for gladys. for ruth. for sue. and for ellie...i'm doing it.

in the movie erin brockovich starring julia roberts, a character named donna jensen says this:

"you think if you got no uterus, and no breasts, you're still technically a woman?"

erin answers, of course, yes, but donna can't help but wonder.

this year, more than 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,000 will lose their lives to the disease. a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes. every 13 minutes, the disease claims another life.

as i wrote a few weeks ago, the opportunity to participate in the breast cancer 3-day walk presented itself to me recently. i was contemplating the commitment; it is a large one. i wondered if i could make the time sacrifice, the training sacrifice, if i could make the money.

most of all i wondered if i could leave my eight-month-old daughter for three days to walk 60 miles across the metroplex.

well, i thought about it, and i prayed about it. i looked at ellie and it occured to me, "leaving her for three days will be hard, but losing her or anyone else i love to breast cancer would be harder."

i'm in. and i'm walking for ellie.

as my feet pound the pavement mile after mile, i'm going to focus my thoughts on how i'm helping find a cure for breast cancer -- a cure that one day may save my daughter's life.

you can help too by going to my donation webpage here.

ellie and i thank you.