When I was younger pink was nothing more than a color. Now it is much more than that, pink is a symbol of strength, hope and perseverance. When I was in sixth grade my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. At that time, I didn’t really know how serious it all was. I knew that she had to go for surgeries and I knew that I had to help around the house more, but I didn’t really understand that I could lose her.
My family was around a lot and gave a tremendous amount of love and support. My Youngest sister was only about 10 months old at the time, so all the help was needed and appreciated. After a few surgeries and sometime in the hospital, the hard part was over. The surgeries were successful, and we knew she was going to be okay. It was time for recovery mode. My sisters and I, along with the rest of my family came together to make this process as easy and painless as we could for her. With Thanksgiving being later that week, we knew we had a lot to be thankful for.
Thinking about this now, this was probably the scariest time in my life. Thinking about how real everything is and if they didn’t catch it as soon as they did things could have ended very differently. My mom is one of the most important people in my life and If I would have lost her to this disease, I would have never been the same. I am so thankful for the doctors and nurses and everything they did to make this the best outcome.
Ever since then my family and all our closest friends come together every October for the Breast Cancer Walk and Jones Beach. We wear all the pink we can find and fight for a cure. It is amazing to see all the people that come together and all the money that is raised to hopefully put an end to this horrible disease.
HCXO,
Melissa