Sunday

Thursday was the Extreme Makeover day, graciously sponsored by The Avenue Viera and hosted by Making Strides. It was an amazing day. Tangles Salon, Patchington's, Pizza Gallery, Hot Rayz Limousines,Belk, and others were involved in making this day a large success. Several times my eyes blurred as I reveled in the moment or shared a quiet moment with one of the other ladies. Cancer is not fun, it's goal is to take your life, and Thursday was a way in taking ours back.

At 0830, our driver, Billy, picked us (myself and 5 other breast cancer patients) up at the Holiday Inn. We departed straight to Tangles Salon in Rockledge where each of had our hair, nails, and toes done. We were there from about 0900-1500. These ladies had closed off their salon to give us their undivided attention. We had coffee and donuts available and a lunch catered in so there would be plenty of time to get everything done. And right at 3:00, we were exiting out the door just about on schedule. Many thanks to Lisa and all the ladies there who made our morning and afternoon so special. Most of them were even able to make the opening ceremonies that night - THAT says a lot about the kind of people these women are.

Next, we were taken, again by Billy, to Belk, to have our makeup done by the ladies at the counters. And then on to Patchington's where we all got dressed into our outfits that we wore that night. From the morning to evening photographs, there was a clear difference and we had thoroughly enjoyed the day meeting and greeting everyone. Once dressed, we were taken back to the Holiday Inn where we realized there were about 200 people awaiting our arrival!! I was a little taken aback, but I felt great. I was with some phenomenal women and each with their own story, and own journey. A sisterhood for sure.

We walked in one at a time with a big pink umbrella covering our faces while the announcer read part of our story to the crowd. When she said our name, *poof* down with the umbrella and a walk down the aisle for everyone to see our makeovers. From the photo's, you can see that I was dressed in black pants, a floral top and a lambskin jacket. Ooooh, that jacket is fine and it is now in my closet. ;) Several people took pictures and I finally learned what it must be like on the "red carpet" for stars - a bit overwhelming to say the least. But it was great...an day and evening filled with unforgettable memories.

I would like to give a special thanks to Pam, Denise, and Lana S. for all their efforts in pulling this together. This is my written promise to you that I want to help you next year with this event.