Komen 3 Day: Spectator

The night before the big walk, I met up with Margie at Macaroni Grill for a pre-walk carb load. It had been an already long day for me, but I was so excited to see her and give her last minute positive vibes before her monster journey. When I got home that night, I sat down to finally make a personalized flag for her. Instead of cutting out irregular shaped letters, I decided to use ribbon and bonding tape to secure the letters, then I later used the sewing machine to secure them. I had also found a cool "hope" iron-on transfer to go with it. Don fashioned a flagpole and even put a small dowel through the top of it so it would stand out. Just before midnight I finished up, and I had butterflies in my belly with awesome excitement.

At 4:30AM, I got up, then rushed back to sleep. I got up again at 6:05AM and got ready for the day. After loading up the car with the signs, seats, flags, snacks, and such, we headed out to our first stop of the day. After half an hour of waiting, she showed up, among the first pack of people. She looked vibrant, alive, and happy. We hit up two more rogue cheering spots before we took a break for lunch. Following her from Plano, all the way over to Richardson.

While on our break, we ate some delicious food, and I was able to chat with my mom and aunt and listen to their stories. I do enjoy listening to their stories! We also hit up Wal-mart near 635, before realizing that we needed to hit up the final spot of the day before she made camp!
I was so afraid that we weren't going to make it, but as fate would have it, we saw her! I quickly grabbed the red velvet cupcake from Sprinkles (who has a ding b/c they wanted to charge me $1.75 for the box to put the cupcake in, but whatever, a sack was fine) and quickly rushed to her side. I gave her a big hug and handed her the cupcake. Far from looking perfect like it had been when I picked it up, but I think it hit the right spot after a long day!
I forgot my camera battery on the 2nd day and I was so upset about it. Picture it: a 3 car caravan piled with people, driving all around Addison, stopping and hollering "Raider Power...Margie Power...Raider Power!!!" We proudly waved the Tech flag, the Jolly Roger flag, and the Margie flag. It was a great time! Truly, it was very emotional seeing the flags, the signs, the inspiration behind why everyone was walking.

Then on Sunday, I didn't get to make it to the opening or to run around town to chase her, but I was there for the end. Although she'd finished by the time we'd gotten there, it was so very, very refreshing to see her. When the crowd broke and I could make out her frame, my eyes welled with tears. I was so proud of her accomplishment. I was so proud I was her family. I was so overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude. I rushed to her and held her in my arms not wanting to let go of the moment.

I was so grateful that she is a survivor. A living hero, alive, a bonafide badass, certified cancer butt kicker. Seriously, she's a hero. She's a sister, a friend, a wife, a daughter, a godmother, a mother, she's my prima: Margarita Reyna De Leon Hernandez Olivarez.
Cheers Margie! 60 miles, 3 days...Margie Power indeed.

**Congrats to Kandi and Jackie of Team Tatarazzi and the Legacy Makers too for their accomplishments.**