Join the SpenWen team in Okeeheelee Park

John Wendel, his wife Susan Spencer-Wendel and their dog Lenny wore
flower-power outfits and Afros in January to the 2014 ALS Kick-Off Party.

Aching to do the Twist? Want to dance the Mashed Potato or the Madison?

Maybe you prefer just to walk. Family and friends of Susan Spencer-Wendel are gathering in her honor on Saturday morning, March 22, in Okeeheelee Park. They will be part of the 2014 Walk to Defeat ALS with its '60s theme of Peace, Love, Walk.

Susan was diagnosed with ALS in June 2011. ALS, often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease because it cut short the baseball career of the Yankees slugger, is a progressive, neuromuscular disease that slowly robs the body of its ability to move, speak, swallow and breathe. It's always fatal.

Before that diagnosis, Susan was an award-winning courts reporter for The Palm Beach Post. She took a medical leave in the summer of 2011 and then regretfully resigned a few months later.

Brother-in-law Don Parlamento holds Susan's old walking
shoes, a pair of black peep-toes with 4-inch stiletto heels.

Susan and her husband John Wendel will be honorary chairs of the Walk. They deserved to be honored, said the Walk's uber-organized Chairwoman Dorothy Bradshaw.

"Susan made a concerted effort not to let ALS keep her from continuing to live life," Dorothy said. She admires John for his 24/7 role as Susan's caregiver.

Dorothy also said that Susan's best-selling memoir Until I Say Goodbye brought a lot of awareness to ALS, something that is close to Dorothy's heart.

It took several months in 2006 until her Daddy was diagnosed with the disease. When he visited her in February 2006, every time he would drink something -- coffee or water -- he would choke. "I told him he needed to see a doctor, that something was not right," she said.

Walk Chairwoman Dorothy Bradshaw holds a flyer for the
2014 Walk to Defeat ALS on March 22

When he returned to Virginia, he saw a series of doctors. That medical odyssey included a trip to the Eastern Virginia Medical School to see the director of speech. He put a scope with a camera down the throat of Dorothy's Daddy. The doctor saw that the muscles on the right side were no longer functioning and that he suspected a neurological disease. He recommended Duke or University of Virginia medical centers.

In June 2006, Dorothy and her Daddy traveled to Duke University where he was diagnosed with ALS. "Daddy died on March 9, 2008, 21 months after the June 2006 diagnosis," she said.

Susan Spencer-Wendel (left) and her sister Stephanie
Harwood-Parlamento dressed in '60s styles for the
2014 Kick-off Party in January.

Despite the serious nature of ALS, the Walk promises to be fun. Team photos will be taken at 9:30 a.m., and the walking path will be divided into various distances, giving serious walkers more steps.

If you sign up for the SpenWen Team and donate by Feb. 28, you can receive a groovy, spider lime T-shirt in your size for the Walk. The T-shirt will have this fab logo, designed by Susan's talented friend, digital artist AJ Brockman.

If you can't make the Walk, please consider donating to Susan or another team member.

Plan to stay after the Walk for a book sale and signing of the paperback version of Susan's memoir. She wrote an extra chapter! Live music will be played, and hot food and cold drinks will be available. For the kids, there will be a bounce house and face painting. Hope you can join us as we dance around the park!

And now, for my numbers

I had my best walking day last week on Tuesday, February 5, 2014, when I walked:

Steps: 9,967

Miles: 5.0