November 7, 2010

White Dog and The Other White Dog burst out of the hotel and jumped into the car. It was a glorious sunny Colorado morning. As we ate an al fresco breakfast we soaked up the warm rays and let the buzz build…We were finally heading for the 2MillionDog Puppy Up! Walk!
Held in the beautiful huge Fossil Creek Park, there was already a crowd gathered when we arrived at 11:30. We went to the registration desk and were greeted with “Everyone! THESE are the walkers that came all the way from NEW MEXICO!” White Dog and Quinn were celebrities as we got a round of applause and woofs of “way to go!”

We assembled our banner on its poles and attached it to my wheelchair. WD and TOWD donned their scarves and I my bike gloves. We went to mingle. Many humans carried In Memory posters or wore armbands printed with the name of a loved one being honored. All of the dogs peaceably met and greeted each other; every breed and mix was represented…including several three-legged cancer survivors, a pup in a wheelcart, and a dying senior yellow lab in a wagon whose final wish was to take part in this event. The energy was awesome!

One of the rescues had set up an agility course and for a donation pups were trying their “stuff.” We thought of Sagira as White Dog reached back into her memory and performed the course reasonably well. Quinn was happy to just watch from the side lines.

As we all gathered to watch an amazing deaf Blue Heeler perform, heavy black clouds rolled in and parked above us. In a matter of half an hour the temperature had dropped from nearly 70 degrees to about 50. Everyone ran to gather coats or sweatshirts. The winds sprang up and gusted, someone said later, up to 45mph. Vendor tents were blown to shreds and everything not tied down flew off to Oz. The wind was so strong that it snapped both of the dowel rods holding our banner; Michael and Quinn went chasing after it.

260 dogs Puppied Up despite the howling winds and as we stood shoulder-to-shoulder and flank-to-flank listening to Luke Robinson telling us that this wind, this storm was a symbol of the force that we were bringing to the fight against Cancer, we all felt the Power of the moment and knew that something amazing was happening. As we all headed out along the path behind Murphy and Hudson, faces into the wind, every soul there moved with the certainty that we WILL OVERCOME!

At the end of the march, hugs and woofs filled the pavilion and we howled back at the weather that this was a beginning to Cancer’s end…Cancer.Touches.Everyone…and on this special day Everyone had made it clear that we were dedicated to finding the cure.