It was almost twenty-two years ago that I woke up one morning with double vision. Twenty-two years ago I was 30, living in an apartment. My husband and I had been married for 3 1/2 years, we had a one-year old baby, and I had a brain tumor. Twenty-two years ago the technology was cruder, testing and surgery were not what they are today; this seems strange because in some ways twenty-two years ago doesn’t seem like a long time ago, but in the world of medicine, it is a lifetime. The history…my history with this tumor has been something of a miracle. It is a miracle that I’m here writing, talking, and took a 250 mile walk from my house on Long Island to Massachusetts General Hospital’s Francis H. Burr Proton Center in Boston, where I was treated a little more than three years ago. I took this walk to raise awareness for the need for more research, more education, early detection, and more funding for brain tumors. When I arrived at the Boston city line and saw the sign "You Are Entering Boston", I couldn't believe I had walked to that sign. On that very same day, four years ago, I was packing a bag for my second brain surgery. I had no idea what the outcome of that surgery would be, and what would be ahead. A little more than three years ago from that day, I had just finished having had Proton Radiation Therapy at Mass General Hospital, the same place I would be finishing my walk in another day from seeing that sign. Oh what a difference a few years can make. When people ask me why I wanted to make this walk, I tell them I am "Walking the Walk", for three reasons, first, because I want to raise awareness to a cause that is extremely personal to me, second because I wanted to feel like I could...there have been so many things over the years I've felt I wasn't able to do for physical reasons, and third, I was walking for all those that I had sat in the waiting rooms with over the years that were no longer here, or no longer able to walk. The pictures that are posted here are just a fraction of the pictures that I took along the way-but I hope they tell a bit of the "walking" story. We've also filmed a documentary film along the way, so stayed tuned for that, please check out www.brain-matters.org, and if you can make a donation to a very important cause on that website. And because you don't get to do what I did without the help of others, and it doesn't take much to say thank you (as often as you can)...I take this time to thank all those who’ve helped me help others.” Heidi