The Survivor March at the 2009 Komen NC Triangle Race for the Cure

We help sponsor the local Komen NC Triangle Race for the Cure,

an event that is always a pleasure to attend. It seems, each year, that I can’t watch the Survivor March at the end without getting a little misty, and this year in the hot morning sun on Meredith campus, a thought came to me about the similarities between Coalmarch, and the survivors…

You see, there is a philosophy, in the Coalmarch name, that is based on hard work and determination. In places where coal is mined by human hands, there are shift changes, so that, for a moment, at dusk or dawn, there is a march of sorts. Miners emerging from the mines, covered in sweat and soot pass, quietly, a fresh team of miners. In that coal march lies the philosophy of hard work, sweat equity, and mettle of the weary, mixed with the fresh new ideas, minds, and eagerness of the rested. That is who we are, a team of workers who have the wherewithal to work, long and hard, to get our Clients what they need and the forward thinking minds, clean and fresh, to find new and better ways to do it.

While watching, the Survivors march toward the stage at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Raleigh, I couldn’t help but think about the coal march. Here is a team, whether they’ve survived 1 year, or 30 years, marching before us, who have suffered, and fought, and sacrificed, and they are marching in juxtaposition to teams of people who have the fresh, open, able minds to make a change, to find a way to raise money, or find a cure, an answer that will end this terrible scourge. We at Coalmarch stand humbled in our philosophy at that moment, where we understand that our hard work and determination are no match for the determination that brings us these women, their families, and their friends who have made difficult choices, faced terrible odds, and yet have been so brave, and acted with such strength and fortitude to stand before us, to march in our presence.

Thank you to all of the Survivors who grace us with your presence each year, for it is truly we who owe you a debt of gratitude for the resilience that you show each year to those of us who may some day face some similar hardship.