Race for the Cure

A friend of mine suggested we join our families and do the Family Fun Walk for this year's Susan G. Komen's Race for the Cure in Columbus OH. I thought it would be a great opportunity to explain to the kids as much as they can understand about this disease.
As I was explaining to Jackie, I couldn't help but get choked on words about how cancer has affected so many lives. In our family, my grandma died from complications of lung cancer and 20 years before she passed, she had been diagnosed with stomach cancer.

Our cousin, who was in her early thirties, got diagnosed with Breast Cancer. She is a strong survivor!!

Today, while we were walking to the starting line, I felt the energy in the air on how many people have been affected by this disease. And while reading all the messages folks were sporting on their t-shirts, my thoughts and prayers went out to them. So many strong ladies and their families supporting this event (more than 30,000 people participated). Dedications to aunts, sisters, mothers and themselves shows that breast cancer is real and too often affects too many women. Thankfully, nowadays with proper diagnosis and treatment there are so many strong ladies who overcome it.

It didn't used to be that way. In reading more about this cause, I am moved deeply on how it started. There is a book available called "Promise Me" by Nancy Brinker (Susan's sister)
Here's a review taken from the Amazon site:

"More than twenty-five years ago, Nancy’s love for her cherished sister sparked a promise to fight breast cancer. Today that promise has launched a global movement to end breast cancer, and Nancy is fulfilling her promise to women all around the world. Promise Me is an inspiring tribute to a sister’s love and a must-read for all who know the pink ribbon."
—LAURA BUSH, former First Lady and author of Spoken from the Heart

In addition, more close to home, I remember a really energetic reporter called Heather Pick who I used to watch on the local news channels. She was a young mom who did the morning reports while I was on maternity leave with Julien, so he and I used to watch her all the time. I didn't know that at the time she was battling breast cancer.
She passed away in 2008 and on her last broadcast (from her home) she wore a pink wig to show her support. Nowadays, the pink wig is a symbol of hope!! So today, with our pink gear on, we joined a lot of pink wigs to show support for the cause!

Here are some pictures of our day today :)