Kathy head down the cheerleader lined path for the Survivor Parade 2014
Meet our Honorary Survivor 2015 Kathy Webb. We are so very pleased to have her a part of it all this year! Her speech at the Press Conference was so good that we want to make sure everyone has a chance to read it.
Here is it:
Thank you very much. It’s an honor to be with these talented people, and serve as the Honorary Survivor Chair.
In 1990, I took my first step, for my friend MJ. She’d just had surgery for breast cancer, and she’d seen that a Race for the Cure was coming to Washington. We didn’t know much about it, but she told us where to sign up and where to be, and we were there! VP Dan Quayle kicked off the Race, then a sea of people filled PA Avenue, making every step count as we headed toward the Capitol. Each year, we marked our calendars for race day, and we showed up.
When I moved to Chicago, I promised MJ I’d make every step count there. I called Dallas for info, and was disappointed to learn there was no Affiliate and no Race. I told them I was a pretty good organizer and before long someone from Dallas and some of Suzy Komen’s friends from Peoria came to see me. Soon, I accepted the responsibility of Founding President of the Chicago Affiliate. I’ll always cherish the memory of our first Race, seeing the sun rise on Lake Michigan and the crowd filling Grant Park.
We had researchers funded by Komen who came to our meetings; we got to hear and see first-hand how the research they were doing might be that step leading to a cure-how every step counts!
Eventually, I moved to LR, and continued to walk, with MJ’s name and now others written on my back.
Then, on May 17, 2013, I heard those words, “Kathy, you have breast cancer.” Even in my state of shock, I knew that every step I had taken would give my family, friends and me the hope and strength to prevail in our fight.
Race day 2013, I couldn’t go the whole way, but every step I took counted. Last year, I went the distance, determined to get to the survivor parade. And I did.
It’s been 25 years since I took those first steps with MJ. This year, with every step, I’ll celebrate her 25 years as a survivor and our other survivors, I’ll honor and remember those we’ve lost, and I’ll make every step count so that my friend who was just diagnosed will feel the power of our love and support just as I have.
Every step counts-no one knows that more than Herren Hickingbotham, representing Race for the Cure’s founding sponsor, Hickingbotham Investments.
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