Dear Reader:

This year for Halloween I had a sort of pink “epiphany.” With the grandchildren so into super heroes….what about Boo Boo dressing up as a super hero who takes on the most dreaded, despicable villain of all? Cancer! (Show the children that the real heroes in life are every day, ordinary people who fight to maintain a life of dignity despite set-backs of all kinds…including cancer.)

I got the idea when I “accidentally” came across this t-shirt on-line. It says it all! I immediately ordered it and it came in yesterday.

As we speak…I am in the process of assembling some “super hero” accessories like a cape and a mask….and getting very excited about a special Halloween life lesson.

I am especially happy today because “Legally Pink”  just went over the new goal of $1500. We did it! Thank you, thank you, thank you for being there for the whole team and helping us achieve our best donation results to date!

In fact our team “LEGALLY PINK” made the TOP 20 TEAMS honor category! Thank you Captain Tommy for all your hard work!

As if the “pink stars” weren’t aligning enough at this point…I came across an article I submitted to the Post and Courier for the 2012 Race for the Cure. I never saw anything about it or heard anything so I just assumed that my article wasn’t chosen for publication.

On a whim yesterday…I typed in “Pink Tails” and up popped the published article. It is getting really “spooky” around my house…Halloween is coming!

I had to dust off my memory when I re-read it yesterday….but it quickly came flooding back. It had to do with another “epiphany” I had while walking the 2012 Race for the Cure with our team… in the form of a realization of a dream that finally came true.

*It was right after this particular race that my cancer started moving and things started going south…I was being treated with more chemo that unfortunately just wasn’t keeping things in check any more. This was the last race before the new medicine came into my existence that (to date) has kept me in the race for life.

Pink tails” dream comes true in another way

OCTOBER 25, 2012

When I was small, I wanted to have “pink tails” desperately. I don’t know how I came up with the idea that “pigtails” were called “pink tails” … it was probably a combination of misinterpretation and seeing other classmates wearing pretty pink ribbons in their hair.

The sad truth was, my mother was widowed at a young age with three small children. She also lost her left hand to bone cancer soon after daddy’s death. There was no way for her to put my hair into “pink tails.” Besides, my hair was so fine that hair barrettes slid out of it like ice cubes melting in my fist.

 Today my granddaughter has the same problem, except that with whatever hair can be gathered, it is put into pigtails. She squeals with delight and I smile contentedly. She is getting to live my childhood dream.

Suddenly, last week it dawned on me, as a woman living with on-going breast cancer, that I, too, get to wear little pink ribbons now … special pink ribbons! It still might not be in the form of pigtails (with chemo treatments), but I can and will wear my pink ribbons as “pink tails” — on the tails of jackets, pockets, blouses, shoes, and caps any given day…just not a Race for the Cure Day.

On Oct. 20, 2012 our team —Chapel of Hope Stories— was attired in all shades of pink for the Race for the Cure. My “once upon a time” fairy dream coming true, as pink ribbons swirled around me on Daniel Island. God does work in mysterious ways!

Rebecca (Becky) Dingle    Summerville

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So until tomorrow…Let me remind myself on a daily basis that the individual challenges we all face in life are in reality opportunities given us to share life lessons with others who come behind.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I would like to take a moment and thank the residents of Daniel Island for everything they do, in the form of decorating, lemonade stands, water stands, family bands and cheers of encouragement as we walk or run by….they are the best. This year selected homes are up for awards for the most “spirited” in promoting community support to fight breast cancer. I love this top contender!

* Walsh and Mollie ended up in Jamaica for their four-day vacation with three other couples they had planned the trip with many months ago…started out being in the Bahamas but Hurricane Matthew got them transferred to Jamaica….definitely a stroke of luck there I would imagine….though both are wonderful.

Walsh and Mollie were definitely ready for a hiatus….good food, good company, lots of sleep, and new adventures. Here are some photos Mollie sent me Thursday evening.

* As a mom I am SO glad I wasn’t watching Walsh make that jump upfront and personal….middle child risk-taker.  WOW!

*Are you ready for another big God Wink? Since you have just finished this blog entry…you know it is all about “pink tails” and special “pink ribbons” that I dreamed of as a child but discovered as an adult breast cancer walker in the 2012 Race for the Cure.

Honey had emailed me Thursday to let me know she was returning to St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope with three friends who had never been…I told Honey I would be with her in spirit…my heart and soul yearned so to go but I understand now that I will go when it is God’s timing and it will be perfect.

When Honey sent the two photos last night from the trip I glanced at the first and marveled that the original picture I left in 2010 is still there…me, Mandy, and newborn Eva Cate.

But it was the second photo and Honey’s comment about this strange-looking pink (comet-tail) colored ray that appeared out of nowhere in the photo of her and her friends in front of the chapel. I gasped…I had told her I would be there in spirit with them…I just didn’t know it would be in the form of a “pink” spirit. God works in mysterious ways!