What a night!

We just got back from the most amazing outing. I'm a little tired, but want to get this all down while I'm still reeling from the magic of the evening! Here goes....

My friend Mary Beth, the co-founder of Beyond Boobs, knows a limousine rental company in Virginia Beach (I believe it's called Icon). Beyond Boobs rents their hot pink stretch Hummer limo every year for the calendar debut gala (remember? I'll be in their 2010 calendar!), calendar photo shoot, and other big events. They've gotten to know the manager, Dave, quite well.

Mary Beth must have told Dave about me and my cancer story. Dave recently contacted Mary Beth and asked if she thought we'd be interested in having the family ride in their special pink Hummer limo. She forwarded the info to me, and who would ever pass up that offer?

Dave brought the limo all the way from Virginia Beach to our house....at least 100 miles each way....picking up Mary Beth and her children on the way, and Rene (the other Beyond Boobs co-founder) too. They called us when they reached our development so we could look for them. We lined the kids up on the porch, and you should have seen the looks on their faces when this huge pink monster machine came strolling down our street! They were even more ecstatic when they realized the limo was for them!

Mary Beth and Rene surprised me when they both jumped out of the limo, with beautiful flowers and bright pink boas for all of us girls. We hugged and chatted and took lots of pictures. A photographer from the local newspaper (I wanted to make sure this act of kindness was covered!) was also there to shoot the big event. The newspaper's videographer had arrived earlier to interview me and she also joined us at our destination to get more footage. (You'll find the link to the video plus footage from the evening in the "updates" at the end of this post.)

Once all the neighbors had a chance to check out the limo, and once we got our kids calmed down enough to get in the limo, we were off! Destination: ice cream! We had about a 20-minute drive to a favorite place, Gelati Celesti, and we were quite the spectacle pulling up. A spectacle inside, too, with our boas and the sheer size of our group!

The kids had so much fun and entertained themselves very well in the limo. They were even treated to sparkling cider in real champagne glasses (grownups had real champagne, except for me. I wasn't sure what the alcohol would do with all the other drugs in my system!)

It was a wonderful evening, an unforgettable one. I know the kids will be talking about this for months. I am so grateful we had this night together, and am so touched by how kind everyone has been. Mary Beth and Rene of Beyond Boobs are always checking in on me, want to see how I'm doing, if we need anything. And Dave, the limo service manager....what can I say, I just can't get over his generosity. I mean, this is a guy who doesn't know me at all, just heard about me through a mutual friend, and he comes forward with this once-in-a-lifetime offer. I still get choked up thinking about it.

Mary Beth, Rene, Dave....they prove that there are good, caring people out there, who would do things for others "just because". Our neighbors, friends from work and church, my family, they've all done kind things to help us through this difficult time in our lives too. It is such a great feeling knowing these people are out there. And isn't it good to hear a happy story for a change?

Updates....Our picture appeared on the front page of Thursday's (August 13) Metro section, with a beautifully written article on page 3. Video interview and footage from the evening is on their website, too. Here's the link to the video: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/CANC13_20090812-215405/285724.