Wow, I really needed to do this update a long time ago. It’s hard to believe that it has been almost 2 months since the Triangle Kidney Walk. Well, is the story of how that wonderful day turned out.
When we woke up that Saturday morning the weather was looking gloomy. It was chilly and breezy but not raining. That last bit would change drastically later. But no crummy weather was going to keep us from doing this walk. So off to the site we went. The closer we got, the heavier the clouds looked. No big deal, surely the weather would hold off and let us get this walk in. Right?
So we get to the site and find out that our team has grown. Initially we had my family, some friends of the family and my manager and his wife. Well my manager’s Mom and sister in law and her son decided to join us also!!! That was very cool. These people don’t know us from Adam and they came out to walk for this great cause.
Our team consisted of My Family (Rebecca, Eliza, Emma and myself), my parents (Elizabeth (Nana) and Barry), my brother’s family (Adam, Amanda, AJ, Jack and Carrie Ann and her parents, Thomas and Karen), my sister’s family (Melissa, Zeke, Paxton and Jim and his daughters, Amber and Cassie), my baby sister (Beth, our team leader), long time friends of the family Ann and Gary Byerly, my manger and his family (Russell, Kristina, Linda, his sister in law and her son Daniel), and another long time friend of my Mom, Debra and her daughter Eleanor. That’s a lot of people!!! All of the girls had tiaras and purple boas on, in memory of Nana’s friend Nina who lost her battle with kidney disease on Valentine’s Day this year. Nana got the boys hats that said “Nana’s Boys” on them. They all wore them proudly.
So we all gather and listen to the opening speeches by the organizers and sponsors. There are several hundred walkers. Not too bad for the first event. When they did the countdown to start the walk, the rains started!!!! Nothing like starting a 3 mile walk with very cold, light rain falling!!!! Surely it will stop soon, right?? Not a chance!!!! And none of use brought any rain gear!!!! But being the troopers that we are and the fact that we are walking for a very important cause, we trudge on. Our youngest daughter, Emma, wasn’t too keen on walking so she bundled up and rode in the wagon. Eliza and the older kids all RAN for the majority of the course!!! Oh, to be young and energetic again!!!! My Dad said he was going to go get his umbrella out of his car, that’s what he told us anyway!! Our team got spread out of course with some of the “professional” walkers basically sprinting the course. My brother decided that as soon as we saw someone else from our team walking back along the return portion, we would turn around and walk back with them! That’s probably cheating, but I think I’m over it. Not 2 minutes later, Russell and his group start approaching us so we turned around. By the time we got back to the RTP Center we were all soaked and the post walk festivities were moved inside. And as we walk up, there’s my Dad, dry and waving at us from the warm confines of the Center with my Mom. I think he was a smart man!!!!
After some popcorn and refreshments they start the awards portion where they gave awards for the most members on a team, the dialysis with the most money raised, the top fundraising team and the top individual fundraiser. Well, I can tell you that Walking for Nana and Nina did alright in the awards department. We managed to raise over $7000 in just over 7 weeks to take the award for top team and I managed to raise over $3600 to claim the top individual prize. We even got a HUGE trophy for the team prize and I got a plaque for my office for the individual prize. As a whole, the first annual Triangle Kidney Walk raised $100,911 for the National Kidney Foundation of North Carolina to help provide services and support to those who are suffering from kidney disease.
We are VERY proud of what we were able to accomplish. The whole thing was Beth’s idea. She organized the team following Nina passed away this year as a way to honor her. I’m not real sure how she found out about the walk, but I’m glad she did!
We can’t wait until next years walk!! Hopefully it won’t be 42 degrees and rainy next year!!!!
Here is the newsletter with the results from the walk. Including a photo of my Mom with her trophy.
The local news channel, News 14 Carolina, interviewed my Mom and had the story on the news that afternoon and evening. Here is the link to the video. Unfortunately, they put a lot of the interview on the cutting room floor. When you see the girl in the wagon, that’s Emma!!!
News 14 Story
Thank you to all who made donations towards our cause and to all who supported us in prayer. It really means a lot to me!
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