If you don't know already I LOVE MY DOG. haha. I am continually learning lessons from none other than a this four legged animal and I am totally okay with saying that.
I signed up to hike 6 miles up a mountain to raise money for cancer research. This walk was meaningful to me in so many ways. For one, it was going to be a good indicator of how Sedona was truly feeling. It also represented courage and strength for those who have lost the fight to cancer and for those who continue to fight. In our case, I was hiking for my Dad and for my Sedona :). Now, Sedona and I use to go hiking every Saturday morning last year... and now that we don't live as close to a mountain, we haven't taken advantage of one our favorite hobbies together quite as much. Sedona is no dummy. As soon as she saw me pull out my "hiking pack" the night before (I refuse to call it a fanny pack because it's way cuter and has a water bottle holder makes it way more stylish haha) she started squealing with excitement like a little kid. It was awesome to see her so happy and also to see her remember all the good times we have had hiking together. I had to explain to her that it was night time and we would need to get some sleep so that we could go hiking really early the next morning. Again, not surprised my dog understood me (hence the half human thing I mentioned before) and she ran to her bed in my room (lol).
5AM on Saturday morning came far to soon and after Sedona and I shared a green smoothie (yup that's right people... apparently they are just as good for Dogs as they are humans), we were on our way to South Phoenix. It was absolutely amazing to see how many people came. The cars lines up 5 miles from the parking lot and I couldn't help but get a little teary eyed thinking about how Cancer has touched so many people's lives. It's terribly sad to me. We started our journey up the mountain with a few friends from work and I was thoroughly impressed with how put together the event was.
Every mile there was a booth set up with volunteers. I called these stations "Incentive Booths" because they had water for us and for all the dogs hiking (there were so many). They also had dog treats, chap sticks, tissues, food you name it and the volunteers kept saying "thank you." It meant so much to hear those two words.
Sedona was hysterical per usual. She was on a mission and DID NOT want to be pet by anyone EXCEPT little kids. I am not even joking. People would walk up to her while we were making our way up the mountain and she would dodge their hands. I would have to do a fake laugh every time and say "Sedona why are you being shy?" just so people didn't feel bad. I know how she gets and she gets in a focused zone until we reach the top, but goodness it was really intense this time. It is almost like she takes control of the situation in which I am more than okay with. She will pick the easiest path to walk on or the open spaces where there aren't people in the way and I follow her. Ever since we started hiking together she has done this and it is interesting to watch if you haven't been around something like that before. My friends kept saying to me "Wow she knows what she is doing" and I would say "Yes she does" every time with a huge smile.
Once we reached mile 5 Sedona and I both looked at each other and it was literally like we swapped thoughts. It consisted of something along the lines of " Holy Shit are we almost there?!!!" hahahaha. Unfortunately, the last mile was the hardest incline and Sedona kept on weaving in and out of people who were starting to slow down and that was all I needed to keep on going. Okay well that and seeing the school buses at the top waiting to take us down :)
Once we got to the top there was a group of people there clapping, giving us high fives and stickers!!! Funny how you can be 30 years old and still get happy over a sticker. Sedona even got one too and her tail was wagging so hard I knew she felt the same way I did.
Accomplished and extremely exhausted. We took a quick photo and jumped on the school bus.
I had to laugh because never in a million years did I think I would ride a school bus with Sedona. She didn't know what seat to climb into it was funny. Obviously, the "cool kids' in my era sat in the back of the bus so that is where we went.
At the bottom of the mountain they had a party for all the walkers with food, music and cake. A little girl asked me if she could give Sedona a hot dog and Sedona was more than willing to eat it of course. We made our way to the car where Sedona passed out in the back seat.
I am a firm believer that you can do absolutely anything you put your mind too. I witnessed Sedona do just that on this hike; giving every ounce of energy she had in that 80 pound body of hers. She worked so very hard that day pushing me to do the same. Truly thankful for the lessons I learn from Sedona when least expecting it.
No comments:
Post a Comment