FU, MS!

Every year, my friends and I turn out for the MS Walk. This year we decided to RUN it instead of walk. For one, we are all training for a half marathon in June and our training required us to do a 4 mile run that day. And, for two, well, I feel like it is my way of saying "FU, MS" anytime I step it up a notch or try something a little out of my comfort zone.

In the past, we've done the walk under the team name, "Margie's Girls" and have had lots of people show up to walk. This year, I decided to change it up a bit! I invited my closest friends and decided we needed a catchier team name!! Here's how I came up with our new team name...

At last year's walk, I had seen a family with homemade T-shirts at the walk and their shirts said ..."FUMS" on the back. I laughed to myself and felt an immediate need to go see what it was all about! So, I walked up to the older gentleman and said, "I LOVE your shirt!" He turned around smiling and pointed to the front of the shirt...saying, "It stands for Families United against MS." I smiled and said, "Sure, it does!" We both laughed. He introduced me to his 33 year old daughter, Alex who had just recently been diagnosed with MS. She was vibrant, a tall long-longed brunette beauty, a nurse and recently married. Her and I visited for quite awhile and as she talked, I couldn't help it; I started crying. Here was a young gal (same age as I was when I was diagnosed) who, just months earlier had received devastating news that could change the course of her life. And, she was smiling, surrounded by family, ready to walk for MS and do all she could to beat this damn thing. I was truly in awe.

Anyways, once I saw those shirts, I knew I had to steal their idea and somehow make it mine!! So, this year, I gathered my peeps and did a little of my own creative marketing!! I bought simple white shirts at WalMart...(originally, I was going to write on them with a sharpie, but decided these shirts were too cute to ruin!) so, I found a use for my old race bibs and turned them over, marking a black letter on each one! Turned out really cute!

Friends United against MS!

What? What did you think it stood for??