Blog du Wren

Walk Like MADD - Marathon Edition

This past weekend, the Washington Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving hosted a virtual walk-a-thon called "Walk Like MADD". Its goal was to raise money to support the organization's mission of "fighting the 100% preventable crimes of drunk and drugged driving." Needless to say, I was on board.

I wasn't able to participate during the event, as it coincided with Circus In Person, Bellingham Circus Guild's grand re-opening event. I did a version of my with added , my first solo BCG act ever and my first time performing without Della waiting for me backstage to cheer me on (or comfort me from all the drops, as the case may be). It was an emotional weekend of shows, and although the was so great, Della's absence was palpable.

It was with these emotions that I set out to belatedly participate in the Walk Like Madd event. They were asking for folks to do a 5K, but for whatever reason, I got it in my head that I needed to do more. I needed more time with my thoughts. And perhaps I even hoped that with more, more of an impact could be made, more awareness raised, and more lives saved. So I decided to walk a marathon.

It turns out walking isn't very easy. It isn't even kind of easy. It's hard. I started in Concrete, Washington and followed the Cascade Trail 22.5 miles through beautiful and along the calmly flowing Skagit River. With the exception of an occasional biker and a few walkers near each end, I had the trail to . After I ran out of trail, I meandered (or, more specifically, zombie-walked, as my body had more or less gone on strike after about mile 18) the streets of Sedro Woolley to get me to my goal. Total time: ~8.5 hours. Blisters, chafage, and achy muscles reminded me that perhaps this was why the Walk Like Madd event was only a 5K. But, although my body wasn't happy, my heart was proud. I had done a really hard thing.

But why had I done this hard thing? The reason I did this hard thing is so that I could get your attention and say this to you: Please Don't Drink and Drive. Please don't say "oh, I've only had one beer." Please don't say "how else was I supposed to get home?" Please don't say "I'm fine." Please please be uncompromising. Please realize how serious and dangerous drinking and driving is. And if after you've made that commitment, the I'm-not-just-saying-this-but-super-fucking-mean-it commitment, you wanted to do more, consider including MADD in your giving plan. But really, I just want you to think of Della any time you need a reminder that drinking and driving isn't okay.

Memorial update: Now that COVID has more or less sorted itself out (*knock on wood*), we've settled on a date for Della's memorial: September 25 at the Deming Logging Show grounds (outdoor, plenty of space). More info will be forthcoming which I will add to the comments of this post.

Tuesday July 20 2021

File under: Della

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on Tue 20th Jul, 2021 03:13 pm EDT Janet said:

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on Fri 23rd Jul, 2021 12:52 am EDT Andrew said:
Nicely done, brother. Proud of you!
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speak yer peace