Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, I married into a military family. This family consisted of a retired Army officer father-in-law, and a special forces brother-in-law. Deployments and things were the norm for my new relatives, and I was impressed with their ability to face the unknown with positive attitudes and hope for the future. A few years into my marriage, my brother-in-law was deployed for a 1-year tour in Iraq. He and my sister-in-law had recently been re-assigned to a new base and had lived there for just a couple of months. As her husband was getting ready to leave, he said to his wife, “If you find a way to get me home early, let me know.” A few weeks later, he was sent home, because she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. He doesn’t ask her to find a way to get him home early anymore.
This was the beginning of a new adventure for all of us, as we helped Jen face months of chemo therapy and radiation. Through it all, she was an amazing example of strength and courage. When she lost her hair, her husband and brothers shaved their heads to show support for her. This was our “Merry Christmas” that year. It wasn’t a sad thing, though. It felt more like a celebration. I remember my mother-in-law commenting about how nice and round each of her boys’ heads were. “I must have kept them turned regularly!”, she said.
Jen has been cancer free for almost 14 years now, but her battle with cancer continues to be an inspiration to me. In talking with her recently, she said that she and her husband had decided to replace the words “challenges” or “trials” with the word “opportunities”. She said that all of the hard things we face in life really are opportunities for us to grow and become better people. When we face challenges, we get to choose how we deal with them. We can choose to let them bring us down, or we can use the pain and frustration as a tool to help us become stronger and better able to face harder things in the future.
As most of you are probably aware, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. In a little over a week, I will have the opportunity to participate in the Susan G. Komen More Than Pink Walk in my area. I’m super excited to be able to show my support for Breast Cancer Awareness! So, what is the More Than Pink Walk you ask? The More Than Pink brand is based on the idea that if pink equals awareness, then More Than Pink will equal action. This means that the walk is a call to action, a call to do more. That action will be different for all of us. For some, it means caring for someone currently fighting cancer, for others it will mean participating in or donating to research efforts. It means that we will make a more concerted effort to be aware of those around us that need our support and help.
So . . . how pink are you? Do you want to do more than just be aware? Here are some ways you can get involved in the More Than Pink effort:
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