Dear Reader:

I am happy. I am so happy. The Lowcountry Race for the Cure will be taking place October 21 at Daniel Island and here I am getting ready to walk it one more time…a walking miracle…I know it and I hope I do it justice.

Tommy and I first walked it together in 2009 so this year will be our ninth year participating together with the rest of the family and friends marking their eighth year. (Which means, of course, that next year will be a very special celebration…the tenth anniversary!!)

John sent me a picture of all the grandchildren playing dress-up yesterday at their house…Eva Cate, the Queen, has all her subjects in their proper attire…with a brother and two boy cousins…you have to work with what you have…but soon a new princess will enter the scene….that should help balance these play dates!

Eva Cate and Rutledge haven’t missed a single race since they were born…Jakie and Lachlan were either too tiny or not quite here yet to make the first race but they were there for their second and ever since too.

You can imagine what a wonderful feeling it is to be surrounded by the grandchildren, children, my wonderful Dingle sisters, Lassie and Doodle, my special niece Carrie and others who pop up to walk and make this event full of surprises and love.

John and Mandy graciously and generously host a wonderful brunch for the participants afterwards at their home. It is a day I look forward to each year.

*As I have looked back over photos from past Races for the Cure…my Beauty Berry bush always blooms just in time for the race…a wonderful sign for the fruits of life given us.

But there are also so many other trinkets and memorabilia I have collected…from many of you over the years. On the day of the race I have to have everything out and ready to go ….I wear as many gifts as I can possibly fit on me including my holding cross that Jan Hilton first gave me and told me about.

I have a cute little pink bunny hidden in my top closet waiting for Eloise’s arrival…but she is dressed for the race too.

The Race for the Cure is about life, not illness or death… it is also about families and friends…because there is not one cancer patient whose loved ones have not been affected by this “insidious” disease. I enjoy watching the children interacting with their mothers, aunts, grandmothers, older siblings during the race….cancer doesn’t discriminate when it comes to inflicting this disease on loved ones…not age, gender, race, height, weight, religion, political affiliation or financial status…none of it matters when it comes to this disease.

Personally I think the best way to attack is to be happy. Never let this bully of a disease think it is getting to you…because it is limited…it can’t take our soul or our spirituality so any other victory is a mute point…God always wins.

* My former oncology nurse, Linda Carson, gave me the pink and white pillow that says Choose Happy. Good advice…it has served me well. (Bumped into Linda at Anne’s yesterday…she was picking up some paintings Anne had done for her! So great to see her again..the best cheerleader around!)

***This year I especially want you to remember Kristen Gault, my friend Patty Knight’s daughter, who has just started chemo infusions for breast cancer while still teaching second grade and raising her three-year-old adorable little boy. She is my hero…an acorn off the oak of her mother Patty…strong and persevering. Kristen…I walk for you this year!

*Mandy babysat Kristen when she was a little girl…so my whole family is praying hard that time will fly through these procedures and soon Kristen will be saying “Remember that year way back when?” We want that time to come sooner than later Kristen! The Dingles love Kristen and her family!

Last year was our best fund-raiser and of course we always want to meet that goal and surpass it… cancer never stops attacking  …we have to stay ahead of it with treatments like the kind I am on right now… that keep us on this side of the daisies.

To make a donation…just click on this link.

Link: http://www.info-komen.org/site/TR/RacefortheCure/CHS_SouthCarolinaAffiliate?pg=entry&fr_id=6930

Just go to donate button and select either “participant” or “team”. Then type in either Becky Dingle as a “participant” (or any other team member listed) and/or Legally Pink as “team”. It all ends up going towards the team either way you choose to donate. We made one of the top 12 teams last year….to be so small…we were mighty! Thanks to all of you!

(“Legally Pink” has been our team name since both Tommy and Kaitlyn passed the Law Bar and began working in the legal field….For the past three years they both work for the Styles Law Firm who has been so supportive of this endeavor. Thank you Brooks Styles for hiring Tommy and Kaitlyn and for being an advocate for the Race for the Cure! And thank you Tommy for heading up the team, once again, as our captain.)

So until tomorrow…choose happy because happiness chooses you.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh