A lonely 57th Mile

I wrote a last week about how different this year's 3-day will be than years past. I'll literally be walking for 2, won't be camping, and for the first time, don't have the goal of walking all 60 miles. In addition, I've had to move someone very special from honor to memory. My heart breaks today because John is no longer physically with us.

Although not touched by breast cancer specifically, John is a huge motivation for me to walk. I wrote about John nearly a year and a half ago and the incredible inspiration that he was. My sister wrote on Saturday about John's impact on her life and how she was touched by his strength. John passed away on Sunday evening after less than two short weeks after making the decision to bring in hospice. After fighting prostate cancer for years, trying everything that he could, and going through a lot of painful procedures, there was little left to do. John was in intense pain in the end and I am so thankful that he's no longer suffering.

Jarrod and I had planned to go to Baton Rouge this coming weekend to visit John and Marie. Now we are going for John's funeral. We are incredibly sad, mourning the loss of an incredible man. This year when I hit the 57th mile, I'll walk it for John. I'll probably walk a lot of miles for John this year in hopes that this will be the first and last funeral our baby will attend because of cancer.