This past weekend I attended the 12th annual St. Louis Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure . I was one of over 71,000 people participating in the 5K run/walk for breast cancer.

It was such an amazing sight to see the sea of people walking through downtown St. Louis. The different t-shirts worn by groups and team represented loved ones who had suffered through cancer. Some in honor of someone and some were in memory of someone.

There were over 4,000 women wearing pink shirts, which meant that had battled and beaten breast cancer.

This was my second time participating in the walk and my first time to be there alone. I was walking along, enjoying the sights and sounds when I heard a voice behind me ask, “Are you walking alone?” I turned to see a middle aged women walking beside me. “Yeah for now,” I lied. I didn’t want her to know that I was alone all day; that no one was with me like the big fat loser that I was.

The woman, whose name was Shelley, proceeded to tell me about how her team had decided not to do the entire 5K and had turned off on the 1 mile fun walk. Much to my disappointment, Shelley stayed with me until the end of the race, making small talk and telling me about her life.

Shelley was born and raised in Jefferson County and that’s where she currently still lived. She had three grown children; two boys and a girl. Her sons lived in New York. One had moved to New York right after school and the other had moved to L.A., but when he fell in love when a girl who got a job in New York he moved with her to the east coast. There, both of her sons lived unemployed. Her daughter lived in St. Louis and worked for Wells Fargo. She was in Toronto this weekend with her husband, who played hockey. I didn’t ask if he played professional hockey or just for fun.

Shelley’s mother and father both had had cancer, but she was trying to stay healthy to avoid such illnesses. We chatted for 2.5 miles until we crossed the finish line. Shelley turned to me casually and gave me a “see ya later Angela.” I knew I would probably not see her again so I simply said, “it was nice to meet you Shelley.” She walked off to the right and I proceeded left.

Although I would have enjoyed being about to finish the race alone, it was nice to be with someone; even if it was a random woman I didn’t know.

Over all the day was fun. I got some exercise for a good cause and made a new friend.