October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!
As if we didn’t know. Everywhere we go this month, we see pink ribbons. Today was “pink out” day at my kid’s school (although sadly, my boys had no pink to wear…I’ll have to work on that for next year). All month long we see people wearing pink, proudly displaying pink ribbons. It’s a show of support, of solidarity, of recognition to the brave women who are battling or even lost their lives to this terrible disease.
This post it to honor a few of my favorite women who have bravely fought cancer.
The first is my grandmother. She was older when she discovered her breast cancer and thankfully it did not lead to a masectomy; she was able to have the lumps cut out and underwent radiation. I remember how taxing those treatments were on her, yet it could have been much worse. She was lucky enough to go into remission and live another 10(ish) years.
The second is my high school choir director, and dear friend, Staci Della-Rocco. Words cannot adquately articulate all that she meant to me, and to so many other students whose lives she touched with her music. Unfortunately, she lost her battle to breast cancer after fighting for a few years (going into remission, then having it return and eventually spreading). Losing Ms. D was the first big loss I’d experienced in my life and nine years later, I still think about her miss her like crazy. The holidays are not the same without her and the music she brought to the community. I will never be able to sit through another choir concert and not think of her and the impact she made in my life. I wear pink for you, Della.
I wear pink for Emma, my Uncle’s mom, who lost her fight years ago. I wear pink for my sweet neighbor across the street, Chris, who is a breast cancer survivor! I wear pink for my friend, Andrea, who is currently in chemo and still in the throes of war with breast cancer. I wear pink for the ladies at church who wear the scars everyday from their battles. It breaks my heart that any woman has to go through this.
A while ago, I made myself a “dementia awareness” coffee cozy/mug wrap (whatever you want to call it!) This year, I made a few for friends whose life have been affected by the disease. Aren’t they cute?
I wish I could make one for every person battling the disease, to show my love and empathy for them. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time or resources for that, but I did decide to list them in my etsy shop.
Who do you wear pink for?
