Opening Ceremony

Opening Ceremony 2011:

Mom, Scott, the boys, and I arrive at Stone Mountain early. Yes, it was still dark and very cold!!  They dropped me off at the gear trucks and then had to find a space to park the car so that they could watch the opening ceremony.  Walkers were dropped off right in front of the gear truck.  The picture to the right was taken after the ceremony, before I left on the route.  My gear rode in truck B.  After dropping off my gear I was given a route card.  This card had a list of pit stops and grab in go stations listed with the times that they open and close.  While waiting on the ceremony to start there were several things that you could do.  You could take pictures of course in front of the various Komen signs and could shop at the 3-Day store.  There were various places to fill your water bottles and many porta potties.  My first stop was the goal wall.  You could write your goal or who you were walking for on a spot and place it on the wall.

As you can tell, the wall was full by the end of the ceremony.  Next, I wrote the names of friends that that I was walking in memory of on the Remembrance Flag that would be raised later in the ceremony. 

I finally met up with my family and we waited for the ceremony to start.

Me and Mom

Scott, Me, and the boys

Soon it was time for the ceremony to begin.  All of the walkers entered the gate in front of the stage.  Inside the gate was another small stage where survivors would bring in flags during the ceremony.  We began with group stretching and then a welcome speech by an Atlanta Komen Representative.  Dr. Sheri Phillips the National Spokeswoman for the 3-Day led the ceremony.  The poem she reads as survivors, family, and friends bring in flags will bring tears to your eyes.  She is such a powerful inspirational speaker.  She is a survivor with a powerful story of never giving up and being positive no matter what you face.  She believes that anyone can make a difference in this world and she is a living example.  When I grow up...I want to motivate people just like her!  You can watch an opening ceremony video on YouTube.  Just search 3-Day Opening Ceremony.  Her speech, I believe is the same in all 14 cities.  During this time flags are brought in representing why people walk (flags include:  mother, grandmother, sister, friend, husband, aunt, etc.). 

At the closing of the ceremony the white Remembrance Flag is brought in by survivors and raised in memory those who lost there battle.  It is a very emotional ceremony, I have tears in my eyes now just remembering and writing about it.  This is the flag that I was talking about earlier and it will later be placed in the Remembrance Tent at Camp.  Those standing around the white flag are all survivors who also brought in the flags of encouragement (love, belief, hope, etc.).

Now it's time for the walking to begin!  They released us from the gave a few at a time so the path wouldn't be so congested.  I was full of emotion...joy, hope, and nervous too!  It was finally my turn to exit the gate.  The path was lined with friends and family of the walkers cheering for us all and giving us high fives.  I'm sure I'll say this again, but I have never heard so many "thank yous" in my life.  As I continued toward the route, I got to say good bye to my family and then went through the last gate where my ID was scanned and my journey continued as DAY 1 has begun!