ALL THIS PINK FOR BREAST CANCER AWARENESS?!
October is almost coming to a close. And soon the sea of pink we see in branding, marketing, of the brand will come to an end. Meaning, breast cancer awareness efforts on a big scale, is over. But for some, the nightmare that is breast cancer never ends.
There are so many months, and days now marketed on social media (National Compassion day, LGBT spirit day, etc.) and it is hard to know who is genuine. Yea, your brand is pink this month but what is really being done to raise awareness. Donating money is great, don’t get me wrong. But we must be careful of who we are sending money to.
Companies like Susan G. Komen have been rumored to pocket more money that is given to the cause. News like this disturbing and disappointing as we all hope that those who want to help heal people are really doing that.
This is the reality, but also a chance to again look in the mirror at what we can do to allow these charitable efforts to be genuine. There are many instances where the act of being charitable is a great marketing ploy. But then there are the real ones. The real stories.
Breast cancer runs on my mother’s side of the family. And this year, I experienced it first hand. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year. It was traumatizing. It was definitely going to be the hardest thing the family had gone through up until this moment.
I came back from a weekend at my sister’s beautiful home in Montclair, NJ. I was in good spirits, ready to get out of the current slump I was in. To get back to the grind that I like to be in. But once, my other sisters got to the house my Mom wanted to talk to us at the kitchen table.
I knew something was up, any time she wants to bring us together like that, it is a big announcement. Usually not good. So I prepared myself. And that is when she told us that she went to the doctor a couple weeks earlier, and found out that she had pre-cancerous cells in her left breast.
At this time, that is all we knew. So, of course, my mind starts racing, and very natural of me the tears begin to roll down my face. I was worried for her and did not know how ugly this how the process would be for her. She told us that my old sister who lives in North Carolina was coming up to be with us while she was going through it all.
That was just like my family, to come together when we needed to lean on each other the most. She was going to need an operation and radiation. This was good news. No chemo. Just weekly radiation appointments. She was able to go back to work not soon after. By the grace of God, my Mom fought this. And sometimes I have to remind myself that she survived all of that this year.
My mother is the strongest person I know. She is always putting on a strong front for all of us. I did not see her cry once. She always put her faith in God and stayed positive. This, in turn, made me stronger and I was braver because she was. If my Mom was not crying and she is the one going through all of this then I could keep it together too.
Going forward, yes I have donated to breast cancer awareness organizations and supported the walk. But at the same time, I am sharing my story and doing what I can to real life people when it comes to this.
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