A Capital Time

I am in Washington, D.C. I love Washington, D.C.! Therefore I am happy. Two really wonderful things are happening today (a day off)- first, I am having lunch with one of my Virtual Team co-workers which is fantastic for so many reasons, not the least of which it means I will get a healthy dose of sarcasm and cynicism since, as she put it, I've been in the sarcasm Sahara for the last month.

Then tonight, I am having dinner with one of my most favorite AmeriCorps friends whom I haven't seen in FIVE YEARS. She was my saving grace throughout much of that year and is just one of those few female peers whom I have always admired and respected on every level. So I am beyond excited to catch up with her at last.

(Today's photo was taken a few weeks ago in Chicago, on the day of the Y-Me Breast Cancer Walk. Yet another reason why Chicago is such a fantastic city- they do fun things with the lights in their high-rise buildings!)

The last two days were low-key ones for KOTG. Yesterday we exhibited at a free clinic in Richmond, VA which is a great thing, but very low-traffic; I think we only had about 30 people come through all day. The day before we were at a grocery store called Ukrops, where it was also quite slow, maybe about 50 people.

It really is striking how universal breast cancer is. I always knew this; in my "regular" job on the virtual team I sometimes conduct what we call Focus meetings, where I cite statistics: one in 8 women will get breast cancer in their lifetime. A new diagnoses is made every 3 minutes. Someone will die from breast cancer every 20 minutes.

But somehow, being out here on the road has made those stats live and breathe in a way they never did when I recited them on those phone meetings. Every single day we talk to so many people who are survivors of breast cancer, or they lost a loved one, or they had a scare...the connections go on and on. In the last few days I've spoken to many women with close friends who just got diagnosed or just underwent a mastectomy. Sometimes they are very young and just got married or have small children. Sometimes they are old and have a high-risk lifestyle or family history. Either way, the stories wear on me after awhile. Even after a month of doing this on the road and a year and a half of doing it over the phone, it is hard to know how to respond.

There really isn't a good answer.

Tomorrow we are exhibiting on the National Mall for the National Race for the Cure- a huge HUGE deal. Our CEO is flying in and all the highest people from the Komen foundation will be there as well. We have to be up and running by 7 a.m. so that means we'll probably need to leave the hotel around 5 a.m. to go set up, which means 4:30 wake up. Crazy! But it'll be a great day.

Right now I am sitting on my bed in my hotel room, which has a humongous window overlooking a runway at Reagan International Airport. So I get to see all these planes take off, which is actually really cool and semi-hypnotic.