On her way home to Colorado after a five-year odyssey around the world, Polly Letofsky, right, and walking partner Debi Linker walk through Green Bay on Tuesday (photo by Tina Gohr).
By Benjamin Dreyer
News-Chronicle
After four continents, 17 countries, 15,000 miles, five years and 24 pairs of New Balance shoes, Polly Letofsky is on the home stretch of her worldwide walk for breast cancer. She passed through Green Bay on Tuesday, and as of this month has accumulated 11,400 miles toward what will be a 15,000-mile journey.
Since Aug. 1, 1999, when she began her journey in Vail, Colo., Letofsky has encountered a large breadth of events that are all directed toward fighting breast cancer. "One overwhelming event was walking over the border from Singapore to Malaysia," Letofsky said.
She encountered a 300-strong crowd waiting to greet her in recognition of breast cancer. "There were signs and banners and balloons and people and clapping. I was like, 'Oh my God! Who's here?!' And then they all came running after me. It was overwhelming and scary.
"It was really amazing (though) because a lot of these countries were just starting awareness campaigns." Letofsky acknowledges, however, that the important moments of the trip came at the most personal times.
"The real highlights are moments that don't mean anything to anybody," said Letofsky. "I met Ghandi's granddaughter, but it was so full of hype and energy that I don't even remember half of it. There's so much going on around you, you don't really get pulled into that moment.
"The things that I have learned are the lessons that women have taught me." Letofsky recalls one 29-year-old Australian woman who had gone to the doctor after finding a lump in her breast. The doctors told her that she was too young to have breast cancer, but her mother had died of the disease two years prior.
As Letofsky recalls, the woman said, "You know what, I want it out of there. I don't care what it is, I want that lump out of there. "She was really telling the doctors what she wanted; she was her own advocate (and had it removed). In fact, it was breast cancer."
Meetings like that proved to be Letofsky's saving grace, as her trip contained struggles that wore on her motivation. "I just remember days in Europe when it was so rainy and gloomy and a truck blows by and splashes you silly and you think, 'It just can't get any worse.' And you finally get to a restaurant to sit down and get dry, but it's closed and you're so miserable.
"(Inspiration) ebbs and flows. You're dealing with the day-to-day things that go on, and then you meet someone like her again."
One such person was Debi Linker, who has been walking with Letofsky since Canada and will continue through part of Minnesota. Linker is a breast cancer survivor and said of her own trip, "You always know that a bad day is temporary. I always remind myself of that."
Linker's sentiments can easily be understood in the context of the fight against breast cancer, as Letofsky added, "There's a lot of parallels in what I'm doing." Letofsky's answer to conquering the day-to-day struggles is, "Just put one foot in front of another. If you look at it as a whole, (you think), 'Oh my God! I've walked 15,000 miles - five years - holy crimony!' So I consider it a small milestone leading into something larger."
Upon completing the five-year trip that is scheduled to end around Aug. 1, 2004, Letofsky certainly will be able to look back on a childhood aspiration that has lead to "something larger."
"I knew I wanted to walk around the world since I was a kid, knowing there was another world out there," she said.
She became inspired to act on that goal 25 years later after a lot of women she knew were being diagnosed with breast cancer. "I went to the doctor to get a mammogram," Letofsky said. "He said that I don't need to worry about getting breast cancer because it doesn't run on my mother's side of the family. That's ridiculous; of course you can get breast cancer if it doesn't run in your family. If you're a woman you can get breast cancer."
After coming to that realization, Letofsky found the reason and direction she needed for walking around the world. "There's now a cause I wanted to do with my walk," said Letofsky. "I knew you really have to have a purpose and a vision, as opposed to just putting a pack on and going for yourself. It really has kept me focused."
Twenty-eight corporate sponsors have come to Letofsky's aid in her GlobalWalk, most significant of which is the Lions Club International, which has recently expanded its horizons by supporting breast cancer organizations.
Letofsky reflected on the significance of the trip so far by saying, "It's like putting a lot of pieces together, especially during this time in world history. You just learn so much about every region; it's a very varied experience. But what doesn't change is the generosity of all the people we come in contact with."
Letofsky has come back with a world view and perception of the world that seems emblematic of the struggle against breast cancer, and now approaches life with a new-found confidence .
During her trip, Letofsky encountered a 7.2 earthquake, major flooding, forest fires and lightning storms. "Let's say I have a major plumbing problem; I know now that I can learn how to do the plumbing myself," she said. "That's a big step."
