3 Days of My Life

Day Zero 2001

OK, it’s Thursday, Day Zero and I have just realized that the shoes I’ve been training in are ALL wrong! Too late.

Wednesday was our last aerobics class before the walk. I was very careful not to trip or fall off of my step. Then I dropped a nine-pound weight on my foot. Ooops! Everyone wished us well, and I promptly shut my OTHER foot in my car door. Yup. It must be time for the 3-Day.

One of the cooler things that happened this week was getting an e-mail from Echo, a woman who had stumbled upon my Web site. Not so unusual, you may say, but after looking around a bit, she realized that not only did she remember us but she also recognized a picture of herself! She was one of Mark’s fans and said she also remembered Pam and her “funky shoes.” The 3-Day definitely makes the world a smaller place. We exchanged a few e-mails and said we’d try to meet. Stranger things have happened!

I packed Wednesday night. This year, I borrowed a sleeping bag from Candus—a bigger one than I’d used last year, and Elma’s duffel bag. That sleeping bag took up practically the entire bag, but I was able to BARELY cram everything in. Simone helped. Unbelievable. I’d broken the zipper on this duffel bag last year after the walk was over; this year I broke it even before the walk. Too late to buy or borrow a new one, so I jerry-rigged the spot where the zipper gaped open with safety pins, glue, tape, and shoelaces.

Wow! Such excitement! And we haven’t even got to the walk yet!

On the morning of Day Zero, I lost one more pound AND discovered that my new Peace rosebush had one beautiful bloom. A good omen. And a beautiful day. Sunny and warm. Actually, very warm. Actually, pretty darn hot. Oh, well. Better hot today than the next 3 days. I got up at 5 so I could say goodbye to Dave before he went to bed. Mom came over at 7:45, and Karl picked us up at 8. We were all extremely excited! Except for Karl. He’d been traveling the last 2 days and didn’t really have the ׁ-Day spirit“ thing going on yet. Off to Elma’s!

The obligatory bathroom break, and we were on our way to Day Zero. The plan: Mom and I would stay overnight at a hotel in Gurnee (yes, I said Gurnee) since she (Mom) had to stay for a crew meeting after registration. Elma would go home, have Steve drop her off on Day 1, and she and I would meet at our assigned gear truck.

Mom and Elma caught up on JAG as we drove. Got to Anderson Park by 10. YAY! It was different from last year: everything was set up outside (except the video). I guess the weather was more rainy last year on Day Zero (everything was inside), but I really don’t remember. HOT HOT HOT!!! AND HUMID!!! Thank goodness Elma had thought to ask Annette if I could use her Cool-Tie scarf this year, and Annette so kindly dropped it off at Elma’s the night before Day Zero. Thank you, Annette!!! It saved my life.

Mom and I dragged our luggage to the holding area, where we would pick it up when we were ready to catch our shuttle bus back to our hotel. In Gurnee. The first thing we see is a long line—the first of many. But it moved fast. Check-in was suspenseful. What if I wasn’t there? But! I was. Phew. Mom peeled off to register in the crew area. Hit the general store tent to buy a shirt for Candus and one for myself. Avon and Pallotta know their stuff: they had plenty of impulse items at checkout. I bought 3 “Three” pins. Met a lovely woman in line: Roberta from Terre Haute. I saw her at Closing Ceremonies walking in with the survivors! The tent was small, crowded, and hot, but people were already showing 3-Day kindness by going out of their way to let people pass in front of them. As I was paying, I heard “Julia?” and there was Esther, my mom’s LOVELY crew coach. We screamed and hugged. Also saw my walker coach from last year, Lara Fermanis, and even tho we’d never even met last year, she remembered my last name. Found Mom, who, as Elma pointed out, was scurrying around just like a kid on her first day of school. We got in looooong, hot line for the safety video and JUST made 11:15 showing. We actually had to run into the auditorium to make it in time. The video was slightly different from last year’s; still funny and moving, tho. Pallotta TeamWorks is much more prominent this year, and announced new events, including KidsMarch, to raise money to find safe foster care for children, Out of the Darkness, whose funds will go toward research into suicide prevention, and The Weekend to End Poverty, which will benefit organizations devoted to long-term solutions for poverty. And, of course, the AIDSRide. Also, new additions to the camps: a Reflection Tent (where people can have some quiet time and write something on one of the memorial banners to be displayed at Closing Ceremonies), an Idea Tent, and a place to order your very own 3-Day video!

The auditorium was STEAMING hot! I was already worrying about dehydration! Also, someone brought their baby or toddler. This was not kind. To the child or the rest of us. Poor kid!

After the video, we stood in another long, hot line to get our tent assignments. Met 2 really nice women (wish I could remember your names!) who we were later surprised to find as our tent neighbors! Of course, it made perfect sense that we would end up with tents right next to each other. Still, we kept running into each other.

And...we’re done! Got in line for lunch. I was STARVING and really wanted something substantial, but there was no line for the salad counter. Elma and I joined Mom and her tentmate, Priya, to eat on the bleachers. Man, it is really hard to eat a salad with plastic utensils. Anyhoo, Mom and Priya had to leave for crew meeting at 1:30, which was my cue to head for the shuttle bus area and for Elma to head home, but Elma offered to drive me to my hotel! YAY!!! It felt sooo good to be in the air-conditioned car, still wolfing down my salad and dropping pieces of lettuce and cheese all over the place (Sorry, Steve!). Got to the Baymont, where, once again, I worried that my name wouldn’t be in their system, but there I was! Elma stayed to make sure I was checked in.

Oh, I was so happy! Happy for air conditioning that I CRANKED to the max, happy to peel off my sweaty clothes and take a COLD shower, and happy to have a few hours to myself to do nothing. I didn’t think the salad was enough to really replenish me, considering how much I had sweated all day (did I mention it was very hot?) so I visited the vending machine for a Snickers and Fritos. Yeeeaaaah, that’s the stuff. Discovered I’d forgotten to pack dental floss and drop off my extra pledge checks. Mom got in about 3 hours later, at 5:30, also hot and tired and wired. She buzzed around the room like a bee, trying to do 10 things at once. I was already hungry again! And getting anxious about weather, which was supposed to cool off and dehumidify after some rain. No rain in sight. Called Dave, who recited his complex plan for meeting us tomorrow.

We walked to Cracker Barrel, about 20 feet away, and completely PIGGED OUT! Oh, my God, was I hungry!! I had cornbread, biscuits, chicken and dumplings, mashed potatoes, carrots, and beans. And lemonade with about 10 sugar packets dumped in. Way to carbo-load. We felt very cool in our various 3-Day wristbands; waving and smiling to the other 3-Dayers there.

Well, there’s nothing like ironing after a big meal. Yup, Mom dutifully ironed her T-shirts (Okay, I asked her to do mine, too) and by around 8 we had thunder and rain! All right! Hopefully it will be cooler tomorrow. We each had a cup of lukewarm tea and hit the hay around 9. I slept pretty poorly, but Mom slept great. Our wake-up call came at 3:30.

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Day 1 2001