Sunday the 29th was Dog Day on the Green at Montrose Harbor in Chicago. I had previously committed to work this event for the Bone Cancer Dogs people (BCD). As the date approached, I was kicking myself for agreeing to this, mainly because my schedule the week before was crazy (out of town) with work. A few days before the event, I learned that a celebrity of sorts, McKey Sullivan, the winner from cycle 11 of America’s Next Top Model, would be working the tent with us. Given the stressful state I was in, this seemed terrible to me purely because of my own insecurities – I would feel old(er), fat(ter), and ugli(er) with her around. But I am the type of person that follow through with my commitments, so I soldiered on.
I arrived around 7am that Sunday. Keep in mind, this means I left our block party early the night before and went to sleep while people were still partying outside. The beer pong was my idea, and I think I may be a bit relieved I did not participate. I met up with Julie, the treasurer for BCD, and helped setup the tent. She might have been convinced that we would not get people to visit the tent in the beginning, but we had a fair number of people stop by…maybe seeing the “C” word doesn’t freak everyone out like it used to.
I spoke to a lot of people. I did my best to educate people, or at least pass out information that would start the process for them. But for some reason, I did end up speaking to a lot of people about nutrition and supplements. I really hope that I didn’t steer them in the wrong direction – I am not an expert, but I do consider myself to be informed. I was good and suggested they speak with their “health care provider” to cover the bases.
The (nicely) surprising part of the day was McKey. Yes, she’s gorgeous. But she’s a nice person and seems to be grounded firmly in reality. Dogs are important to me, and I am very happy that she was willing to use her “celebrity” to bring any amount of attention to them, and the Bone Cancer Dogs organization. She has 2 small dogs, but knows her big dogs too. She has a Weimeraner, Axel, who she lost to Osteosarcoma last year. She’s previously been owned by a red Doberman as well, and she handled it in the ring. Who knew – a former show dog person. She also seemed attracted to the big, blue Dane we saw trotting across the field. I had already met said Dane and completely approved of this attraction. Her boyfriend would prefer a Harlequin, methinks, but I have a feeling she will end up triumphant with the Blue at some point. She also spotted and named a Leonberger and Neopolitan Mastiff from a distance.
All-in-all, it was a nice day. You may have realized, I enjoy talking to people, even if I consider myself somewhat shy. And I am very comfortable talking about dogs and health.
I spent a fair amount of time thinking about Abby the Pyr (aka the Great White Swissy) and what she and her family must have gone through during her Osteo battle.
Cancer sucks.