Nov 7, 2017 3 min read

Sunday we turned the clocks back, and that is many people’s favorite day of the year. They love it because you get to sleep in an extra hour, and that makes them feel extra rested. I am one of those people, although this year I did not get to enjoy it.

This year, I joined my sister’s team, Shelva’s Striders, in National Kidney Foundation’s annual Pittsburgh walk. I raised money alongside her to fund research into finding cures and treatments for kidney diseases like PKD, which took our mother.

The Pittsburgh Zoo has been the location for the walk for several years. For registering and raising funds, you get free admission to the zoo, and the course for the walk takes you past all the exhibits. Because it was cool and rainy, many of the animals were more active than they would have been if it had been hot outside. The elephants, in particular, gave us quite a performance, with one swimming into the watering hole. He rolled over, waved at the crowd with his trunk and hung out near our side of his enclosure. He easily could have touched us had he wanted to.

Other awesome sights included the orangutan who decided to take a nap while we watched. He gathered straw and other items up, turned in a circle a few times in the midst of it, and lay down. The whole time, he was wearing a blanket he had draped over his head and back. Once he was down, he adjusted the blanket over himself again and closed his eyes.

My nieces and nephew were along for the walk. My sister was being a good mom by giving her kids facts about each of the animals. She told them the catfish got his name because of his whiskers, and the whiskers are used to help him feel his way along the dark river bottoms where he feeds. I leaned over to my niece and whispered conspiratorially, “Plus, when he bumps himself on a rock, he says, ‘Me, OW.”

My sister rolled her eyes, and I got the rest of the affirmation I was looking for when my niece began giggling and said, “Oh, Aunt Laura.”

The skies opened up and the rain let loose about an hour into the walk. Soaked, we trudged on and watched the rhinos playing, the tigers striding and the monkeys swinging. When we were sufficiently soaked and had seen most everything, we headed toward the exit. It was a nice experience, and we raised money for a great cause. Tax-deductible donations are still being accepted until Dec. 31, so feel free to go to the NKF Pittsburgh Walk page and search for my name to make a donation. If you’re reading online, simply copy and paste the following link: http://donate.kidney.org/site/TR/Walk/NKFServingtheAlleghenies?px=2546901&pg=personal&fr_id=8551

Kidney disease sufferers everywhere thank you.

Laura Zoeller can be reached at zoeller5@verizon.net.