Please support me as I take an amazing journey in the fight against breast cancer! The Breast Cancer 3-Day is a 60-mile walk over the course of three days. Net proceeds benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure and National Philanthropic Trust, funding important breast cancer research, education, screening, and treatment.

My story

Hi. You might not know me. I live in in Chesapeake, Virginia. I'm a stay at home mom. I went to college at William & Mary and majored in literature. I have a love for action movies, science fiction, Russian art, Irish beer, Jackie Chan, and just about anything with cheese on it.

I'm thirty-six years old (thirty-seven in May!) and grew up in Louisa County, Virginia. I used to spend summers in upstate New York with my grandparents. My mother's parents and my dad's parents lived about four miles away from each other, near a tiny town called Peru.

My favorite color is green.

Please meet my mother. You probably don't know her either. Her name is Cynda Carpenter-Abolt. She's sixty years old and lives in St. Simon's Island, Georgia. She's an historian and a reenactor and a member of the National Park Service. Nine years ago, she married my step-father in an early 19th century period wedding down in New Orleans.

Her favorite poem is The Doormouse and the Doctor, by A.A. Milne. She likes suspense movies, novels by Patricia Cromwell, and has an inexplicable fondness for purple cow creamers.

In October, 2007, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After surgery and several months of radiation treatment, my mother has been cancer free for a little over a year now.

I'd also like to introduce my grandmother, Ethel Stafford. Her favorite color was yellow, and she had a collection of china birds, especially cardinals. During the Great Depression, she was a teacher. When my family visited her, she always made two batches of chocolate chip cookies, one with walnuts in them, for my dad, and one without, for me. She died in 1994 from pneumonia. She had been a breast cancer survivor for almost ten years after a partial mastectomy.

My aunt, Beth Anne. We called her Big Beth, as opposed to her daughter, Little Beth. She lived in a log cabin, and enjoyed sailing. She died two years ago from heart disease. She was also a breast cancer survivor.

Betty Poe, friend of the family. Died in 1987 from breast cancer.

I never met my friend Leslie's mother. Brynia died from breast cancer in the mid 90's, before I even met Leslie.

These are women you probably don't know. But I expect if you looked around at your mother, your grandmothers, aunts, and cousins, sisters and friends, there are women you know who have been affected by this disease. Breast cancer is the second most prevalent form of cancer, after lung cancer, and the fifth most common cause of cancer death.

In 2007, after my mother was diagnosed with cancer, I decided it was time for me to get healthy. At that time in my life, I was nearly 100 pounds overweight and had been sedintary for years. In early 2008, I joined Weight Watchers and began a more active lifestyle. A little more than a year later, I have lost seventy pounds and am now in the gym three times a week.

But it's time to do a little more.

It's going to be a long walk. I hope you'll join me.

In Addition

I'd like to take a few moments to thank some very special donors and assistants in my walk.

First, I'd like very much to thank my husband, without whose encouragement, support, and tolerance, this would not have been remotely possible.

My best friends, Elizabeth, Leslie, Liz, and Karen; who have provided encouragement, donations, humor, and love.

My occasional walking partner, Greg, who has given me a boost, some healthy competition, and someone to ramble at on these long walks. http://makkabee.livejournal.com/

Steve Spiers; owner of the 100 Pushup Challenge, who is sponsoring me! Please see his wonderful website at http://hundredpushups.com/

The Bean There Cafe, who is hosting my Coffee for a Cause fundraiser on August 7th. http://www.beantherecafe.com/

And Katherine Stephens who is making me a cute hat for my walk. Her sister is dying of breast cancer, and I am honored and touched to wear this hat for her. Please see her web site at http://shamrockswamp.blogspot.com/

And T. Campbell who once wrote me into a comic book. http://faans.com/ and I will be wearing a badge during my walk for him as well!