dc walk- this year we wanted to achieve that same distinction again but ALSO be the largest team. i was tempted to pull a tonya harding/’94 olympics maneuver, but turns out it wasn’t necessary. walkers came out in DROVES, even though the threat of rain was ominous.

meg with maggie & kelly; dave, julie & friend; lauren, wil, dave & mike; wes, liz & meg

in a team rally/pep talk email the day before the walk, i confessed that i had put in a request with the big man upstairs, but i wasn't confident of MVP status. coincidence or not, it turned out to be sunny, warm, and absolutely rain-free that saturday morning! (after the fact, dad made fun of my choice of prayers- of all the opportunities i had in the world, cure cancer, get rid of my MS, give dogs the ability to talk… i asked for GOOD WEATHER?! hahahah.) but i defend my request- i sure as hell don't like doing anything in the rain, and a few of our walkers might have melted in the moisture. hee hee.

we asked the cure crew to begin gathering around 8:30- we would take our team picture @ 9:00 and start the walk. kathryn staple-gunned (is that a verb?) our annual signage to wooden posts that dad propped up around the embassy steps. the event site itself, the canadian embassy & the john marshall park, was a perfect combination. in the heart of the city, with lots of room to spread out, and an easy to distinguish path- what more could you ask for? as 9:00 came closer, the steps were literally a sea of red shirts- such an awesome sight. this year, we were awarded "elite feet" status from the Society, which meant we were given our own "express lane" in the registration tent, in addition to other recognition (on signage, etc.) the walkers were all rocking bronze "elite feet" sticker status, a task i delegated to lauren, who did a fabulous job.


i had been looking forward to meeting caz jr., teresa & caz's son. t was my account supervisor at my first DC design agency, and she & caz were part of the walk in the cure crew's inaugural year, along with their boxer perry. caz jr. was born almost 2 years ago (wow, i remember looking @ the sonogram photos during one of our cheesecake factory dinners in tysons corner- it seems like last week!) but i had yet to officially meet him. t & caz had done a great job of coaching caz jr. on who i was, because he spent most of the morning pointing at me with an adorable, and slightly mischievous grin, shouting "meg!" with delight. (side note: if you see any advertisements for town of leesburg tourism- look for teresa & i as the "models" in some of the town photos... long story.)

most of the blaine family attended the walk- a huge surprise! elle had committed months ago, but at the last minute, we were able to convince her middle sister sarah to drive up (it was a team effort), and then her mother jean couldn’t stand to be left out of the excitement. her dad, jim, was already in town- he’s a board member on the national cherry blossom festival, making his presence required at events such as the well-known cherry blossom 10 miler that was scheduled for sunday morning. (i think the 3 mile MS walk was a helpful warm-up.) i created a sign for thomas (who is stationed in iraq) which i pinned to my sweatshirt with a canadian flag (some nice man had given me one with pity in his eyes at my pathetic state- grrrr, but i appreciated the flag, it came in handy!!). by the way, i made that sign at 3am, which is my excuse for the cheesy emotional message of how much we miss him & how proud we are of his service. it sounded better at the time. you might pick up on the fact that daniel is noticeably absent- the real story involves a pole, a pipe, and a stage name of buttercup. you probably need to ask him.

as the team was gathering on the embassy steps, i was able to introduce my kid brother mike to my ms buddy robert. we had met a couple years ago when elle’s mom jean had chauffered me to an infamous steroid IV treatment at my neurologist's infusion center. i wasn’t feeling well and was in a completely foul mood, but he struck up a conversation with me and made me laugh- something i had forgotten how to do at that point in my life. last summer, robert participated in bike ms, a 2 day ride that spanned washington, dc and through rural pa. he personally biked in honor/support of me, a gesture that continues to touch me to this day. my brother was very impressed/inspired by robert through that story, and he donated $100 (i think) to his efforts. for mike to do something like that, you know he made a connection. put it this way, we have been doing this walk for 4 years now, and he has never participated (until now). mike seemed to connect with robert in the whole cycling endeavor, and i think robert really changed mike's perspective of the motivation and dedication of someone battling this disease. or at least, i hope he did. robert & cynthia (his gorgeous wife, look to the left) are 2 people that i wish i could have spent more time with this weekend- every time i see robert, i discover another aspect of his personality that i love even more.


i have always gotten a kick out of our canine walkers, and this year did not disappoint. frank & savannah rocked matching canine doggy fanny packs. while savannah’s held practical items such as water bottles and dog treats, frank's was packed to the brim with his mom's cell phone, keys & wallet. i'm pretty sure he considered himself the mascot of the crew- he definitely could have bagged the "Mr. Popularity" award. (savannah belongs to dave- julie’s awesome boyfriend- and frank is the baby of my girlfriend (and ex-neighbor) candace from my port royal days. (look to the left.)

corralling a group of 20 is hard enough, so getting the attention of 75+ people called for the effort of mrs. elle talley. with dad leading the way, hoisting a cure crew sign high in the air, the mass of red shirts began moving towards the walk "start" line. during this madness, ashlee snapped the best photo of the cure crew we have ever taken- what a good lookin' crowd we are- dogs, babies & celebrities alike! looking at our team photo still gives me chills (see below.) it's a huge mash up of emotions- i feel so proud, and (i know this will sound weird) but so unbelievably LUCKY!!! the support of everyone that makes up our team (and that includes those of you at home who have donated money)... god, it means so much. it's hard to put into words how special i feel- and more than that, how safe i feel. to have the support of your friends is intense enough of a realization. to have the support of an entire city. the feeling is simply amazing.

holly gives meg a hug; tom & monica look like movie stars

unfortunately, i had dedicated too much energy to the night before to take part in the walk. i was so excited to be back in the city, and so thrilled to be spending that time with my friends, that i overdid it. i went to dinner at pesce with the blaine family (such a delicious treat), and for drinks at le bar with ML, joe cool, sarah, tom, monica & kate. i even stayed out until MIDNIGHT (insert gasp! here.) the temptations of good food & wine was too much for me to abstain, and i had eaten a couple gluten filled items (they were delicious, at least going down- definitely not later!) and drank 2 glasses of wine. (wait, how did that dirty martini slip in there?!)

sarah & meg @ pesce; that anonymous dirty martini; ML, elle & joe cool @ le bar

sarah, elle & i had a somewhat disturbing but absolutely hysterical slumber party

friday evening- it involved a vertical cot that had been added to the room in case kim decided to drive down from MD for the night. at some point elle wrapped herself in the bed runner and bounced on the king bed like a monkey. yeah.... fun times. none of this was well taken by my poor, beaten-down body. but hey, a girl's gotta live a little. and besides, it turned out to be my only opportunity to do so all weekend, so i would make the same decision if i had the choice again.

anyway, between the activity on friday night, and the existing swelling that had begun a month ago, my feel were the size of ripe melons on saturday morning, which made walking with the team not at all an option. i was disappointed, because i had wanted to try to walk 1 mile with everyone- i knew this was an unrealistic decision, but what would be the worst that could happen? i'd have to stop and catch a cab, not the end of the world. turns out that elle demanded i get in my wheelchair so i could do the walk with the team.

let me explain something... i have an insidious love/hate relationship with my wheelchair. i was extremely against purchasing the chair in the first place (technically, the state of PA purchased the chair on my behalf- thank you medical assistance). let's be honest, we all stare curiously at those in wheelchairs, or using canes, or pushing walkers. i think it's a natural reaction. but what i hate is the pity in the eyes of strangers. i know you shouldn't care what people think, and all that other rationalized methods of thinking, but when it comes down to it, and it's YOU that's in that chair, you want to do everything in your power to avoid it. on the other hand, i love that it gives me the opportunity to take part in things i would normally have to sit out (attending events, going to museums, getting to your connecting flight at the airport or through security). but mostly i hate it with a passion.

if you know elle, you know that you usually end up doing what she says after a tug of war with "no!" and "yes you will!" and "NO!" and eventually, "DAMMIT MEG SIT DOWN!"... long story short, i did the walk on my 4 wheels. (see the battle of wills to the left.) as we neared the finish line at the event site i didn't want anyone from the team to see me in the wheelchair, so i tried to subtly raise myself up and hobble to the finish line. (see the photo on the left.) i pretended that no one had seen me in the humiliating contraption, but i'm sure i was spotted. no one would believe that we were pushing elle for 3 miles!

that's me above, pretending i had walked over the finish line... elle, kim, meg & k8

the walk took us around the capitol, and in plain view of the blooming cherry blossoms

the route itself was absolutely PERFECT. the length was a little under 3 miles- much more do-able than the 7 miles of the past years. in addition, the touristy sites along the way were perfect- we walked around the capitol and had full view of the cherry blossoms that decorate the city. the volunteers along the route were full of energy and incredibly supportive. traffic was managed and stopped- no one was hit by any stray cars, hah hah. we caught up with sandra, her mother, and their friends halfway through the route, and shouted out encouragement as they took a break on the stone wall. sandra is always a major presence at the walk, and incredibly inspirational. despite all the challenges she faces physically, she ALWAYS finishes the route- whether it is 7 miles or 3. i know personally that it has to take its toll on her, but she rarely complains. definitely a memory i will always keep with me. we sang happy birthday to my little brother mike (he's not so little anymore- 6'5" and 25 years old!) as we neared the finish line, and fellow walkers and tourists joined the random singing.

post event, the june & charlie (team captain kate's parents) had taken over an area in the park to gather the crew together. june & charlie are among my sets of “second” families- we decided to plan a historical tourist adventure for the summer, meeting halfway in gettysburg. fun times, right?? parents & team mates brought cookies, cheese rolls, trail mix, and other goodies to refuel all our team mates.

in addition, we wanted to recognize 2 walkers who were spending their birthday weekend with us- karen's mother, peggy, an original cure crew teammate, and my kid brother, mike, who had taken time out of his busy phD schedule @ nc state to make the event. i had made chocolate cupcakes to "surprise" them with (they looked better the night before), and karen and kate struggled to light the candles in the ever increasing wind. lori had tracked down the lighter from cops loitering around the park entrance- we took them cupcakes as a thank you gesture, but get this- they declined our offer! have they ever heard of etiquette? you always take a cupcake from a gimp with a cane and a hot brunette in a sassy red shirt. come on guys, get with the program!

2008 Cure Crew @ MS Walk, Washington, DC

stats, as of 4.05.08:
$ raised: $20,860 (donations will be accepted until 5.31!)
cure crew walkers: 76+
out of town walkers: 20+ (it was basically "parents weekend 2008")
ms cure crew walkers: 5 (meg, robert, sandra, stacie, yolanda) <-- they all finished the course!!

the benton family (fran); meg w/karen & mom peggy; meg w/charlie (kate's dad)

after the walk, as the team was piling up their ms walk gear and headed back to the metro or parked cars, a woman came up to us, introducing herself and talking about her husband's (alex houston) recent documentary. the film is called "swim lessons: the nick irons story." nick is a man whose love and admiration of his father drove him to desperate measures- he chose to swim the entire length of the mississippi river- 1500 miles- to raise awareness of MS, and to inspire complete strangers to get involved to end this devastating disease. i have to tell you- his passion really moved me. what a breathtaking adventure to embark upon- and what gives it that "kick in the gut" feeling is that he did it for someone he loves. the action of 1 person can touch the lives of hundreds, thousands of others.

the trailer can be found on youtube, but don't just stop there. the only way this film can make a difference is if it gets national exposure- alex & his team have submitted the film to a national documentary film festival. (keep in mind this conversation was had after i was wheeled around the city for 3 miles and tried to interact with all 76 people on our team... my brain wasn't so fresh.) i can't remember the name of it, but i remember the statistic- over 2,000 films have been submitted, and 8 are chosen. EIGHT. so watch the trailer, share it with your friends, and if it really moves you, if you feel the passion that nick irons shared with us all on his mission, contact the man below with your endorsement of the film…

sky sitney @ silverdocs (director of programming)
AFI silver theatre
8633 colesville road
silver spring, md, 20910

unfortunately, less than 24 hours after my arrival in the city, my weekend trip ended at 10:30 on saturday morning. when we got back to the hotel, I stumbled into the room and collapsed on the bed, where i stayed curled up in the fetus position the remainder of the weekend. (i vaguely remembered making a hot chai in the hotel lobby, but i awoke to a full styrofoam cup of cold tea on the nightstand.) apparently a lot of action went down while i was passed out... kim drove back to MD, elle did the dc-arlington dance a couple times, sarah packed up her bags and headed back to nc, ML & joe cool downed some brews, scottie & sheila walked around the city, kate & her parents took in a late lunch and a movie, mom & dad explored the neighborhood… and then there was me, sleeping away the day.

dad with mccain; what a sassy vespa; mom with obama (oh, a house divided!)

i awoke 7 missed calls later, and was craving margaritas & guacamole. since it was 4pm, i didn't think getting into rosa mexicana, 1 block away, would be that much of a wait. i was craving some of their trademark table-side guacamole action… mmm, i can taste it now. my daydream didn’t turn out quite as planned. the city was chock full of activities (aka tourists)- besides the cherry blossom festival, it was the last capitols came of the season, so the wait was 1.5 hours- that's ridiculous, even when there is a bar available that makes delicious mojitos. on a last ditch effort, dad scrambled for seats downstairs @ gordon biersch, where i made it through 30 minutes of yummy seasonal ale before faceplanting into my stir fry.

by the way, bad decision on the menu choice- soy sauce has gluten in it! the evil, dreaded, must be avoided gluten...duh! after an entire YEAR of discovering my gluten allergy, i had to make a self sacrificing choice like that?! augh. elle encouraged me to go take a nap before we headed over to tom & monica’s dupont circle apt to catch the unc game. a good plan, but with one fatal flaw… i never woke up. (and my outfit was cute, damnit! i was even rockin’ the skinny jeans!) dad was a trooper and stayed in the room to watch the game with his comatose daughter, and i awoke to him screaming at the television with 2 minutes left- apparently i picked a good game to sleep through. (i just hope we can keep tyler so we have a shot @ a national championship next year! come on tyler, don't you want it? now if we can get billy packer fired, all would be right with the world.)

anyway... between the poor food choices, my swollen watermelon feet, pain pills and extreme fatigue, I don’t remember much of the remainder of the weekend. i was able to fit in a trip to lisa on friday afternoon, the best physical therapist in the dc metro area (healing works in arlington), a quick shopping trip at my favorite trader joe's in alexandria, and deliver flowers to the best hairstylist in town- erin at sugarhouse in alexandria. on the way back to PA on sunday, we made a mandatory stop @ the rockville, MD whole foods (no offense if you happen to live in MD, but I just have one word.... WHY?!?!?!?!) where we hit the jackpot in gluten-free, dairy-free delicacies... cookies, pizza crust, muffins, scones... you know i'm desperate if i'm including MD in my travels.

meg @ trader joe's (love the 2 level carts!); meg & lisa post PT ; meg @ sugarhouse after flower delivery

yolanda stopped by for our annual hug on her way out, and her parting words were, “next year we gotta be even bigger.” the statement momentarily stunned me- how can we pull off an even more successful walk than this year’s? but i know it’s possible- our support is amazing, and i'm excited to be a part of the movement. i hope our story inspires you.

by the way, i have received emails from many of you asking if you can still donate to the crew & the dc chapter of the ms Society. the answer is YES! follow this link to be taken to the cure crew's personal web page, and you will find directions on how to donate to our team. the society will accept donations up until MAY 31st, so you have plenty of time to help fund life-saving research and programs to help those with MS!

team captains kate & karen, with ashlee from the Society, and walker lauren