One day, we walk all the way around Hoffman Cay. It’s only six miles, but our hike takes over five hours. We stop many times: to scale frowning white cliffs and admire the spectacular ocean views; to snorkel or swim in the surf, and to cool off in coral pools carved out of the rugged coastline. An undisciplined bunch, we travel in one direction, but each moves at his or her own pace: alone, in pairs, or in small groups.

Two hours into the hike, we find a piece of white brain coral. Round, but flat on one side, it is about 18” in diameter. Sue asks if we can take it home with us. In the Bahamas, it is illegal to remove live coral, but this has been high and dry for months, if not longer.

It is fair game, and so, apparently, am I.

At first, I carry it alone. The most endurable method is to hold it in one hand, bracing my upper arm against my side. Picture a kid with a coral boom box up to his ear and you’ll get the idea. But this item is no radio; it weighs well-over 20 pounds, so I have to change hands often. Worse, the day is killer-hot, the footing is sandy, at best; at worst, nasty, razor-sharp coral.

After half an hour, I decide to share this adventure with our strapping 18-year old son, Bill. It will be a bonding experience.

“Years from now”, I solemnly intone, handing over our prize, “you will tell your children of the time Grandad found this very same piece of coral on an island in the far-off Bahamas, and of how you and he carried it back to the ship, Sundancer.

“Think of it, son! Won’t that be wonderful?”

Bill’s reply, though largely unprintable in a family publication, does show a certain creativity. Happily, Darren Casto finds a plastic laundry basket and a broomstick, which have conveniently washed up on the beach nearby. By putting the stick through the basket handles, Bill and I carry our prize safari-style the rest of the way. It’s still a job, however, especially when the trail gives out and we must wade up to our necks through the surf.

Though curious visitors may now inspect this chunk of brain coral in our living room, Bill still thinks it is I whose head should be examined.

Bill Willard is a commercial freelance writer in Clearwater FL. A high-impact writer and editor for over 30 years, in addition to his byline pieces, Bill’s beat includes ghostwriting and editing for businesses of all types and sizes, professional practitioners and individuals. He is a www.thefreestyleentrepreneur.com Contributing Author.

Visit his Website: www.writergazette.com/WillardAssociates.shtml. Or contact him at billw15@tampabay.rr.com to sign up for his popular e-blog, Daily Grin.

Now 36, Bill Jr. is a prior-enlisted Captain in the Marine Corps.

·    New cases: 192,370 (female); 1,910 (male).
·    Deaths: 40,170 (female); 440 (male).

That further breaks down to 204,999 per year, 17,083 per month, 3,942 per week, 561 per day, 23 per hour, 0 per minute, 0 per second. (Source: SEER 2002 estimate).

Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust are holding another “Breast Cancer 3-Day” walk in Tampa Bay. Oct 30, 31 and Nov 1, 2009. The Bay Area 3-Day team, “Thanks for the Mammories” and “Sons, Others & Brothers (SOBs!),” will take part in the 3-Day walk again this year.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure is ranked a 4-star (out of 4!) charity by Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent evaluator of charities. Of every dollar raised, 83 cents is used for breast cancer programs. Komen for the Cure is dedicated to curing breast cancer at every stage–from the causes to the cures, to the pain and anxiety of every moment in between.

The Komen foundation is proud to report that every advance in breast cancer research has been funded by dollars raised by events like the Tampa Bay Breast Cancer 3-Day. The successes achieved over the past 26 years are impressive. Did you know, for example, that the five-year survival rate for breast cancer, when caught early is now 98 percent (compared with 74 percent in 1982)? Or that America’s 2.5 million breast cancers survivors in America, the largest group of cancer survivors in the U.S., are living testaments to the power of society and science to save lives?

What We Can Do

We all receive many requests such as this. Helping raise funds for the 3-Day walk and Susan G. Komen for the Cure is something of which we can all be proud. Last year, the Tampa Bay team raised more than $5 million to help in the fight to end Breast Cancer, forever!

Each walker in the Breast Cancer 3-Day must raise $2,300. The Bay Area team is hosting a Casino Night, September 12, 2009, and is requesting your participation as a sponsor of this event. My bride, Sue, a member of the Bay Area 3-Day team, is participating in her third 3-Day Walk for the Cure. Sue thanks you in advance for your consideration.

To Contribute or for More Information

Visit  www.thanksforthemammories3day.com. The 3-Day Web site is: www.the3day.org The Susan G. Komen for the Cure website is: www.komen.org. Your contribution will be recognized by displaying your business’ name on your donated gift.

Bill Willard is a freelance commercial writer in Clearwater FL. A high-impact writer and editor for over 30 years, in addition to his byline pieces, Bill’s beat includes ghostwriting and editing for businesses of all types and sizes, professional practitioners and individuals.

“These twelve Jesus sent out with the following
instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles,
and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go
rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, proclaim the good news, The
kingdom of heaven has come near.’”
        –    Matthew 10:5-7