Happy World MS Day!

What better day to update than today?

With your help, I raised $1340 for the Halifax MS Walk. Thank you all so very much.

The walk was good. It was very well organized with lots of signage and plenty of volunteers. It was a sunny day in Halifax, but the wind (and a few water stops) kept the walkers cooled off nicely. Yellow dog was excited to be out in such a big crowd of people and seeing other dogs. It was her longest trek in months, and all the people + distance + heat = one tired pup that evening.

I have to admit, I was a bit confused at one point at the event. Nance tried to register because of this blurb on the MS Society's site:

On event day, all participants who have not raised funds in advance will be asked for a donation of $20. At this time you will also be asked to sign a participant waiver. 

Upon trying to give her $20 and sign a waiver, she was told by a volunteer that she didn't have to register. If she was walking with someone she sponsored, she didn't have to do anything but walk. Nance had already generously sponsored me, but it seems kind of silly for a fundraiser to be turning away money, doesn't it? It's not like they can keep the general public from walking along for free, so you'd think they'd take whatever funding came to the tables that day. 

No real complaints about the event, though. It was great to have a little posse there with me. I'm happy to report that I have never had to walk alone. I doubt I ever will.

All in all a great day - I got to see family that I don't see nearly often enough, and there was time to show kids that not all big dogs are scary and mean. 

These walks are always a bit emotional for me. People with MS can choose to wear a red participant bib and every time I'm at one of these events, I find myself wandering the venue alone to take a look at the red bibs. One thing I've gained from these events is the knowledge that we MSers are of all walks of life. It's a hidden disease for so many, which makes awareness that much more important. This year, a lot of the red bib wearers were young, fit, and looked vibrant and happy. Some walked with their children. Some walked with their parents. Every one of us had faced that same diagnosis phone call or doctor's visit. None of us were broken by it.