The 7th annual Poker Run was a big success last night. We had a great time on Bruce's boat and the weather was perfect. It was a much bigger event than we were anticipating, that’s for sure! We were expecting something like a 10x10 tent with 30-50 people or so hanging around. What we saw when we got off the boat was hundreds of people milling around and this huge tent full of raffle prizes with corporate sponsors. It was incredible. We really had no idea. So we just sat at a table out on the lower deck at Coral Gables (in Saugatuck) most of the night taking it all in. Kristi was too tired to walk around, and I wasn’t about to leave her side, so we just sat there. It was like everything was in slow motion. Surreal. It's really a hard feeling to explain. All these people and all this work...for us. What does one say?! How does a person even begin to thank people for this? I got the microphone, looked up at 2 tiers of decks and what seemed like hundreds of people staring at us, applauding, and I was speechless. All I could muster up was 'thank you', handed the microphone back, then felt like running and hiding. Sorry if you were expecting some inspirational speech. If so, I guess I blew it. I was just speechless and that’s the best I could come up with.
This whole thing was very reminiscent of a benefit we were at in January. Amazingly similar. Except last night we were on the receiving side. I have to admit, selfishly, it was much nicer being on the other side of the table. In January we just went home like everyone else and went on with our lives. It wasn’t until 2 weeks later that our lives were changed forever. This is definitely a bittersweet thing. We are extremely grateful for everything that was done and all the work. It's just a really awkward feeling being on the receiving side because we know why this is being done. I guess you wouldn’t understand unless you are in our shoes. Pray you never are.
So after the benefit we went home and went to bed and just laid there talking to about 1:00 in the morning. We were both pretty down afterwards. Like I said – it was very surreal. Weird. Hard to explain. On one hand, it was very amazing; incredible in fact. On the other hand, Kristi still has cancer. Kristi still has chemo next week. That doesn’t change. I’m hoping for a different ending than the one in January. What can I say, I’m a selfish person. We were both pretty down today. Not because of the benefit – that was awesome. We’re both just tired. Two late nights in a row. We find ourselves getting down when we’re tired. Hopefully we get a quiet weekend with lots of rest.
Here’s a picture of Kristi from last night with LeeAnn and Patti.
If you want to check out more pictures from the Poker Run, go to http://www.homes2show.com/sea100/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=950 . We haven’t looked at all of the pictures so I can’t guarantee what you will see…so I guess look at your own risk!
