Think Pink!

October is breast cancer awareness month. There is pink everywhere. Please tell me you have noticed this. This is the month where many people really show their support for breast cancer research by buying products and wearing products that help make others aware of breast cancer prevention. There are breast cancer walks and runs to raise money and awareness and it really is a fantastic thing. Breast cancer is a disease that almost everyone knows someone affected by, if not directly affected themselves. I myself know many people who have fought and won their battle with breast cancer (Go Grandma!!) as well as those that have lost their lives because of this disease.

Last weekend while running in Central Park, there wasn't one, but there were two Breast Cancer walks going on. The Avon 2-day walk was finishing up their 40 mile walk and the Making Strides 10K walk followed up after them. During my run, I passed hundreds of walkers, almost all of them donning pink. It was so inspiring. I think I got teary-eyed like 20 times. No joke. What gets me every time is the women wearing the "Survivor" T-shirts. They are amazing. They fought and beat this terrible disease and are out there walking with pride to bring awareness to others.

Seeing these women this past weekend reminded me of the Avon 3-day walk my mom and I did in 2002. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. For three days, we walked 60 miles, (from Kenosha, WI to Chicago, IL) met countless people, heard tons of inspiring stories, and raised awareness for this disease. At first my mom and I were hesitant to sign up for this walk because we each had to raise $1800. We sent letters to basically everyone we knew and ended up raising about $8000 for the cause. That was something we were very proud of. The next step was to train for this. Although this is a walk, it is strenuous on the body to walk 20 miles a day for 3 days. We had to train our legs and our feet to get use to this mileage. I did this while away in college. I would go for 4-5 hour walks on the weekends. Sometimes my mom would drive down the 2.5 hours, walk with me, then drive home. How awesome is she? I would also try and get friends to walk portions of it with me to fight boredom. Finally, when the weekend of the walk came, we felt ready physically. Emotionally, I had no idea what I was in for. If you read this blog, you know I am sensitive and tend to cry a lot so you can only imagine what happened to me during this walk. From the opening ceremony to the closing ceremony two days later, I cried on and off. Hearing the powerful stories of survivors and meeting some of these incredible women was so inspiring. One of the most amazing things I saw along the way, that still makes me tear up today, was a woman who was in the midst of chemo, with no hair and in her wheelchair because she was too weak to walk, having her daughters and sisters taking turns pushing her in the wheelchair for the entire 60 mile journey. Absolutely amazing. There were numerous women with no hair who had just finished chemo walking and fighting the disease at the same time. These women are heroes. Then there was the father and son walking for their wife/mother who had recently passed away.  How can this keep your tear ducts dry? These people are all totally incredible. By the end of the walk, I was physically and emotionally drained. My mom had warned me this would happen, but it was the experience of a lifetime and something I will never forget. Considering this was about ten years ago and is still affecting me today says something.

During this walk and all the other walks/runs I have participated in and have seen, there are always women of all shapes and size. Fast and slow. Men and Women. All ages. All of us coming together with a common goal: find a cure for this disease that affects so many people. As someone who has this disease running in their family, it is to the utmost importance that myself, my mom, my aunt, and my cousin remain aware of signs and symptoms. I am hoping by the time I have a daughter we will not have to have the walks to raise money anymore because a cure will be found. Until then, support the cause and do what you can to raise awareness in any way possible. If it's wearing a pink ribbon then do that. If its making a donation, do that. And if it's participating in an event like a breast cancer walk, do that. Every little bit counts. Although breast cancer awareness month is only in October, we should be making creating awareness 12 months out of the year. Think Pink!