It's one of my favorite events of the year. A day when lives are celebrated, loved ones lost are remembered, and thousands come together in once cause, dripping in pink (my favorite color) to find a cure for a terrible disease: *** cancer.

   I will never forget my first Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. It was rainy and cold. I was asked to be the master of ceremonies for the event on short notice. I expected a low turn-out due to the weather. That was probably my only expectation. I was stunned at what I experienced that day! Despite a constant chilly drizzle thousands of warm hearted individuals began arriving early in the morning. Each had a story it seemed. They were there for "Nana" running for mothers, walking for sisters, carrying daughters, memorializing aunts. Running, walking, laughing, crying, suddenly we were all family.  ABC4 tattoos were adhered to soggy cheeks, but despite freezing hands, it didn't feel at all cold.

   I was there because I was asked to represent the station on that day. I was also there to support Wesley Ruff and his wife Val, a *** cancer survivor. It was a long battle for Val.  Sadly, one that she lost less than a month after last year's race. Her courage, compassion, strengh and dignity were inspiring to the bitter end.

   That first year there were not many people left at The Gateway Plaza as we finished closing remarks about our gratitude to sponsors, and as we expressed our hopes that everone would join us again the following year.  The band was playing a melencholy tune when I stole the microphone and for a couple of magical moments, belted "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" It came from somewhere deep in my soul... so touched by the events of that day. I offered it as a prayer above the rain that someday, there would be a blue, blue sky; a day when pink would no longer represent a disease, but the power of a group of people to overcome it. When pink would simply just be my favorite color, and not something I wear to honor all of those who continue to fight.

   This year there were 16-thousand of us at the Gateway and each step we take collectively, is one step closer.

Thanks!