I have once again been overwhelmed with the generosity of friends and family and the wonderful people who live in Montana. While the spotlight for this swim may be on John and I, we really are both just tiny pieces of an amazing amount of time and effort of A TON of people.
First a big thank you to the Enduring Waves Foundation Board-Cooke, Katie, Cindi and Crystal-you gals have done an amazing job this year running the foundation. I'd like to thank all the crew members giving up ALL or part of their weekend to keep John and I safe and fed during our swim. Amanda, Cindi (who's volunteering on her BIRTHDAY), Katie, Jaime, Jason, Wendy, Sue, Deb and Alison. A thank you to our brave overnight kayakers taking shifts all night long to assist with visibility: Crissi-lyn, Tarrin, Danielle and Nate. Our two boat drivers Brian and Tim who I know will keep us on course and safe. Our crew and "land support" will have a great Headquarters that was provided by Lisa and Tim. A thank you to Crystal who will be updating the EWF facebook account. A thank you to the doctor's oncall for both John and I during the swim and paramedic Brian who will be checking us over at the conclusion of the swim.
I'm so grateful for those who have helped me prepare and ready myself for this swim. My amazing Yoga instructor Erin (my shoulders thank you in particular). My doctor Sarah. My massage therapist Renee. It was also wonderful this year to have John as a training partner. I'm thankful to have a boss who allowed me flexibility for both my training and for my recovery post swim. I'm thankful to all my friends and family who were there for me while I vented about training frustrations and setbacks. I'm thankful for those who tolerated the ups and downs heavy training (and taper) caused my mood. I am so thankful for my boyfriend Jason who probably had to tolerate the most of my ups and downs over the last year.
I'm thankful for those members of the press who have taken significant time to come out to the lake and share our story and our fundraising efforts with the public. Dillon, Gregg and Mitch you guys are awesome!
Thank you also to everyone who has shared kind wishes and encouragement. Thank you in advance to everyone who will be following our progress this weekend. We will have a livefeed GPS tracker up showing our location on the lake and hopefully a good amount of photos and videos will be shared by crew members during the swim. Crew members try and share nice texts and facebook posts from supporters during the swim to help keep the positivity flowing.
And most of all, thank you to those who have and will donate to our two amazing kiddos Scottie Marie and Monte. Every little bit helps. Thank you to everyone who is holding these kids in their thoughts and prayers. I can pass on to you that your support means the world to the families of these kids.
I will probably get one more blog post in tomorrow with some "final thoughts". Until then....
~Emily
