My First Migraine Fundraiser Race!

Hart: “Is this what people normally do on weekends?”

Me: “Right? It feels like we’re on vacation.”

We were walking to get coffee on a Saturday morning. It’s a walk Hart’s taken many times in the six years we’ve lived here, but I’ve never been able to join him. Until a few weeks ago.

Spending time with friends and family, working, exercising, cooking, cleaning my house, eating whatever I want… After 14 years of disability during which I have lived and breathed migraine, being able to do the normal activities of life feels like I’m on constant vacation. The indescribable joy I feel is one reason I will be walking in the two-mile portion of the Miles for Migraine race in Phoenix this Saturday. This is the first walk I’ve been healthy enough to participate in, so I will be celebrating the pleasure of having a body that is now capable of walking a couple miles without keeling over.

I’m also walking for the millions of people whose lives have been rendered unrecognizable by migraine. Far too many of us have spent years buried under this illness. I would still be housebound and nearly bedridden without programs that fund migraine research.

If you’re in town and able to join me, I’d love to see you on Saturday, March 18 (here’s the registration form; March 16 is the last day to register). And if you’d like to donate migraine research—even $5 is a huge help—here’s my Miles for Migraine pledge page. If you work for a company and would like them to match your donation, you can donate through that link and then email shirley[at]milesformigraine[dot]org for details on the follow-up paperwork.