A Reminder From A Mountain

Sorry for the lack of recent postings…I wish I could say that I’ve been busy training and fundraising and preparing for the Twin Cities 3-Day, now only a little more than three months away. Of course, I could say that, but I’d be lying.

Last week, I visited Mount Rushmore, where the faces of four of the most influential American presidents – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln – are carved in granite.

The four giants of American history looked out beyond those looking up at them; looking back east, from where they had all come – looking to their past, to their accomplishments of creating, expanding, preserving, and developing a nation. They did not look down upon anyone in their presence, even while towering over us mere mortals, awestruck at the sight above us.

Their faces spoke with a silent, intimidating sternness, reminding each visitor that the land on which they stood was part of a country unlike any conceived before by mankind. They demanded respect, yet the images of these men also seemed to welcome all who came before them and conveyed a father’s love and pride and hope in his children.

As I looked up at the images, each sixty feet high on the side of a mountain, I could not help but feel challenged to do more with my own life, to not just pass through this existence as an observer of what will one day become history, but to do my part to make that history – and make it worth remembering.

Today, I happened upon an obituary notice in the newspaper: a 37-year-old woman named Jennifer Caldwell passed away after a long battle with breast cancer. I thought of my friend Cathy, who passed away last year at age 41, and I realized that my past participation in the Breast Cancer 3-Day is not enough. I need to walk again this year, continuing to raise money for research and treatment programs, comtinuing to raise awareness (though how could anyone in our culture not already be aware), and continuing to acknowledge the disease is a formidable, but not unbeatable, foe.

I thought back to that cool, cloudy day at the foot of a mountain, where I renewed an unspoken promise to four men, a promise required of all of us – to make a positive contribution to the country and the world in which we live. Those who have previously visited this site know the reason for why I walk in the 3-Day – because I can. On Sunday, June 28, I will be at the Twin Cities 3-Day Expo at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis, helping 3-Day participants videotape a 30-second spot in which they can tell their own story of how they have been affected by breast cancer and why they are a part of the 3-Day. The messages will be used for the “Her Voice” campaign and give 3-Day walkers another way to reach out to family, friends, and acquaintances for donation requests and to say thank you for their support.

I think George, Tom, Ted, and Abe would approve – and then ask, “Are you sure that’s enough?”


Scott’s Official 3-Day Countdown: 96 days to Day 1 (holy cow – I’d better get back to training!)