What a busy day! Angie, Shannon and I woke up this morning and drove to Longview Washington to listen to Angie speak at the Cowlitz county Relay for Life. We spent 3 hours walking the track, meeting other inspiring volunteers and getting an abundance of hugs from their survivors (2 of them adopted me as their "new best friend forever" - NBFF). Angie and I were greeted with beautiful hand made necklaces from thier committee and thanked repeatedly for participating in their event. Little did they know we were the ones who felt thankful for being invited.
Angie's speech was phenomenal! There wasn't a dry eye in the house (including hers) and you could hear a pin drop. It was so quiet and it felt like the crowd was hanging on her every word. Shannon videotaped the entire speech and we will do our best to post it on the blog for your viewing pleasure as well. As we have done with the other Relay's we've attended throughout the summer, we took photos of the many great ideas that the Cowlitz County ACS volunteers had to offer. I was thrilled to be greeted by my blog friend Sonya who lives just 15 minutes south of Longview. We had never met but had communicated online for months. I think she adorable and was so excited to meet her! I have invited her to Stanwood's 2009 Relay and I know we will get her hooked on Relay in no time.
After returning back to Portland, we went out to Shannon's mom's house in Hillsboro, Oregon for a meet-and-greet BBQ. The food was fabulous and I got to meet Shannon's entire family. We talked for hours, watched Angie's speech video (and cried...again) and enjoyed the Olympics. I only had one clutsy moment where I smashed my fingers on the lawn furniture but after a few bloody napkins and a couple of band-aids I am basically like new.
I am attaching some photos of today's events; hope you enjoy them. Tomorrow I plan to wake up and make the girls a yummy breakfast before heading off to the Saturday Market (on Sunday) and eventually to the Bite of Oregon. Angie and I will be heading back on Monday morning in order to get me back in time for my Physical Therapy appointment. It seems like there is always something planned...
I have been in contact with Rick througout the weekend and he seems to be feeling much better. When I talked to him tonight he was out in the field trying to pick up bales of hay in the rain. I hope he remembers not to over do it.
Enjoying Portland and Dreaming Big-
Dor
2 comments:
So, how can I convince your beautiful and inspiring daughter(s) to speak at the Oregon City Relay or Kick-Off for 2009?
I saw them last year in Reno and was so moved by them (and your family story)!
Can you believe this crazy August weather?
-Heather
www.rikefamily.blogspot.com
Hi Doreen,
My name is Justin Guild and I’m a graduate research assistant currently working with Dr. Jeong-Nam Kim at Purdue University on a health communication study.
Specifically, our research explores how information sharing behavior through online communities (such as blogs) influences coping strategies among people with chronic conditions including cancer, diabetes, depression, etc. and their family members.
I’m contacting you to seek permission to place a link to our online web survey on your blog to invite readers and other visitors to participate. The survey is purely academic in nature and takes no longer than 5-7 minutes to complete.
The web survey can be found by clicking on this link: http://www.createsurvey.com/c/70237-Os3LDl/
The findings of this study could lead to better management capacities of chronic diseases as well as an increase in funding for research related to online communities.
If possible, we would be very appreciative if you could please forward the link to the web survey to other people you may know with chronic conditions.
If you have any questions, or would like additional information, please don’t hesitate to contact me at jguild@purdue.edu.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Justin Guild
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